HP, Inc., which does business as HP Computing and Printing, Inc. instituted an Instant Ink program to supply ink to those who use its computers. But the complaint for this class action alleges that there are two major catches to the program—a prohibition on buying ink from other sources, despite the delivery of error-prone cartridges, and an inability to use the cartridges they’ve bought through the program if they cancel.
The Instant Ink program charges customers a flat fee every month and purports to keep them supplied with ink. The monthly charges for the plan vary with the customers’ printing volume.
According to the complaint, the program operates in several steps: Subscribers register their printers, allowing HP to monitor them. HP detects when the printers run low on ink, then ships new cartridges to the subscribers. The subscribers receive the cartridges in time to install them when the ink runs out.
However, the complaint alleges that there are two catches in the program.
First, subscribers can use only cartridges from the program, the complaint alleges; they are not allowed to buy cartridges from retail sources. Is that really a problem? The complaint says yes: “HP routinely fails to timely provide Subscribers with replacement printer cartridges, and, even when it does, Subscribers find themselves overwhelmed with error messages that prevent them from printing.”
Even if HP immediately ships out more cartridges, this still results in a delay during which the subscribers cannot use their printers. Cartridges may have to be sent multiple times. For example, the plaintiff in this case, Radek Barnert, “was unable to use his printer for thirty-five (35) days due to these issues[,]” the complaint claims.
The second problem is that the cartridges sent to subscribers will not work if the subscriber unsubscribes from the program. The complaint quotes HP as saying that subscribers can “change or cancel [their] plan any time, at no extra costs,” and “go back to using” cartridges bought from other sources. In other words, even though subscribers have paid to receive the cartridges, they cannot get their full benefit if they unsubscribe.
Finally, HP promised that subscribers would be able to return empty cartridges in prepaid envelopes for recycling, but the complaint alleges that this is not always possible.
Two classes and two subclasses have been defined for this action:
- The Printing Class is all persons and entities in the US who were subscribed to the HP Instant Ink Program and had an interruption in printing because of an error message, faulty cartridges, or cartridges being out of stock.
- The Environmental Class is all persons and entities in the US who were subscribed to the HP Instant Ink Program but were not provided materials for free recycling.
- Each of these has a New York Subclass, for those in New York.
Topic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
HP Instant Ink Subscription Program Problems Complaint
July 6, 2021
HP, Inc., which does business as HP Computing and Printing, Inc. instituted an Instant Ink program to supply ink to those who use its computers. But the complaint for this class action alleges that there are two major catches to the program—a prohibition on buying ink from other sources, despite the delivery of error-prone cartridges, and an inability to use the cartridges they’ve bought through the program if they cancel.
HP Instant Ink Subscription Program Problems ComplaintCase Event History
HP Instant Ink Subscription Program Problems Complaint
July 6, 2021
HP, Inc., which does business as HP Computing and Printing, Inc. instituted an Instant Ink program to supply ink to those who use its computers. But the complaint for this class action alleges that there are two major catches to the program—a prohibition on buying ink from other sources, despite the delivery of error-prone cartridges, and an inability to use the cartridges they’ve bought through the program if they cancel.
HP Instant Ink Subscription Program Problems Complaint