Bloom wrote to the paper saying that he was “dismayed” to read Bill Husted’s column “The Techno Buddy”, titled “Bring down the high price of printing”.
The article, which originated in the Atlanta Constitution, looks at ways to save printing costs, such as using the printers draft mode and printing weekly to avoid print heads clogging.
However, at the bottom of the article, Husted said: “You may wonder why I haven’t mentioned refilled ink cartridges. Using them will certainly save money. But it also might void your printer warranty and result in lower quality printing.”
Bloom replied: “This is incorrect. It is illegal for any printer manufacturer to void a warranty because a customer chooses to use a compatible, remanufactured, or refilled ink or toner cartridge. Anyone, including Mr. Husted, who states otherwise is misinformed or is not telling the truth.”
He backed up his statement with The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, saying that the “Tie-In Sales” Provision prohibits OEMs requiring customers use their supplies to keep warranties intact.
Bloom added: “It is important to many businesses like ours that Mr. Husted’s information be corrected. We already have had customers ask us about this issue, but it is the potential customers with whom we will never get to speak that will be lost to us forever.”
Although, in Husted’s defence, he did mention that he doesn’t have a lot of experience with remanufactured cartridges.
He said: “I don’t have enough personal experience with refills to offer a sound opinion. But I do know quality varies from vendor to vendor. So if you go that route, do some research on the web to find the best combination of price and quality.”
Bloom told The Recycler that he wrote the following letter to Husted too, but is yet to hear back from him.
Mr. Husted,
I am a periodic reader of your column in The Palm Beach Post in West Palm Beach, Florida. My wife and I also own INK & TONER USA, LLC, a discount ink and toner store in West Palm Beach. In your column, you proceeded to tell your readers that their warranties may be voided if they use refilled ink cartridges. This is absolutely incorrect. Buying and using compatible, remanufactured, or refilled ink or toner cartridges will absolutely not void any warranties.
I don’t know if you just guessed at this or if you got your misinformation from one of the equipment manufacturers (OEMs), who propagate this lie on a daily basis. A little research on your part (you seem to like encouraging your readers to do research) would have given you the correct information with very little effort.
The industry of which we are a part – the ink and toner cartridge aftermarket – is a multi-billion worldwide business. I also serve on the Board of the International Imaging Technology Council, our trade organization, and our organization combats this misinformation constantly.
This link goes to the Federal Trade Commission’s website and specifically to the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/adv/bus01.shtm#Magnuson-Moss.
In particular, the section on “Tie-In Sales” Provisions refers to the subject of prohibition of OEMs requiring that customers use OEM supplies in order to keep their warranty in effect. The example used is vacuum cleaners and vacuum cleaner bags, but it applies to any product purchased.
Our industry – a multibillion dollar worldwide industry – faces this misinformation daily. We