Rip-off Canon inkjet cartridges

Jimllfixit

I wondered why my brand new Canon Pixma MG2950 stopped printing after a few weeks of occasional printing, so I bought a new set of Canon 545 and 546 cartridges for it. The fresh cartridges expired very quickly too, so being of a suspicious mind, I popped off the cartridge lids to see what the story was.

Well, each cartridge section had a rectangular sponge in it, and when I poked these out with a pair of tweezers, I found they were barely inked at all. Most of the sponge was completely white, with only the bottom third showing any ink.

I sent photos of the dismantled sponges to Canon (in the UK as it seems they don't have a presence in Ireland) and they denied everything. Flat. Their process was perfect, and I was not competent to describe what I saw and found.

They did say their colour cartridges have 3ml of ink per colour, so I got my syringe and found that if you DID put 3ml ink into a section with a (dry) sponge, it wetted the whole thing right up to the top.

I got onto Canon again, and they denied everything again, excepting to admit that that it was their cartridge.

My advice is, DO NOT BUY CANON CARTRIDGES. EVER. Buy 3rd party "spurious" for half the price and THREE times the ink. Or fill them yourself, there are plenty of videos on the web showing how easy it is.

Or buy Epson instead.

4068ac1elhodqr

Imagine 3ml is about the amount of lovejuice a typical field mouse would offer to his ladyfriend.
The standard amount for normal printer cartridges is 5, and usually 10ml for the XL type blacks on domestic printers.

Just yesterday, discovered a way to override my (Kodak) printer so that it continues to print mostly black, with an empty colour ink cartridge.
The hack could void warranties, but only need mono prints (currently) not interested in forking out 5notes for a fresh (replica) colour set.

BorneTobyWilde

Only matter of time before your printer throws the whole '' wrong print head installed error'' then you can really get mad at Canon.

ED E

WHAT IS THE CANON PIXMA MG2950?

An all-in-one printer for ?30 sounds pretty exceptional and on paper the Canon PIXMA MG2950 offers all the basics, including wireless connection for mobile print. Aimed squarely at the student and home markets, the printer is available in black or white and has a neat, modern appearance.

What did you expect? They gave you a printer at 80% off cost price.

tedpan

Canon invented inkjet cartridges and own the patent. Everytime a cartridge is produced, canon sees royalties.

L1011

tedpan wrote: »

Canon invented inkjet cartridges and own the patent. Everytime a cartridge is produced, canon sees royalties.

Inkjet technology has been out of patent for decades. I had a Canon Bubblejet when I was a kid and I'm not particularly young!

All printers are sold on the razor and blades model - printer is under cost, cartridges are hugely dear.


As goes the sponge - as the ink goes out, it loses any colour.

homer911

With small mono Laserjet printers so cheap these days I dont know why anyone buys an inkjet!

If only printing occasionally, more often than not the ink dries out and the nozzle jets seize up

Winterlong

I used to work for a printer company and even the staff 80% discounted injet cartridges were too expensive to justify IMO.
Investing in more expensive laser printer is the way to go if you are a regular long term user.

Jimllfixit

Well, that's interesting about laser printers, that will be my next birthday present to myself.

Don't think the sponges go white when they are finished, though; I am sure the Canon reps would have been quick to use that to discredit my little bit of quality control.

No, the real problem is much more serious than that; here we have a major multi-national denying that they skimped on filling the cartridges, despite being offered genuine evidence and decent customer feedback.

I would not be surprised if their filling machine is deliberately set to "1ml".

Of course, it's a bit stupid to risk their otherwise decent name in the industry.

And of course, we're all a bit stupid for not taking things back to the supplier or distributor and complaining.

The trouble is, it's so difficult to prove you've been cheated, especially with inkjet cartridges. And who in Tesco will care? What's the Residual Waste bin for anyway?

I'd put a post up on Facebook, except that's as much use as peeing into a deep deep well.

If I've warned one other person, then this thread will have done enough for me.

Erik Shin

homer911 wrote: »

With small mono Laserjet printers so cheap these days I dont know why anyone buys an inkjet!

If only printing occasionally, more often than not the ink dries out and the nozzle jets seize up

You do know that laser toner cartridges cost upwards of €85

Nutser

I get laser cartridges for 45 on Inkmaestro.ie. They do over 2000 pages. I have a colour LaserJet as well and even though the printer cost 400 and a full set of cartridges approx 200, it has still saved me money over inkjet.

Erik Shin

Nutser wrote: »

I get laser cartridges for 45 on Inkmaestro.ie. They do over 2000 pages. I have a colour LaserJet as well and even though the printer cost 400 and a full set of cartridges approx 200, it has still saved me money over inkjet.

We are discussing original inks...Not compatibles

L1011

Erik Shin wrote: »

You do know that laser toner cartridges cost upwards of €85

For certain printers, and generally only those that include the drum (HP for instance)

Brother HL series lasers are about 75 quid and genuine toner is 35; drum is 55 and will last maybe 10 toners.

Erik Shin

L1011 wrote: »

For certain printers, and generally only those that include the drum (HP for instance)

Brother HL series lasers are about 75 quid and genuine toner is 35; drum is 55 and will last maybe 10 toners.

You'd be incorrect with those prices
The most common neither toner at the moment is the TN2110 and retails between €60-70

L1011

Erik Shin wrote: »

You'd be incorrect with those prices

Considering I just checked all of them, no.

Erik Shin

L1011 wrote: »

Considering I just checked all of them, no.

You'd better check again ,

Erik Shin

L1011 wrote: »

Considering I just checked all of them, no.

And, as you probably know....some of the inexpensive printers are slow, cumbersome and troublesome....same as any inkjet printer...you get what you pay for

L1011

Erik Shin wrote: »

You'd better check again ,

Two minutes, Irish stores, in stock and available:

Printer: https://powercity.ie/index.php?par=20-50-HL1210&action=moreinfo
Original toner: https://www.123ink.ie/Brother-TN-1050-black-toner-original-Brother-TN1050-i22920.html
Original Drum: https://www.123ink.ie/Brother-DR1050-drum-original-i22922.html?gclid=Cj0KEQjwi7vIBRDpo9W8y7Ct6ZcBEiQA1CwV2EY1aJjFucqoVmLvDwZus2FnsFxtMPNNTsVCIsUmJDYaAiij8P8HAQ

Cheaper available.

I'd suggest you learn how search engines work before posting again.

Erik Shin

L1011 wrote: »

Two minutes, Irish stores, in stock and available:

Printer: https://powercity.ie/index.php?par=20-50-HL1210&action=moreinfo
Original toner: https://www.123ink.ie/Brother-TN-1050-black-toner-original-Brother-TN1050-i22920.html
Original Drum: https://www.123ink.ie/Brother-DR1050-drum-original-i22922.html?gclid=Cj0KEQjwi7vIBRDpo9W8y7Ct6ZcBEiQA1CwV2EY1aJjFucqoVmLvDwZus2FnsFxtMPNNTsVCIsUmJDYaAiij8P8HAQ

Cheaper available.

I'd suggest you learn how search engines work before posting again.

Like I said... Product absolute rubbish

L1011

Erik Shin wrote: »

And, as you probably know....some of the inexpensive printers are slow, cumbersome and troublesome....same as any inkjet printer...you get what you pay for

PCL6 LPR network printers are rarely cumbersome or troublesome.

If you buy without research, you get problems. Not applicable here.

Erik Shin wrote: »

Like I said... absolute rubbish

You were wrong (hugely) and are acting extremely childish now

Erik Shin

L1011 wrote: »

Two minutes, Irish stores, in stock and available:

Printer: https://powercity.ie/index.php?par=20-50-HL1210&action=moreinfo
Original toner: https://www.123ink.ie/Brother-TN-1050-black-toner-original-Brother-TN1050-i22920.html
Original Drum: https://www.123ink.ie/Brother-DR1050-drum-original-i22922.html?gclid=Cj0KEQjwi7vIBRDpo9W8y7Ct6ZcBEiQA1CwV2EY1aJjFucqoVmLvDwZus2FnsFxtMPNNTsVCIsUmJDYaAiij8P8HAQ

Cheaper available.

I'd suggest you learn how search engines work before posting again.

I suggest you don't tell me my business of over 20 years

Erik Shin

L1011 wrote: »

PCL6 LPR network printers are rarely cumbersome or troublesome.

If you buy without research, you get problems. Not applicable here.



You were wrong (hugely) and are acting extremely childish now

You are quite wrong...so will leave it there,

L1011

Erik Shin wrote: »

I suggest you don't tell me my business of over 20 years

I suggest you don't post inaccurate "advice" in this thread again, particularly so aggressively when you were clearly incorrect.

Erik Shin

L1011 wrote: »

I suggest you don't post inaccurate "advice" in this thread again, particularly so aggressively when you were clearly incorrect.

Well, if anyone wishes to follow your advice ,then they are quite welcome to...and then come to me for a proper product that will suit needs and not break down ....esp if you had any dealings with brother whatsoever.

L1011

Erik Shin wrote: »

Well, if anyone wishes to follow your advice ,then they are quite welcome to...and then come to me for a proper product that will suit needs and not break down ....esp if you had any dealings with brother whatsoever.

And get charged "upwards of 85" for a cartridge? Don't think anyone is going to want to go there.

You were given a specific product range that I'd hope you'd know and still insisted the prices were wrong without checking. Either you don't know the range, or you overcharge massively.

I supplied and installed Brother printers for a number of years (after having dumped Oki due to reliability problems and Samsung due to issues with their support, even the dealer line in the UK). I don't work with printers anymore, but have used current models and they're fine.

If you want to promote your business on here, you need to contact boards.ie to arrange advertising by the way.

Erik Shin

L1011 wrote: »

And get charged "upwards of 85" for a cartridge? Don't think anyone is going to want to go there.

You were given a specific product range that I'd hope you'd know and still insisted the prices were wrong without checking. Either you don't know the range, or you overcharge massively.

I supplied and installed Brother printers for a number of years (after having dumped Oki due to reliability problems and Samsung due to issues with their support, even the dealer line in the UK).

I am a brother dealer
Now I can take this to pm...I have no wish to drag this off topic

Since you keep adding and editing posts...I will say adieu

L1011

Erik Shin wrote: »

I am a brother dealer
Now I can take this to pm...I have no wish to drag this off topic

And you don't know their prices?

If you claim the products are so poor, why do you sell them?

ED E

Dont want to be called a backseat mod, but seriously you're being patient not handing out cards L.

ssmith6287

I bought an EpsonL355 tank printer about 4 years ago. cost 300€, came with 4 bottles of ink. still haven't used them despite printing off wedding invites, booklets and general printing. When I do need to change them, another 4 years or so will cost €8. My opinion, spend more on the printer then on the ink. your gonna spend either way

Jimllfixit

L1011 wrote: »

Considering I just checked all of them, no.

Lads,

This thread has been thoroughly hi-jacked and invested with venom.

Let's not get side-tracked into other ways of printing. I am simply trying to highlight a consumer issue with Canon.

Although changing to a laser printer might be an interesting option, this thread is to address the fact that, based on only two inkjet cartridges bought weeks apart, a large multi-national company (Canon) appears to be permanently and deliberately issuing cartridges with about one third of the amount of ink they say they do.

If anyone cares to de-cap a Canon cartridge themselves, feel free to report it here, whether it is properly filled or not.

Attached is a photo of what I found: lots of white (unfilled) foam inserts. They are placed on their sides with the bottom nearest to the camera; the blue is the only one that seemed to get much ink.

When I put 3ml into the (dry) foam inserts in the opened-up cartridge, they filled COMPLETELY with colour, and held the 3ml without overflowing.

So please, no more laser rat-holes! And no more posts except to attach a photo of a de-capped Canon cartridge.

Clauric

Jimllfixit wrote: »

I wondered why my brand new Canon Pixma MG2950 stopped printing after a few weeks of occasional printing, so I bought a new set of Canon 545 and 546 cartridges for it.

The problem here is buying the Pixma range printers. They are fairly useless for printing due to their small ink cartridges. The reason they are cheap printers is to encourage you to buy them. They make their money off selling perishable goods, like printing cartridges.

If you are looking for a good Canon printer, try the Maxify MB5150, or similar.

the_pen_turner

how dit you get the lid off so easily

Jimllfixit

Clauric wrote: »

The problem here is buying the Pixma range printers. They are fairly useless for printing due to their small ink cartridges. The reason they are cheap printers is to encourage you to buy them. They make their money off selling perishable goods, like printing cartridges.

If you are looking for a good Canon printer, try the Maxify MB5150, or similar.

Hi Clauric,

I had been hoping to get a "Canon Consumer Scam" thread going, rather than to find a different printer.

It was the outrage caused by finding (IMHO) improperly filled cartridges, compounded by the outrage caused by the phone call from Canon "customer service" which denied EVERYTHING, despite the photos, that caused me to start this thread.

Incidentally, the cartridges were easily de-capped with a wide-bladed screwdriver.

However, the thread has so far failed to go "viral" so I'll get on with real life (which is primarily occupied with finding ways to avoid meeting Canon ever again).