[mtdjed]

Questions for users of HP instant Ink. We had a need to sign up for HP instant Ink when our son visited and worked from our home. We signed up for 100 copies per month and were supplied all ink cartridges required for about $7/month. Price went up to $8/mo and required copies diminished.

Long story shortened. Copy requirement reduced and ready to cancel HP Instant Ink but find out that all delivered cartridges will be disabled upon quit date.

Just wondering if others have encountered this situation?

[ResQme]

HP will disable your printer when you cancel the subscription. Change your payment info to Paypal (with $0 balance and no linked bank/card.) or to a Debit card that has no money, or to a credit card that's about to expire. This way, when the ink eventually runs out and they want to send you new cartridges, they won't, and will alert you that your payment method is not working. Then you can cancel your subscription and install your own cartridges. (Not sure if I explained that clearly)

[ResQme]

Also, if you are really not printing much at all, change your plan to a lower plan. For example, my plan is 10 or 15 pages a month, I can't recall exactly, and I pay less monthly.

[bopat]

Wow! That's a new one! HP bean counters at it again!

I've got a Canon laser printer, got it for around $130 at Best Buy. With the included print cartridge that doesn't dry out (it's toner not ink), I'll get around 1700 pages. Printing what I print, around 5 pages a month, it'll last me over 25 years. No subscriptions.

[ElDiabloJoe]

Originally Posted by bopat

Wow! That's a new one! HP bean counters at it again!

I've got a Canon laser printer, got it for around $130 at Best Buy. With the included print cartridge that doesn't dry out (it's toner not ink), I'll get around 1700 pages. Printing what I print, around 5 pages a month, it'll last me over 25 years. No subscriptions.

I did the same thing a few years ago. Bought a Canon laser printer at Costco, and a toner cartridge. I try to avoid the subscription scam for suckers business model.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by ResQme

HP will disable your printer when you cancel the subscription. Change your payment info to Paypal (with $0 balance and no linked bank/card.) or to a Debit card that has no money, or to a credit card that's about to expire. This way, when the ink eventually runs out and they want to send you new cartridges, they won't, and will alert you that your payment method is not working. Then you can cancel your subscription and install your own cartridges. (Not sure if I explained that clearly)

No, it doesn't disable your printer. It disables your ink cartridges. You can then go to Staples or Walmart or Target or online at Amazon and buy HP ink cartridges that go with your printer and use those instead.

You're paying for pages, not ink. You can stop your subscription effective the next cycle, and just use up all the pages you have available on your subscription until that date.

It's $7.99/month for up to 100 pages per month. If you use less, you can get the 50-page-per-month plan for $5.49, up from $4.99 a couple of years ago.

There IS a printer plan, that comes with a printer AND Instant Ink - and if you choose not to pay for it anymore, THAT will disable your printer. But if you own your printer outright, then no - your printer won't be disabled and will still be 100% usable if you discontinue your Instant Ink subscription.

Call them on the phone, let them know you want to cancel the plan effective the NEXT billing cycle. Make sure to write down when that is on your calendar. And go to the store and buy the appropriate ink, for that day when the cartridges stop working.

If you get it at Staples, you can sign up for their rewards, and turn in those used cartridges for a $2 store credit each. You can use that toward the cost of another ream of paper (or anything else the store sells except for gift cards).

(how I know all this: I used to work at Staples, I was the 9th top HP salesperson nationwide for 6 months and received multiple awards and prizes from HP - including 6 years worth of free Instant Ink, 3 HP printers, 2 HP laptops including a $1500 gaming laptop, and $100 toward my choice of HP desktops. I was also an HP Instant Ink "beta tester" for certain programs they were trying out, and received a thermos, a mini-printer with a couple years worth of Zink paper to use in it, Starbucks gift cards, a bluetooth mini speaker, keychain, dinner and seminar at Dave & Busters with $25 in game credit while there, and a bunch of other odds and ends. If it has to do with HP ink printers and Instant Ink, I'm pretty much the person you want to ask about it.)

[Stu from NYC]

Thankfully when I started my business and made 500 or so copies a month bought a copier using toner.

Wife pushed me to buy ink (she worked at staples at the time and the ink salespeople persuaded her ink was better than toner) but heard a few stories of ink drying up and was convinced on what to do

[ResQme]

"No, it doesn't disable your printer. It disables your ink cartridges. You can then go to Staples or Walmart or Target or online at Amazon and buy HP ink cartridges that go with your printer and use those instead"

Sorry, that's what I meant. If the ink cartridges are disabled, then the printer is pretty much disabled, until he buys his own cartridges. (I worked for HP for 15 years.)

[Topspinmo]

Sounds like rip off to me. I’ve got two printers I just buy toner when they get low. 100 pages way to low IMO for 8 bucks month, sounds just like car payment. I surprised they don’t have interest charges on top of 8 bucks?

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

No, it doesn't disable your printer. It disables your ink cartridges. You can then go to Staples or Walmart or Target or online at Amazon and buy HP ink cartridges that go with your printer and use those instead.

You're paying for pages, not ink. You can stop your subscription effective the next cycle, and just use up all the pages you have available on your subscription until that date.

It's $7.99/month for up to 100 pages per month. If you use less, you can get the 50-page-per-month plan for $5.49, up from $4.99 a couple of years ago.

There IS a printer plan, that comes with a printer AND Instant Ink - and if you choose not to pay for it anymore, THAT will disable your printer. But if you own your printer outright, then no - your printer won't be disabled and will still be 100% usable if you discontinue your Instant Ink subscription.

Call them on the phone, let them know you want to cancel the plan effective the NEXT billing cycle. Make sure to write down when that is on your calendar. And go to the store and buy the appropriate ink, for that day when the cartridges stop working.

If you get it at Staples, you can sign up for their rewards, and turn in those used cartridges for a $2 store credit each. You can use that toward the cost of another ream of paper (or anything else the store sells except for gift cards).

(how I know all this: I used to work at Staples, I was the 9th top HP salesperson nationwide for 6 months and received multiple awards and prizes from HP - including 6 years worth of free Instant Ink, 3 HP printers, 2 HP laptops including a $1500 gaming laptop, and $100 toward my choice of HP desktops. I was also an HP Instant Ink "beta tester" for certain programs they were trying out, and received a thermos, a mini-printer with a couple years worth of Zink paper to use in it, Starbucks gift cards, a bluetooth mini speaker, keychain, dinner and seminar at Dave & Busters with $25 in game credit while there, and a bunch of other odds and ends. If it has to do with HP ink printers and Instant Ink, I'm pretty much the person you want to ask about it.)

Hp and Microsoft are the model T’s in the computer world IMO. Slow, slow, and slower.

[Stu from NYC]

BTW found that toner is a lot cheaper at amazon that staples or even sams

[Rocksnap]

I had a situation where it was cheaper to just buy a ON SALE NEW printer, with its ink, then it was to just buy the replacement cartridges.
Explain that one to me.

[PLedoux]

However, make sure you buy HP cartridges. I bought an off brand from Amazon at about half the price of the HP brand and they DID disable the printer. I will never own another HP printer again. It seems illegal to me for them to be able to disable the printer like that. Canon printers are my new favorites.

[NoMo50]

Originally Posted by Rocksnap

I had a situation where it was cheaper to just buy a ON SALE NEW printer, with its ink, then it was to just buy the replacement cartridges.
Explain that one to me.

HP could give the printers away, and still make a ton of money. It's all about the ink.

[AnthonyJ]

Get rid of the ink... I have a HP B & W laser printer which is the way to go.