Epson Settlement and Printer Awards

I haven't kept up perfectly on things, so maybe this has already been posted and discussed. But it looks like there is a long list of Epson printers that qualify for this. I'm still reading the fine print.

Epson settled a class-action lawsuit (alleging that their printers reported ink cartridges as empty while there was still a substantial amount of ink left over).

If you bought an Epson printer between April 1999 and May 2006 you are probably eligible to receive either a $45 certificate from the Epson store, or a $20 check and $25 certificate.

http://www.epsonsettlement.com/index.htm

I bought and registered (!) an eligible printer. I got a spiffy folder in the mail earlier this week. There is a court hearing scheduled for August 15, 2005 on the PROPOSED terms of settlement. I find it hard to turn down $45, but I must say, I have gotten my money's worth out of my Epson product (R800), left over ink or not. I did just recently ask here about continuous ink systems for the printer, but I bought it knowing ink cost was going to signifcant.

Pete Dickson

I find it hard to turn down $45, but I must say, I have gotten my money's worth out of my Epson product (R800), left over ink or not.

Pete: whether you've enjoyed your use of the R800 is irrelevant. Epson has been ripping people off for far too long. I use 220ml carts on my Epson 7600 (for 3.5 years now), and I have dismantled every cart I've used and have always found 20-30 mls remaining in the bag.

Epson had this coming to them. I wish I could get $90 or $135, not a scrawny $45. They've made plenty of money off of us.

This class action settlement is all fine and good to make ammends for past sins perhaps, but what about the future? Has Epson reworked the carts so that they now register quanitity accurately or does the original problem still exist?

- - There is nothing to do to receive the payment.
If you have registered any printer on the list, you will automatically get a $45 credit to use at the Epson e-store.
The alternate is $25 cash and a $20 credit at the store, - OR - a 25% discount on anything from the store up to a $100 max. - - per printer registered, - - and for that you do have to file a claim no later than 6/22/06...........
No matter what you do you will not receive anything until after the final court hearing on the 15th of August 2006.

Yes, what Paul said. Additionally you can receive the same compensation for unregestered printers by filling out and sending in the form on the link I posted above. So if you didn't provide Epson with registration info but still bought one of the qualified printers, you can provide the serial number, purchase month and year, and a few other details and still get the same compensation. Epson obviously won't be sending you one of their convenient notifications if you didn't register your printer. Over the past few years I've gone through 3 cheaper Epson printers. The first two expired shortly after the warrenty expired. This will be a nice chance for a little payback.

I hardly care about the forty five bucks. Is Epson going to send out a driver update that will tell the printer to use all of the ink or are we still going to be throwing away cartridges with lots of ink left in them? Forty five bucks is great but if after I spend that little perk, if Epson doesn't change something in the printers, I'm still getting hosed for ink. It seems to me that Epson is getting off pretty light.

On the form I received today it says, "EAI has also agreed to make certain changes to the disclosures on its website and the packaging, manuals, and user interfaces for Espon InkJet Printers and Epson Ink Cartridges."

Sounds like now they willbe telling us we are getting ripped off. Nothing mentioned about correcting the problem.

Ha Ha just went to the e-store. On the color ink cartridge it says "Out of stock at e-store" and has a link to retailers you can buy it. Go figure.

- - I just heard back from a contact I have at Epson and I got the following answer to some users questions about all of this. It is as follows;

"Our printers are designed to include a small safety reserve of ink. This
safety reserve serves an important engineering function to protect print
reliability and to prevent damage to the print head. If the printer
continues to try to print when a cartridge does not contain remaining ink,
the user is likely to experience a decrease in print quality such as
missing lines or wrong colors. In addition, printing without the ink
remaining may force harmful air bubbles into the ink delivery system that
can cause damage to the permanent print head. The ink safety reserve is
there to ensure that printing remains reliable and that printing stops
before it reaches that harmful point."

For more information on Epson's inkjet technology, please click on the links below:

http://www.epson.co.jp/e/technology/imaging_technology.htm?gosection=smartcartridges

http://www.epson.co.jp/e/technology/print_tech.htm

Our printers are designed to include a small safety reserve of ink...

Of course they have an answer! 10-11% of every 220ml cart is left in the bag when my printer says the cart is done. I'm not sure about anyone else, but I would NOT consider 10% remaining "a small safety reserve".

I'll gladly take the $45, but it's chump change as far as repaying me for all the wasted ink. I'd like to see them justify 10% as somehow necessary for printhead safety.

Nice spinning, Epson.

...plus, their cartridges are just as expensive as other manufacturers (like HP) who include a new head in each cartridge. Use up all the ink, ruin the print head. Ruin the print head, buy a new printer.