Printer cartridge scam
Discussion
Should have know better than to fall for this, but I was contacted a few weeks back by a company that supply ink and toner cartridges. They claim to supply schools and had a big surplus stock at the end of the academic year. I said I wasn't interested in non genuine/remanufactured/refilled cartridges and he assured me that they only supply genuine oem brand new cartridges, because they mainly supply to the public sector. I asked him to email me some prices, which he did, and they were considerably cheaper than I'd seen genuine HP cartridges (but quite a lot more expensive that other suppliers' remanufactured cartridges).
So when he phoned back I queried this and yet again and he assured me they were genuine brand new original cartridges. I pointed out that their website mentioned recycled cartridges, and he responded by saying that was their separate 'eco' line of products, and totally different to what he'd quoted me for. I asked him to put that in an email, so I had something in writing.
Never saw an email, but when he phoned again I said I'd buy a set as long as he emailed with confirmation that they are genuine oem carts, which he said he would.
Toners arrived today, and you've guessed it - they're not new, HP ones. The outside of the packaging clearly states that they aren't oem products, and the cartridges contain reused parts. Never got an email confirming them as genuine parts, so it's just my word against his.
Pretty sure they're not going to accept them back without a fight. I never got an order confirmation before hand, or anything in writing from them, but there is an invoice with their T&C in with the cartridges. It says they don't accept returns, except for faulty goods, or when they've made a mistake and supplied the wrong parts (arguably they have I guess). Obviously, I've not seen their t&c beforehand, so no way for me to accept or decline them.
Shall I even engage with them, or just send the whole lot right back? Doing a bit of digging, it appears that one of their directors is also a director of a a debt recovery firm. How convenient for them...
So when he phoned back I queried this and yet again and he assured me they were genuine brand new original cartridges. I pointed out that their website mentioned recycled cartridges, and he responded by saying that was their separate 'eco' line of products, and totally different to what he'd quoted me for. I asked him to put that in an email, so I had something in writing.
Never saw an email, but when he phoned again I said I'd buy a set as long as he emailed with confirmation that they are genuine oem carts, which he said he would.
Toners arrived today, and you've guessed it - they're not new, HP ones. The outside of the packaging clearly states that they aren't oem products, and the cartridges contain reused parts. Never got an email confirming them as genuine parts, so it's just my word against his.
Pretty sure they're not going to accept them back without a fight. I never got an order confirmation before hand, or anything in writing from them, but there is an invoice with their T&C in with the cartridges. It says they don't accept returns, except for faulty goods, or when they've made a mistake and supplied the wrong parts (arguably they have I guess). Obviously, I've not seen their t&c beforehand, so no way for me to accept or decline them.
Shall I even engage with them, or just send the whole lot right back? Doing a bit of digging, it appears that one of their directors is also a director of a a debt recovery firm. How convenient for them...
Do you have any proof that you ordered OEM ones? If not I'd suggest you go for the 'wrong parts' line, send them back by tracked delivery and follow it up with a suitable letter telling them why you're not paying the bill. Once they've got the goods back I can't see they could make you pay for them.
Either way wouldn't DSRs apply?
Either way wouldn't DSRs apply?
Well, I managed to get through to someone moderately senior on the phone. At first she said that they were oem ones, but that they repack them into their own boxes! Sounds odd, more like I'm being fobbed off. I pointed out the the outside of the box clearly says that they aren't oem products, and they contain reused parts. She then said it confirmed that the carts I've been sent are the remanufactured ones from their 'eco' line.
She was quite pleasant and helpful about it though, and offered to exchange them for genuine HP cartridges, at a price matched to my existing supplier (about 2.5 times more expensive than what they've charged me for these ones). But frankly I didn't want to take the risk of upping the ante with them in the hope that they would send out genuine HP cartridges instead, as we'd then be talking about a £600 argument if they still aren't genuine.
Instead she offered to price match to my existing supplier's price for their remanufactured cartridges (about half the price I've been charged). I agreed to that, it brings my liability down to about £170. Assuming these carts are at least as good as the ones I've been using (which have been pretty poor, and the reason I wanted to go with genuine HP ones this time) then that's something I can live with.
Just got to wait for the revised invoice/credit note to come through from them now. Oh, and I recorded the phone call this time, so at least I've got all that conversation on record...
She was quite pleasant and helpful about it though, and offered to exchange them for genuine HP cartridges, at a price matched to my existing supplier (about 2.5 times more expensive than what they've charged me for these ones). But frankly I didn't want to take the risk of upping the ante with them in the hope that they would send out genuine HP cartridges instead, as we'd then be talking about a £600 argument if they still aren't genuine.
Instead she offered to price match to my existing supplier's price for their remanufactured cartridges (about half the price I've been charged). I agreed to that, it brings my liability down to about £170. Assuming these carts are at least as good as the ones I've been using (which have been pretty poor, and the reason I wanted to go with genuine HP ones this time) then that's something I can live with.
Just got to wait for the revised invoice/credit note to come through from them now. Oh, and I recorded the phone call this time, so at least I've got all that conversation on record...
So let me get this straight...
They tried to scam you by claiming genuine products and sending remanufactured/eco ones. You call their bluff and want what was offered, but instead of telling them where to get off you've simply negotiated the price down to what you already pay from your current known/trusted supplier?
They tried to scam you by claiming genuine products and sending remanufactured/eco ones. You call their bluff and want what was offered, but instead of telling them where to get off you've simply negotiated the price down to what you already pay from your current known/trusted supplier?
mmm-five said:
So let me get this straight...
They tried to scam you by claiming genuine products and sending remanufactured/eco ones. You call their bluff and want what was offered, but instead of telling them where to get off you've simply negotiated the price down to what you already pay from your current known/trusted supplier?
I think he's saying that his current supplier supplies sThey tried to scam you by claiming genuine products and sending remanufactured/eco ones. You call their bluff and want what was offered, but instead of telling them where to get off you've simply negotiated the price down to what you already pay from your current known/trusted supplier?
t, so therefore he's taking the risk that these are not worse than those.mmm-five said:
So let me get this straight...
They tried to scam you by claiming genuine products and sending remanufactured/eco ones. You call their bluff and want what was offered, but instead of telling them where to get off you've simply negotiated the price down to what you already pay from your current known/trusted supplier?
Sort of. I wasn't happy with the remanufactured carts from my previous supplier, and they weren't competitive on price for genuine HP carts, so I would probably have been buying elsewhere next time anyway.They tried to scam you by claiming genuine products and sending remanufactured/eco ones. You call their bluff and want what was offered, but instead of telling them where to get off you've simply negotiated the price down to what you already pay from your current known/trusted supplier?
I could have told this new supplier to come and collect what they sent. They probably wouldn't agree to that, as they'd have made a loss on the 'sale', refused to come and collect them, and I'd end up footing the cost of returning them. At best they'd accept the return and that'd be the end of it, but they could well refuse to accept them back or attempt to charge a punitive restocking fee. Their t&c (which I have now seen), say that returns they don't agree with (in terms of defect or wrong parts) they give the buyer 10 days to arrange collection, then they ship them back out and charge another carriage fee and an (unspecified) admin fee for doing so.
I could have 'upgraded' to genuine HP carts with them, at the regular price. But from what they've said, and the way they've behaved so far, I'm reluctant to agree to increase the value of my order by 2.5 times in the hope that they do actually supply genuine, new HP carts.
So on balance, I think the best compromise is accept their discount and keep what they've sent me. Who knows, these carts may work better than my previous supplier's, and I may be happy with them.
Anyway, no sign of a revised invoice or credit note so far, so that might have just been a brush off.
If the contract was for genuine cartridges at £x, that is what they should supply. But what grounds you have for insisting that are unclear, and I suppose they could say 'We made a mistake, sorry, contract void'. And then you're back where you started. Life is, annoyingly sometimes, a compromise.
XMT said:
I have yet to come across a compatible tonner that is even near as good as genuine toners.
I have tried quite a few and they always always let me down.
I only use genuine cartridges now - the hassle it doesn't cause is worth the outlay!
Absolutely + 1. Genuine cartridges are the only reliable version - but why on earth do they cost so much ???I have tried quite a few and they always always let me down.
I only use genuine cartridges now - the hassle it doesn't cause is worth the outlay!
Robertj21a said:
Absolutely + 1. Genuine cartridges are the only reliable version - but why on earth do they cost so much ???
Because the market has decided that people want a 400 quid printer for 50 quid - so the manufacturers have to bump the price of the consumables to make up the shortfall.Trabi601 said:
Robertj21a said:
Absolutely + 1. Genuine cartridges are the only reliable version - but why on earth do they cost so much ???
Because the market has decided that people want a 400 quid printer for 50 quid - so the manufacturers have to bump the price of the consumables to make up the shortfall.Its important to check not just the toner prices but other maintenance items such as drums etc
Trabi601 said:
Because the market has decided that people want a 400 quid printer for 50 quid - so the manufacturers have to bump the price of the consumables to make up the shortfall.
I would put that the other way around. The manufacturers decided to sell the units cheap so they could make more £'s on the consumables.Trabi601 said:
Because the market has decided that people want a 400 quid printer for 50 quid - so the manufacturers have to bump the price of the consumables to make up the shortfall.
This wasn't a cheap printer with expensive ink, it's an older business grade HP laserjet and would probably have cost about £2k new. The genuine toner cartridges are rated at 8000 pages which lasts me ages. The remanufactured carts also claim to have the same page count, but that hasn't been my experience.Anyway, they've sent me a revised invoice bringing the price down to a level that I'm willing to accept non oem carts.
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