The cheek...

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

I bought a Printer from PC world yesterday, brought it home and set it up and was missing the USB cord, had to go back for it. Thing is, they charged me for it, 7.50... after spending money on the printer, paper and spare ink, they charge me for something that should have been in the bloody box in the first place... Is this normal? Happen to anyone else? Feel robbed? GRRR!!!! There's a recession.


Rant over...*
















*May not be over...

tribulus

I have lots of BOGOF Burger King vouchers if it will make you feel better.

Earthhorse

Well, did you say it to them that it was missing? And say that they shouldn't have charged you for it?

Biggins

This is normal practise now ...and yes, its a bit of a con!

When you but a tv, dvd player, video players (in the past) you get necessary basic cords/leads.
Its a way to get more money from you and lower the manufactures pricing wholesale costs.

AlmightyCushion

I don't think any printers come with the usb cables any more (I've seen some wireless ones that do). I'm surprised they haven't done this with cameras/external hard drives/etc. that use standardised connections.

Alicat

Did it say specifically on the packaging that the USB cord was meant to be in the box?

chopperbyrne

Juliette Aggressive Noose wrote: »

Rant

Why did you pay?

Why didn't you just insist it wasn't in the box and get one free?

you never get the cable with the printer - tis a smelly fact but has been that way for years

Kiera

Did it say in the welcome pack thingy that it was meant to be included? Or is it like a dvd player where you dont get a scart lead?

Now if it said it was meant to be included and you still paid for it i would call you a very silly billy.

Adamcp898

Was it a HP one?

None of their printers have came with the USB cord for years, decided it wasn't their responsibility

Gran Hermano

I've bought numerous printers over the year and they never come with cables.

This was even the case back in the days before USB when you needed a parallel printer cable.

AlmightyCushion

Oops forgot this was after hours.

Yore ma is a printer cable.
I for one welcome our usb cable=less printer overlords.
Fail!
etc. etc.

galwayrush

If you do get a free cable, it's always a crap one. You pay through the nose for thegood stuff.

banshee_bones

yeah check the box, thats outrageous.

do people still have to buy scart leads for dvd players? i remember when i bought my dvd player few years back there was none with it..which i found odd

OpenYourEyes

yeah, the last two years at least nearly all companies have stopped including USB cables, and similarly stopped including SCART leads in dvd players etc

MarkR

Gran Hermano wrote: »

I've bought numerous printers over the year and they never come with cables.

This was even the case back in the days before USB when you needed a parallel printer cable.

Yep, they call it an accessory. I was not a happy bunny. Mr. Sarcasm came out to play. Didn't help, but it felt good.

galwayrush

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Oops forgot this was after hours.

Yore ma is a printer cable.
I for one welcome our usb cable=less printer overlords.
Fail!
etc. etc.

Feck, so did i, ignore my serious post above.:o

Guy:Incognito

Biggins wrote: »

This is normal practise now ...and yes, its a bit of a con!

When you but a tv, dvd player, video players (in the past) you get necessary basic cords/leads.
Its a way to get more money from you and lower the manufactures pricing wholesale costs.

Printers havnt come with cables as far back as the days of parallel ports.

Dvd players never came with Scart leads either, only rcs cables. TV's and videos only ever came with coax cables too.

I bought my daughter (ahem, I mean santa bought) a v-tech smile computer thingy that plugs into the tv, got the scart lead, but didn't get the dc adaptor - cost an extra tenner for the bloody plug! thieving baxtards

Biggins

Stekelly wrote: »

Printers havnt come with cables as far back as the days of parallel ports.

Dvd players never came with Scart leads either, only rcs cables. TV's and videos only ever came with coax cables too.

Lexmark for a period of time supplied the needed connections.
Then they kopped on to what everyone else was doing and copied them.
The sods...

mukki

i think there was a short window where you had the choice of a usb or parallel cable, usb was faster, but only some pcs had usb, so you bought the printer then bought the cable to suit

its probably a good thing because, if you wanted to buy a printer to replace your old one, would you mind the cable being bundled and hence added onto the price of your new printer when your old cable was working fine

i usually keep about 3 of every usb cable in the car

Quazzie

Most printers/dvds etc are replacing other similar items that use the exact same cable. Why include it when ya already have one (most cases)? I remember at one stage I used to have 8 scart leads in a drawer and I was one of the people that was glad when they stopped including them. I can understand the OP's frustration because he obviously didn't know, but thats hardly PC world's fault.

Holsten

Buying from PC World.. terrible mistake.

DonJose

Think thats bad, I bought a printer cable from PC World last week, brought it home and opened it and there was no fukking printer inside just the printer cable, bastards, had to go back and buy a printer... guess what no fukking printer paper inside ended up going back and buying printer paper :mad:

towel401

this is a well known tactic. you are all happy ready to buy your printer and the guy says 'hey it won`t work without one of these overpriced cables'. and unless you know you have one at home you will most likely buy one.

Capt'n Midnight

Back in the day a parallel printer cable would cost you £30, when the volume price from the UK for them was £1.95 and the Honk Kong price was half that.

thing is, you buy a monitor that has usb ports and chances are it has a usb cable

swingking

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

I don't think any printers come with the usb cables any more (I've seen some wireless ones that do). I'm surprised they haven't done this with cameras/external hard drives/etc. that use standardised connections.

ssshhh don't give them any ideas

Ghost Train

I think HP stopped shipping printers with USB cables when they were sued after some nut job strangled 3 office staff with a HP supplied USB cable

<SNIP>

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

hehe, in the "welcome pack" it says, "contents may vary based on location" In other words "If you are in Ireland, you will need to purchase the basic cables in order to work this machine"

It seems that Epson and other companies are not putting in this usb cable to reduce costs? OR, do people have so many of these USB cables, that we don't need them in new hardware anymore?

I can understand batteries been sold seperately. But the scart lead or usb cable is something that is NEEDED to operate the DVD player or printer. It's robbery.

I did tell the manager of PC world and he gave me 50% off, seems like they had a lot of people comming in complaining about it :P

Any other printer I bought had one.

Paper and spare ink are also replaceable, you use them... no problem paying for that seperately. I just don't get it.

AlmightyCushion

Juliette Aggressive Noose wrote: »

It seems that Epson and other companies are not putting in this usb cable to reduce costs? OR, do people have so many of these USB cables, that we don't need them in new hardware anymore?

Bit of column a, bit of column b I'd imagine. I've got tonnes of the things laying about the place (saying that you can't really have too many of them), so if I was to see two identical printers side by side, one with a cable and one without. I'd choose the one without, if it was cheaper.

swingking

I think technically it's not fit for its purpose. When you buy something it should work out of the box OR clearly specify on the box that you need to buy a seperate USB cable for it to work. I wonder if you challenged the shop could you get a free cable.

anniehoo

Im waiting for Vodafone/O2 etc to exclude chargers with their phones! Who needs a full battery when you've a lovely new shiny phone to look at!

Zaph

Adamcp898 wrote: »

Was it a HP one?

None of their printers have came with the USB cord for years, decided it wasn't their responsibility

eolhc wrote: »

I think HP stopped shipping printers with USB cables when they were sued after some nut job strangled 3 office staff with a HP supplied USB cable

<SNIP>

I bought a HP printer last Friday and it definitely has a USB cable with it. Probably will never use it though seeing as it's a wireless printer. :rolleyes:

AlmightyCushion

Zaph wrote: »

I bought a HP printer last Friday and it definitely has a USB cable with it. Probably will never use it though seeing as it's a wireless printer. :rolleyes:

For some reason the wireless ones come with a cable. No idea why. You should need a cable to set it up though.

Loveless

I install a lot of printers... the good Epson home printers usually come with a USB cable. HP ones almost never.

OKI printers never ever came with a parallel cable.

Cianos

They don't include the USB cable incase the Printer decides to hang itself whilst trapped inside that box. Solitary confinement can do crazy things to a man printer.

The_Minister

Check their website.

Zaph

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

For some reason the wireless ones come with a cable. No idea why. You should need a cable to set it up though.

Maybe so, haven't set it up yet.

The Mighty Ken

Juliette Aggressive Noose wrote: »

I bought a Printer from PC world yesterday, brought it home and set it up and was missing the USB cord, had to go back for it. Thing is, they charged me for it, 7.50... after spending money on the printer, paper and spare ink, they charge me for something that should have been in the bloody box in the first place... Is this normal? Happen to anyone else? Feel robbed? GRRR!!!! There's a recession.

Consumers in this country need to grow some balls. You should have brought the printer back and asked for a full refund, explaining that the printer that you were sold didn't work. I can assure you that you're within your rights to do this and, more than likely, Greasy World would have just given you the cable for free.

As long as people allow themselves to be fleeced like this, it will continue to happen.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

The Mighty Ken wrote: »

Consumers in this country need to grow some balls. You should have brought the printer back and asked for a full refund, explaining that the printer that you were sold didn't work. I can assure you that you're within your rights to do this and, more than likely, Greasy World would have just given you the cable for free.

As long as people allow themselves to be fleeced like this, it will continue to happen.

Well I didn't allow myself get fleased, I am happy with the printer itself so far. Just pissed off with the tactics. At the end of the day, I still need a printer. So I bring the printer back, get my money back and then travel to the next computer shop, to buy a printer and find no lead in it? What exactly should I do?

The Mighty Ken

Juliette Aggressive Noose wrote: »

Well I didn't allow myself get fleased, I am happy with the printer itself so far. Just pissed off with the tactics. At the end of the day, I still need a printer. So I bring the printer back, get my money back and then travel to the next computer shop, to buy a printer and find no lead in it? What exactly should I do?

As I was saying... you open the printer box, pull everything out, take the printer out of it's cellophane, take the instructions out of their packs, take the ties off any wires, etc. Then you bring it back and ask for a refund as there was no USB cable supplied (i.e. the printer they sold you doesn't work). Trust me - they'd have given you a free cable rather than having to return the printer back to the manufacturers for re-packaging. Not a 50% slap-across-the-face discount. I know it all seems a little extreme but they fooking deserve it.

Quazzie

The Mighty Ken wrote: »

Consumers in this country need to grow some balls. You should have brought the printer back and asked for a full refund, explaining that the printer that you were sold didn't work. I can assure you that you're within your rights to do this and, more than likely, Greasy World would have just given you the cable for free.

As long as people allow themselves to be fleeced like this, it will continue to happen.

I'm confused. Did he buy a printer or a printer and cable combination. When I buy a kettle I don't expect tea bags or water in the box.

The reason it has no lead is because a lot of people already have the cables from previous printers so why up the price of the printer for everyone by putting an extra cable in it that not everyone needs.

I can see where the OP is coming from and I think PC world and the likes should offer a deal on the cable in store and make the customer aware on original purchase that there is no cable included.

The Mighty Ken wrote: »

As I was saying... you open the printer box, pull everything out, take the printer out of it's cellophane, take the instructions out of their packs, take the ties off any wires, etc. Then you bring it back and ask for a refund as there was no USB cable supplied (i.e. the printer they sold you doesn't work). Trust me - they'd have given you a free cable rather than having to return the printer back to the manufacturers for re-packaging. Not a 50% slap-across-the-face discount. I know it all seems a little extreme but they fooking deserve it.

The printer does work. He just has no way of conncecting to his computer, but it does work.

Gauge

Cables haven't been sold with many printers for YEARS. I worked in a computer shop a few years back and I don't remember ever selling one with a cable. People want cheap printers; removing extras cuts costs.

How are PC World responsible for what HP/Canon/etc decide what not to package with their printers anyway?

BaconZombie

WTF?

The box does not state that it comes with a USB lead. Also following your reasoning you should be able to bring it back for a refund before your forgot your don't have a computer or electricity in your cave.

The better way go doing it is to ask the sales guy if he and throw a free USB lead in when you are buying it in the first place. He does not want to lose the sale and the commission so should happy do so just to close the sale.

I know peats staff have be told for year to give a "free" cable when they sell a printer and to tell the customer "I'm giving you a free USB cable since the manufacture don't not". The fecking this cost < 0.20€ each when bought wholesale in packs of 10, but most shop would buy then by the 1000 so get this for < 0.10€ each.

The Mighty Ken wrote: »

Consumers in this country need to grow some balls. You should have brought the printer back and asked for a full refund, explaining that the printer that you were sold didn't work. I can assure you that you're within your rights to do this and, more than likely, Greasy World would have just given you the cable for free.

As long as people allow themselves to be fleeced like this, it will continue to happen.

Sam Vimes

The Mighty Ken wrote: »

Consumers in this country need to grow some balls. You should have brought the printer back and asked for a full refund, explaining that the printer that you were sold didn't work. I can assure you that you're within your rights to do this and, more than likely, Greasy World would have just given you the cable for free.

As long as people allow themselves to be fleeced like this, it will continue to happen.

i'm afraid that you are assuring him incorrectly mate

Kintarō Hattori

BOFH_139 wrote: »

I know peats staff have be told for year to give a "free" cable when they sell a printer and to tell the customer "I'm giving you a free USB cable since the manufacture don't not".

Yep very true. We do indeed give the customer a free cable as it's a little silly to get a printer without a cable- it needs it to operate.

As has been mentioned not getting a cable is a cost cutting measure which has been going on for years. Another example is not getting a power supply with an mp3 player, nearly all charge via usb so they don't need to include a psu. I think Apple were the first to do this.

KamiKazi

I bought a Printer from PC world

well theres your problem....

BaconZombie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ

KamiKazi wrote: »

well theres your problem....

Smart Bug

Juliette Aggressive Noose wrote: »

I bought a Printer from PC world yesterday...

Well you see, that's where you first went wrong.

TerrorFirmer

Smart Bug wrote: »

Well you see, that's where you first went wrong.

Not really, PC World have pretty OK prices. The last 2 printers I've gotten there, I got for 14.99 and they're absolutely fine. It's cheaper to keep buying then replace the ink.

daveharnett

Juliette Aggressive Noose wrote: »

It seems that Epson and other companies are not putting in this usb cable to reduce costs? OR, do people have so many of these USB cables, that we don't need them in new hardware anymore?

Neither of the above. Including a USB cable would cost them a few cents at most. They don't include one because PC World are more likely to stock a printer which allows them sting customers for an extra fiver at the till.
If PC world were in charge, ON buttons would be sold separately.