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If the printer suddenly refuses to work, it may be due to a software update from the manufacturer.
For months, the Hewlett Packard (HP) printer has worked flawlessly in a company in eastern Switzerland. But suddenly nothing works anymore. The display shows the message: “Specified print cartridges are blocked because they contain a non-HP chip.”
The company is amazed – after all, the printer had been operated with cheaper third-party cartridges the whole time. What happened?
“If HP had at least informed you!”
HP customer service explains to the company that a firmware update has been installed on the printer, which blocks third-party print cartridges. “We are extremely dissatisfied. It can’t be that HP simply turns off the printer that we bought regularly!”, the company boss is annoyed. The SRF consumer magazine “Espresso” has received several such reports from consumers. One writes: “If HP had at least informed or set a deadline!”
Why is Hewlett Packard suddenly blocking its printers for foreign cartridges with an update of the so-called firmware? “If printer cartridges are copied or counterfeited, the customer is potentially exposed to quality and safety risks that can affect printing,” the statement said. “In addition, HP protects its intellectual property against counterfeiting by using this technology.”
There are regular complaints and repairs, for example due to smeared printouts or dried ink. The cause would turn out to be print cartridges from third-party suppliers. And the guarantee no longer applies in such cases.
HP warns on the Internet and on packaging
The group does not want to answer the question of when exactly HP blocked its printers via automatic updates for third-party cartridges. Just this much: There are regular updates to the firmware. You can also set the device so that you have to release updates manually.
HP sends examples from its homepage to the criticism that customers are not informed about the blocking of third-party cartridges. For each printer model, there is a note that print cartridges with modified or non-HP circuits would be blocked: “Regular firmware updates maintain the effectiveness of these measures and block print cartridges that were previously working.”
The consumer anger remains
Such information can also be found on the packaging. And online retailers would post comparable information. Ultimately, however, the consumer anger remains that there is no free choice when it comes to consumables. You buy a printer that looks cheap at first glance, but can then only be operated with expensive original HP cartridges. It is therefore worthwhile to find out more about the operating costs when buying a printer.