New Printer pre-loaded with compatible inks - potential damage?

Supernova

Hi,

I bought a 'New' printer from Ebay which was described as having the box open and pre-loaded with compatible inks.

It came with the cheapest, leakiest campatibles possible and these are pretty variable in performance - either fine, faded or not printing at all.

I think there is a manufacturers warning that non-proprietary inks can damage printers.

Am I protected if the compatibles are replaced with proprietary and the printer goes wrong?

Thanks!

S!

JJ_Egan

Depends upon the warranty T&C many say warranty void if non stock ink used .
Also going to depend upon when it goes wrong .
Millions use decent compatible inks with no problem .
Goes wrong first port of call is the vendor but my guess is that its a non retail / grey market job .

tacpot12

If the advert said non-genuine ink was preinstalled, then you don't have a claim against the retailer, and you certainly don't have a warranty from the manufacturer because you didn't buy a new product. A new product would come with genuine ink.

interstellaflyer

tacpot12 wrote: »

If the advert said non-genuine ink was preinstalled, then you don't have a claim against the retailer, and you certainly don't have a warranty from the manufacturer because you didn't buy a new product. A new product would come with genuine ink.

In the past it wasn’t unheard of for trade sellers to buy end of line printers remove the cartridges and replace them with compats then sell the original cartridges then sell the printer on also for a small profit, not so easy now as most come with set up cartridges and in a lot of cases the set up cartridges need to be installed to activate the printer. However in theory a cheap Canon printer from Aldi that takes 545/546 cartridges would be game for this sort of thing, £30 printer and replacement genuine twin pack of cartridges costing £30 ish.

ballyblack

Canon printers are supplied with only very small amount of ink to charge the system.........you have to replace them almost immediately

Mistral001

Many new printers will come with a set of ink cartridges which have only a small amount of ink in them and the whole package of printer with cartridges will cost only a few pounds more than a set of full genuine ink cartridges on their own.

The manufacturers sell the printers as a loss leader and rely on people buying their cartridges to make their money. A bit like replacement razor blades for those fancy multiple blade razors where the replacement blades, per blade, cost more the blades in the starter pack of blades and handle.

Unfortunately it looks like the OP was informed that the cartridges were replaced by the compatibles before they bought the printer. So if the leaking cartridges have caused the printer to be damaged the manufacturer will no doubt void the warranty.

It is up to to the seller to send replacement compatible cartridges to replace the leaking ones. Strickly speaking the seller is liable for cleaning the printer as well, but I doubt if the OP has a snowball's change of getting them to do this. The seller has probably violated the terms and conditions they have with their own supplier and hence with the manufacturer, so I would report them to the manufacturer. It will not get you a new printer but at least it might cut of the seller's supply of new printers.

interstellaflyer

ballyblack wrote: »

Canon printers are supplied with only very small amount of ink to charge the system.........you have to replace them almost immediately

The type of canon printers that take 540/541 and 545/546 cartridges are sold with the standard yield cartridges, not starter/setup cartridges, all other Canon machines are sold with set up cartridges, as for other manufacturers, Brother supply standard yeid cartridges but the chip needs to activate the machine so in that way they are setup cartridges, all other manufacturers supply very low yield set up cartridges.

Supernova

Thanks guys,

Actually, I've just re-read the description and all it says is that it is in an unbranded box and may have full XL inks pre-installed not specifying compatibles at all.

It is definitely listed as a new printer. I usually stick to the manufacturers ink as it seems better quality to me as I understand it's oil-based rather than water-based. Where would I stand now?

S

Robisere

ballyblack wrote: »

Canon printers are supplied with only very small amount of ink to charge the system.........you have to replace them almost immediately

That is true. I recently bought a Canon TS 6150, but was fortunate to spot a genuine cartridge pack offer on the Canon website, with photo paper. All "XL" large cartridges except no Photo Black, which I bought in "XXL" form separately. Within 2 weeks all the original inks (Canon call them "Demo" inks) failed.

As I print glossies and photos, I have never used any cart's other than genuine in my previous and current printers. Expensive, but I need the professional results.

Robisere

Supernova wrote: »

Thanks guys,

Actually, I've just re-read the description and all it says is that it is in an unbranded box and may have full XL inks pre-installed not specifying compatibles at all.

It is definitely listed as a new printer. I usually stick to the manufacturers ink as it seems better quality to me as I understand it's oil-based rather than water-based. Where would I stand now?

S

Open a dispute with the Seller via Ebay and ask to return the printer for a full refund. It is not as advertised. I would never buy a printer from Ebay. (Cue lots of responses telling me they have and the printers are great. Maybe, but this one wasn't, was it?)

interstellaflyer

Supernova wrote: »

Thanks guys,

I usually stick to the manufacturers ink as it seems better quality to me as I understand it's oil-based rather than water-based. Where would I stand now?

S

Not strictly true, good quality compatible cartridges will have ink that is as close to the OEM formula as allowed, the really cheap ones will probably use a generic formula ie one ink fits all. As for the base liquid, that depends on the manufacturers spec, not whether it’s a cheap compatible or not.