Surprise … another increase to your HP Instant Ink subscription

double_dutchy

I was also on the £1.99 plan that increased to £2.99, now £3.99. That's way to much for me so I've just bought some XL genuine cartridges online at Viking for £42.59 (including a 15% discount for first order). 

That sounds expensive but I don't like compatible cartridges (because I've had bad experiences in the past with those) and really, if they last 3 or four years, which is likely with my usage then I'll be paying closer to £1 a month for ink rather than £3.99

Ozzig

EssexExile said:

EssexExile said:

No increase to my 99p HP Instant Ink subscription. Yet.

I spoke too soon! Now £1.49. I think I can live with that.

I messaged them to say although 50p is easily affordable I thought a 50% increase was excessive, they wooed my with a free month, oh well, better than nothing.

I looked for alternatives and unless I missed something for very low use they are still the cheapest.

Ross55

I decided to cancel my sub too, it just not worth it anymore, I had the 50 pages for £1.99  , then in 2022 increased to £2.99 (thought ok) then next month another increase to £3.99, why cannot they introduce something like 30 or 20 pages for £1.99, as i need more than 10 pages p/m but no more than 30 p/m, the thing is who knows next year another increase to £4.99 and so on, as long as people put their head down and pay, they will keep increasing it, i read a post about Milk and break, sluggish way of thinking, the difference is i need milk and break but i don't necessary need ink on a monthly hyped charge. simply

adonis10

Email today for the 10 page plan, £0.99 to £1.49, a nice 51% increase. Did inflation ever hit 51%? Literally cancelling from my next renewal date, the greed of these big companies is astounding.

That’s £18 for 120 pages a year (and there are occasions where I have to print a load more so would tip into the next category). Just checked cost of new cartridges and it’s about £20 each so £40
and they do 480 pages black and 360 colour. I think that’d last me 3 years the amount I print. 
Or I may not even bother and just use the printer and paper at my large corporate employer, for free!

Ozzig

adonis10 said:

Email today for the 10 page plan, £0.99 to £1.49, a nice 51% increase. Did inflation ever hit 51%? Literally cancelling from my next renewal date, the greed of these big companies is astounding.

That’s £18 for 120 pages a year (and there are occasions where I have to print a load more so would tip into the next category). Just checked cost of new cartridges and it’s about £20 each so £40
and they do 480 pages black and 360 colour. I think that’d last me 3 years the amount I print. 
Or I may not even bother and just use the printer and paper at my large corporate employer, for free!

One thing I've been bitten by before going Instant Ink, as I also don't print much, is I've had cartridges dry up a bit so spent way too long trying to unclog them in the past. One benefit to their sending out low-yield cartridges.

Also, I couldn't find a comparably priced subscription service for really low use, otherwise, I'd have jumped ship too.

Loved a Kodak printer I inherited, worked for years until I didn't printer for 5-6 months and the non-Kodak cartridge I used was all gummed up, ended up spending the price of a new printer to fail to get it working again.

HP's % increase is bang out of order, but, I've been paying 99p for years when inflation was constantly increasing, albeit not by ~50%, but I know the price of a lot of things has risen faster than the ink and my salary has not kept up.

Undervalued

adonis10 said:

Email today for the 10 page plan, £0.99 to £1.49, a nice 51% increase. Did inflation ever hit 51%? Literally cancelling from my next renewal date, the greed of these big companies is astounding.

That’s £18 for 120 pages a year (and there are occasions where I have to print a load more so would tip into the next category). Just checked cost of new cartridges and it’s about £20 each so £40
and they do 480 pages black and 360 colour. I think that’d last me 3 years the amount I print. 
Or I may not even bother and just use the printer and paper at my large corporate employer, for free!

On average! If you print any significant number of photographs it will be vastly less than that

kevinl34

I have just had a Whatsapp conversation with HP over the price rise, justified by their Tech Support person as follows " the price change that occurred was decided by HP due to a couple of factors, one being that the travel fees got higher, because as you may know, the ink is shipped from Frankfurt, Germany. Also, HP has been manufacturing better quality ink, and that comes at a price, naturally, so with the better quality and performance, comes a higher pricing, don't forget that the ink is delivered to you for free, so the price increase happens to the plan, as a result." so there you have it, my 50 pages now costs £3.99 instead of £2.99pm, a 33% uplift. Just as a matter of interest, if you PAUSE the Instant Ink service, you get 10 pages per month absolutely free, and you can do that for up to 6 months.

double_dutchy

They don't give much publicity to that "Pause" option. When I tried to cancel originally on their app, I saw the pause option with no explanation of what it was, so I tried clicking on it but could never get it to work.....so I gave up and cancelled instead.

What happens if you use more than 10 pages per month on the pause option?

RubyMax28

[Deleted User] said:

kevlar68 said:

I’ve just got an email from HP stating that they are increasing my subscription from January 2024. It has previously increased from £1.99 to £2.99.. then another hike in January… to £3.99! The shareholders are going to be very happy! Sadly I will not be paying 100% extra for subscription and contributing to their extortionate profits. Are you having a laugh!  

When my HP printer eventually stops working efficiently (it’s already playing up!) I am likely going to buy an alternative make.
ps It is good practice for companies to retain loyal customers, not alienate them! Happy Christmas HP  

Snap. Whilst it is a good service and in the main trouble free, there comes a time when you think, is it worth it. I thought not. I notified them i aum to discontinue and dropped the machine in a skip. Last month. 

Now I miss it. However the wise and the good on mse tell me the way forward is an inkjet printer. That may well be the outcome. 

Yeah, that's the problem with the subscription model - when you do act and get rid of it you end up missing it. But if you keep it after all the price hikes, you resent it anyway.