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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.
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1,586 thoughts onEpson Class Action Says Printers Disabled When Non-Epson Ink Used
My 3rd party cartridges were working fine until the new update. This is the 2nd time epson has done this to me. They need to refund the cost of the printer to every consumer that has had this problem plus the cost of the cartridges. I will never ever buy an epson product again.
My Epson Printer XP-15000 was completely disabled when I did the auto update of the Epson firmware. Up to that point, my catridges worked fine. I have been online for hours trying to fix the problem. I even inserted new catridges but my printer now won’t work at all. This is wrong in so many ways that a large company like Epson is freezing the little guy out by disabling our printers.
I have had a Workforce 7840 that I have used since 2020. I have always used non=Epson Ink. Immediately following the latest update it will not recognize my non-Epson ink. This is quite frustrating as I have 3 unused sets of ink cartridges that the printer will suddenly not accept. At the time that I bought mine, I also bought one for the church and they are no longer able to print or copy bulletins on the printer.
I have an Epson 800 series and this is a CONSTANT thing with this printer. I’m about to throw it out the window and NEVER buy Epson again.
This just happened to me. In general, this has been a garbage printer with garbage software, and this is the icing on the garbage cake. I will never buy a damn thing from this company again.
Bought an Epson printer a couple months ago and it worked up until a firmware update. It no longer accepts my non epson brand ink. I cant afford the Epson brand ink and now I have a printer just sitting that’s brand new. Completely dissatisfied and the last Epson I get.
I ave the same issues. This is a giant Epson ripoff. Please keep me on the list for this class actdion suit.
Yes I think rather than stop my printer – they just run the quality down – today it is terrible just after the message you may be using non original inks!!!
That is exactly what happened with our Epson…WF… it now sits unused due to this very reason…. We use perfectly good ink, just not epson…. We use the same ink in our HP printers, without any problems… It is a shame how Epson has treated their customers…..I have been a long life Epson user, can’t say that from here on out… I should be able to decide what ink I want to use!
After updating the firmware on my Epson workforce printer I get the maintenance error message that “cartridges are not recognized by the printer”. I’ve printed maybe 50 pages on the current cartridges which are reman.