<story><title>Tell HN: Cancelling HP Instant Ink prevents cartridges from being used</title><text>I bought an HP printer that came with an HP Instant Ink subscription a year ago. The subscription promises to send you ink when you&amp;#x27;re running low as long as you print within the designated number of pages.&lt;p&gt;I recently changed my card and figured I would let the subscription expire.&lt;p&gt;Fast forward to today. I go to print something and find that the printer is &amp;quot;unable to print&amp;quot; even though there is ample ink left in the cartridges. I press a button on the printer and it spits out a report that states the printer is unable to print, except for printer reports (!).&lt;p&gt;I dig a little (since the error message they show provides no additional information beyond not being able to print) and find this thread [0] in their support forum. It turns out that once the subscription is cancelled or suspended, you are no longer able to use the ink that has been sent to you. Some even report not being able to print with cartridges they bought independently.&lt;p&gt;It turns out that their terms state that you&amp;#x27;re buying the ability to print x pages and the ink is actually always owned by HP, even when in your possession.&lt;p&gt;This has to be one shadiest and just overall worst product experiences I&amp;#x27;ve come across in a while.&lt;p&gt;Printers have always been a bit of a pain but since when did they have to be near permanently connected to the internet else threaten to cut you off from all of their capabilities.&lt;p&gt;[0] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;web.archive.org&amp;#x2F;web&amp;#x2F;20230522114823&amp;#x2F;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;h30434.www3.hp.com&amp;#x2F;t5&amp;#x2F;Printers-Knowledge-Base&amp;#x2F;Cancelled-Instant-Ink-service-and-now-I-can-t-print&amp;#x2F;ta-p&amp;#x2F;7037780&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;web.archive.org&amp;#x2F;web&amp;#x2F;20230522114823&amp;#x2F;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;h30434.ww...&lt;/a&gt;</text></story><parent_chain><item><author>blitz</author><text>I’ve been a very happy Brothers customer for nearly two decades. We still have the same laser printer. Would highly recommend a laser printer over ink printers in most cases and would advocate for Brothers over any other brand printer at this point. The printer we have has never had any issues, including a situation where a bunch of boba tea spilled into the printer. Hosed it down, let it dry, and still works!</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>chandlerswift</author><text>I was looking into Brother (again) as a result of this post, and it turns out they also have their own Instant Ink-style program, with the same &amp;quot;cancel and we&amp;#x27;ll trash your still-full toner cartridge&amp;quot; terms[0]. Though, perhaps unsurprisingly, it does seem like they do a much better job about making it clearer what you&amp;#x27;re opting into, though the &amp;quot;we&amp;#x27;ll make your formerly-working cartridge unusable&amp;quot; note was fairly buried in the FAQs, and not terribly clear up front.&lt;p&gt;[0]: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.brother-usa.com&amp;#x2F;supplies&amp;#x2F;subscription-info&amp;#x2F;refresh-faqs#cancelling&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.brother-usa.com&amp;#x2F;supplies&amp;#x2F;subscription-info&amp;#x2F;refre...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>Tell HN: Cancelling HP Instant Ink prevents cartridges from being used</title><text>I bought an HP printer that came with an HP Instant Ink subscription a year ago. The subscription promises to send you ink when you&amp;#x27;re running low as long as you print within the designated number of pages.&lt;p&gt;I recently changed my card and figured I would let the subscription expire.&lt;p&gt;Fast forward to today. I go to print something and find that the printer is &amp;quot;unable to print&amp;quot; even though there is ample ink left in the cartridges. I press a button on the printer and it spits out a report that states the printer is unable to print, except for printer reports (!).&lt;p&gt;I dig a little (since the error message they show provides no additional information beyond not being able to print) and find this thread [0] in their support forum. It turns out that once the subscription is cancelled or suspended, you are no longer able to use the ink that has been sent to you. Some even report not being able to print with cartridges they bought independently.&lt;p&gt;It turns out that their terms state that you&amp;#x27;re buying the ability to print x pages and the ink is actually always owned by HP, even when in your possession.&lt;p&gt;This has to be one shadiest and just overall worst product experiences I&amp;#x27;ve come across in a while.&lt;p&gt;Printers have always been a bit of a pain but since when did they have to be near permanently connected to the internet else threaten to cut you off from all of their capabilities.&lt;p&gt;[0] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;web.archive.org&amp;#x2F;web&amp;#x2F;20230522114823&amp;#x2F;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;h30434.www3.hp.com&amp;#x2F;t5&amp;#x2F;Printers-Knowledge-Base&amp;#x2F;Cancelled-Instant-Ink-service-and-now-I-can-t-print&amp;#x2F;ta-p&amp;#x2F;7037780&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;web.archive.org&amp;#x2F;web&amp;#x2F;20230522114823&amp;#x2F;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;h30434.ww...&lt;/a&gt;</text></story><parent_chain><item><author>blitz</author><text>I’ve been a very happy Brothers customer for nearly two decades. We still have the same laser printer. Would highly recommend a laser printer over ink printers in most cases and would advocate for Brothers over any other brand printer at this point. The printer we have has never had any issues, including a situation where a bunch of boba tea spilled into the printer. Hosed it down, let it dry, and still works!</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>hellcow</author><text>I also have a ~$70 black-and-white Brother laser printer which is more than a decade old at this point. Never had a single issue or complaint with it.</text></comment>