A brief recap, for people who don’t want to read all of my blog postings about this problem: My HP C5280 printer doesn’t print photos properly. HP has sent me two replacement printers and four or five replacement ink cartridges, none of which have solved the problem. I have wasted around seven hours of my time, as well as a great deal of paper, photo sheets and ink, trying to solve the problem.
I just spoke once again to my guy “Steve” at the Hewlett Packard case manager line. He says that since we’ve tried replacing the printer and ink cartridges and it hasn’t helped, we need to try replacing the paper. He’s supposedly sending me a new package of photo paper.
This, despite the fact that I’ve seen the problem consistently on multiple kinds of paper produced and purchased in different lots, including on a brand new box of genuine HP glossy photo paper which was sealed until I opened it last night immediately before testing the third printer he had sent me.
I asked him for the second time to send a technician to my house to solve the problem, since troubleshooting it remotely clearly has not worked. He once again refused.
I asked him to send FedEx to take back the printers, ink and photo paper I bought from HP and give me my money back. He refused. He told me that if I wanted my money back, I would have to go the merchant from whom I bought the printer. When I told him that I bought the printer, the photo paper and the ink cartridges directly from HP at hpshopping.com, he told me that I would have to speak to hpshopping.com about a refund. Um, hello, the reason why I bought everythin directly from HP is because I assumed that HP would support it!
I asked if there was anyone else to whom I could speak who would be able to do more. He said no.
I asked for the telephone number of HP’s executive complaints department. He said I could get it from the HP Web site, and they would just refer the case back to him.
I asked how I could file a warranty claim against the printer, which is within its warranty period and remains defective despite HP’s best efforts to fix it, and he said that HP does not give refunds and the only thing he could do is send me a package of photo paper to see if that solves the problem.
I’ve spent $285.64 on the printer, ink, and photo paper I purchased from HP. At this point, all I want is for HP to give me back my money and take back their printers, ink cartridges, and paper.
Hewlett Packard used to be such an amazing company. It’s such a shame that they are no longer.
