Getting refund from Currys for HP printer / Instant Ink

[Volcanite]

Oh God, I'm so stressed.

I needed a printer for home schooling so bought a HP inkjet printer. All good(ish - other issues have cropped up), gets through ink quickly but I signed up to instant ink so the costs were going to be much lower than if I was buying cartridges.

Now HP tell me there are no instant ink cartridges to be despatched as the supplier has been hit by Covid issues. I've already had to buy a cartridge from Argos, I can't afford to keep buying them.

I want to return the item but Curry's will only do that if unused. HP are pretty much uncontactable. I've had a WhatsApp chat about something else and they weren't helpful and told me to phone customer services. I haven't called yet about the other issues but I'd imagine it's going to be a long call time, especially now.

Where do I stand legally? I bought this printer specifically to use the instant ink service. I want to now get an Epson EcoTank but need the money back on this piece of shit first.

I did purchase using my credit card if this makes any difference. Just because I didn't trust Curry's.

Is there any hope? If the schools don't go back until September I'll have to remortgage the house just to fund the printer ink habit. I don't know if I mentioned but this is really stressing me out

I had the same email. My starter pack was sent out within a week of getting the email - plus the first 3 months charges were waived.
If you get another printer you may find the ink shortages are the same. I could imagine they’re made in the same country

Also they never come with full cartridges so don’t judge ink usage on how quickly you went through the cartridges that came with it

I had an email today telling me my new cartridges had been dispatched

I didnt realise the start up cartridges we're lower capacity. That's something I guess. I only registered on Fri 24/4, has anyone received ink in a similar timeframe?

PPWP were those your first cartridges?

Buy the refurbished cartridges from Tesco/Asda - much cheaper.

I signed up on the 27th April and am getting a bit desperate for my new cartridges to be despatched - I daren’t use the damn thing which sort of the defeats the object of signing up in the first place!

I wouldn't normally use it much but the home schooling is so difficult without printing some of the worksheets. I had planned to print a lot of photos too.

I work in this industry, HP ink is in very short supply, but it’s coming in, just slowly! Hang in there and it will arrive. Just don’t order any multipacks, single cartridges are in better supply.

Curry’s won’t have to give you any money back, it’s not their fault. I doubt HP would either, sorry! There’s always refilled cartridges? Cheap but invalidates your warranty with HP.

How to “hang in there” though if you’re using the starter cartridges and they’re nearly run out? Do I have to pay £££ for whatever new ones I can find in the shop when I’m already signed up to a pay service to get them delivered?

I had that email last week, my new ink was dispatched this morning

Worried now, as I brought the HP printer for this reason

When I signed up to instant ink yesterday it said my pack will be 10 days.

Which printer did you get?

I've had a couple of issues already

We signed up with instant ink on the 8th April and got a delivery the end of last week, I wasn’t aware of any issues. We still have some ink in the start up cartridges so haven’t used it yet. I am happy with the printer we got it does the job we want it to which is mostly printing school work and colouring pages off for the kids

@Gravityfalls I daren’t use the damn thing which sort of the defeats the object of signing up in the first place! they don't send the refills until the ink gets to below a certain level.

I got the HP Envy Photo 6234. The problem is it connects to Wi-Fi but needs to be set up EVERY time I close the HP smart app/window on my laptop. So I can't quickly check the ink levels. I have to put in my postcode every time. Also I thought as I was currently using non-instant ink cartridges, my usage would be 0. The person on WhatsApp said the usage would start from the date he updated my account to include the 7 month free trial. I queried this and he said I'd have to count the pages I'd printed. When I pointed out this was not possible (as they had already been printed and used and binned) he directed me to phone HP instead.

This printer was meant to make my life easier. I have autism and it is really pushing my buttons as I can't foresee the outcome.

This is my first new set - it says I should expect them in 10 days from signing up. If they take ten days then I’ll definitely run out if it waits for the starter cartridges to be empty first.

Fingers crossed they'll turn up soon then. Dealing with a triple bereavement at the moment too so really don't have the headspace for it right now

Thank you to those who have said they are getting their supplies, this gives me enough hope to go to sleep now. I was in a right state worrying about this. I don't cope well when things don't work

How long ago did you buy the printer and did you buy it online? If you did buy it online, you have the legal right to return and request a refund within 14 days of purchase, followed by 14 days in which to return it. The item doesn't have to be faulty to do this, distance selling policy is that you can return anything that you bought online within 14 days because you were not able to see the item in person before you committed to buying it.

I’ve got two HP Envy printers with Instant Ink.
Any compatible cartridges you buy privately will work but will be registered by the machine as external ones and won’t count towards your monthly total. So although you will pay more you’re not paying twice!
Strange that you have to re-register every time you close the app. Can you disable it? This is a screenshot of the app I have on IPad with the settings at bottom right. My phone just picks up the printer as an accessory on the WiFi with no registration needed.

By the way my cartridges are sent to me in Italy from somewhere like Malaysia! Not sure about the U.K.
They usually arrive well before the previous ones run out but with Covid who knows...

I did buy online on Thursday 23rd April. It was delivered next day. Currys blurb says about being unused in original packaging.

When I open the app I can see my ink levels for 1 second then it disappears and ask me to register, then I have to put in my postcode, then it show the levels again. So tedious.

This is part of the HP email this evening:

This is because our Instant Ink manufacturing site for HP 303 Original Cartridges (the ones compatible with your printer) has been temporarily closed by local authorities to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

I'll pick some more 303s up from Argos or Sainsbury's if I can find some, just in case.

I'm really fed up with Curry's. We ordered a range cooker for nearly £3000 weeks before the lockdown, eventually the day before the due date they said it would not be arriving till September!! We didn't want to wait for the refund before ordering a replacement so we ordered a different one (which arrived) but 4 weeks later we're still waiting for a refund for the first one. Can't get through on the phone and no replies to our numerous emails...