Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
A class action lawsuit alleges that Epson wrongly prevents their printers from working with ink made by any other manufacturer.
William Mondigo and Richard Famiglietti say that when they purchased their printers, they reviewed the specifications for them, and noted that Epson did not disclose that the company would disable the printers if a third-party ink cartridge was used.
Allegedly, Epson engages in a “systematic campaign” of disabling Epson printers when the user attempts to use non-Epson ink cartridges. Mondigo and Famiglietti say that the company does this by designing software updates that purposely disables the printers when the non-Epson ink cartridges are installed.
The two customers go on to state that there is nothing wrong with the third-party ink cartridges, noting that they work with Epson printers that have not been given the software update that disables the printers.
Mondigo and Famiglietti also note that they and other customers actively did not authorize Epson to disable their printers. The customers explain that a purchaser must agree to Epson’s licensing agreement, and they note that the licensing agreement states that Epson may implement software updates. However, the license allegedly does not explain that these updates could disable the printers.
Mondigo and Famiglietti say that for many users, these updates effectively ruined the Epson printers. The customers say they were forced to pay more for ink cartridges than they otherwise would, because Epson ink cartridges cost significantly more than third-party cartridges, some costing as much as $150.
Additionally, the plaintiffs note that in many cases, the cost of replacement cartridges over the lifetime of the printer is higher than the cost of the printer itself.
The Epson printer class action lawsuit states that Epson did not inform printer owners that the company would update the software so that the printers would not work with non-Epson printer ink. The Epson printer class action lawsuit goes on to say that Epson advertised that the software updates would “improve the printers and fix known issues.”
The Epson ink cartridge class action lawsuit says that Epson’s action to disable the printers when third-party cartridges are used goes beyond information provided in the Epson 2018 Annual Report. Allegedly, that report did note that Epson printers could be used with third-party ink cartridges, and explained that customer use of these third-party products could cut into the company’s bottom line.
However, the Epson printer ink cartridge class action lawsuit says that in that report, Epson does not discuss disabling printers as a way to increase the company’s market shares, and merely suggests tactics including “emphasizing the quality of genuine Epson brand” and “enhance[ing] customer experience and developing new products…”
Was your printer disabled after you used a third-party ink cartridge? Let us know in the comment section.
Mondigo and Famiglietti are represented by Jae K. Kim, Eric D. Zard, Edwin J. Kilpela and James P. McGraw of Carlson Lynch LLP and Michael K. Yarnoff of Kehoe Law Firm PC.
The Epson Printer Ink Cartridge Class Action Lawsuit is William Mondigo, et al. v. Epson America Inc., Case No. 3:19-cv-02009-BEN-BGS, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
ATTORNEY ADVERTISING
Top Class Actions is a Proud Member of the American Bar Association
LEGAL INFORMATION IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
Top Class Actions Legal Statement
©2008 – 2024 Top Class Actions® LLC
Various Trademarks held by their respective owners
This website is not intended for viewing or usage by European Union citizens.
Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru vehicle data collection class action lawsuit investigation
May 17, 2024 | Legal News
1,586 thoughts onEpson Class Action Says Printers Disabled When Non-Epson Ink Used
This is exactly what happened to me. The price of replacement ink is outrageous compared to the cost of the printer. I bought another brand of replacement ink that worked fine until I had to update the firmware, then my printer became useless.
Like the others, my Epson printers were updated by Epson and now require me to buy the more expensive Epson ink and throw away my inventory of 3rd party ink cartridges. Outrageous! Unethical! If you can’t compete in the marketplace Epson, then admit defeat and sell you printers alone. But don’t force greater expense upon customers who trusted you in the first place!
I bought the echo tank 2800 and used different ink and now it keeps saying paper jam, so I called them and because it’s third party ink it just doesn’t work anymore. From Canada
My Epson printer will no longer functions and I have been unable to print important documents needed for my job search as I am divorced and on disability (SSDI) and desperately seeking remote clerical employment & possibly a Bachelor’s degree to further my education and absolutely need my printer, scanner, fax machine and have been unable to use it. This has worsened my medical, physical, emotional, and psychological health and caused me unbelievable stress and evened worsened my migraine disease, and increasing my anxiety and panic attacks worring about the possibility of my brain aneurysms rupturing every time I a migraine trying to fix the printer.
Did the mistake of doing a firmware update today, now my printer is a paperweight unless I buy their cartridge. Add me to the class action.
same problem from above after update.
Purchased the Epson WF 7840 and was definitely able to use 3rd party ink until I updated it, now it work with 3rd party ink. This sucks because their ink cost way too much to keep purchasing.
I have an Epson printer and I stopped using it because I didn’t want to waste all the ink that I had bought . So I still have it in my closet waiting to get to use it.
I regrettably purchased an Epson WF-2850 printer in 2020. Epson seems to think that THEY still own the printers their customers OWN. I have wasted a lot of money buying Epson ink due to their ink not lasting as long as it claims it will last (should be another class action suit) so I started buying printer ink from other companies. The non-brand ink ( I will never claim other ink companies to be “third party” because I am under NO contract with epson to solely use their ink- no one is! So, stop calling other brands “third party”!) and they’ve always worked fine, every time, UNTIL a firmware update occurs! It’s almost as if the printer is able to read/decipher non-Epson chips on the cartridges. When the printer reads the non-brand chip on the ink cartridges, it sends a prompt for you to complete a firmware update & it’s set to prompt you for the update around the third printing job.
EVERY, SINGLE, TIME, the firmware update completes, the printer will NO LONGER print! The printer gives you error messages of A.) Low ink-replace ink cartridges (when you KNOW your ink is brand new and full!) and/or B.) The printer will just print out blanks pages! THIS IS CRIMINAL and Epson OWES ME and MANY OTHERS A LOT OF MONEY! HOW DARE Epson commit such unethical practices and abuse the rights of consumers! Epson has NO RIGHT to tell me what brand of ink I should or cannot use! This lawsuit should have been done 10 years ago! This article is 4 YEARS OLD! Maybe Epson is paying lawyers NOT to file against them? This is 4 years too long and this class action article has the MOST comments I’ve seen yet, nothing has been filed yet? Hmmmmm……
The same thing happened to me. I totally agree. What they did was Kriminal I feel I have been robbed for the cost of the printer and all the ink I purchased. Now I have a printer just sitting there will not work. I want a replacement or a refund of my money.
I got the 7840 did the update my printer nolonger take my 3rd party ink call epson they said I should have not done the update pretty much they said it suck to be you