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A recent HP class action lawsuit claims that its printers use colored ink even when printing in black and white.
Plaintiff Christina Rose claims that, despite printing images and text in black and white, HP printers use “substantial” amounts of color ink.
The HP class action lawsuit claims that consumers are not told their color ink will be depleted faster than expected.
Rose reportedly purchased her HP OfficeJet Pro 8630 printer in 2017. Upon seeing that the printer came with both black and color ink, Rose says she believed she would have the ability to print in both color and black and white. She notes that nothing on the printer packaging indicated that the printer would use color ink while printing in black and white.
Allegedly, Rose is one of many consumers who were deceived by HP’s representations. As a result, Rose’s color ink supply has diminished without her knowledge. She claims she has been denied the ability to print in black and white due to her colored ink being depleted.
“Ms. Rose has had to purchase multi-pack color ink replacement cartridges on at least three occasions, and a standalone magenta replacement cartridge, in order to continue printing in black ink,” the HP class action lawsuit notes.
HP printers are considered some of the best products on the market, allowing consumers to print in both color and black and white from their homes. However, Rose argues that HP intentionally designed their devices to use up colored ink in a process called underprinting.
The underprinting reportedly involves using a significant amount of colored ink under black ink, even when a text or image is only black and white. This process allegedly drains colored ink from a printer’s reserves without a consumer’s knowledge. Rose argues that this design is an intentional way to force consumers to purchase more ink.
“As a result of underprinting, color ink is depleted even when printing images or text in black and white, forcing consumers to use more color ink, and therefore spend more money, than they reasonably expect to,” the HP class action lawsuit argues.
“HP further intentionally designed and engineered the Product to cease printing in black ink if the Product’s color ink is depleted, even if the consumer wants to print a black image or text.”
Rose argues that HP was unjustly enriched by their conduct because ink cartridge sales represent the majority of the company’s revenues and profits. When consumers are forced to spend money not only on black ink but also on more expensive color ink, HP allegedly profits.
“Unlike the fixed, upfront, and relatively cheap cost of a printer, the ink and toner cartridges used in printers can ultimately be more costly to consumers because they require periodic replacement,” the HP class action lawsuit notes.
According to the HP class action lawsuit, the printer company should have informed consumers that printing in only black ink would also require colored ink.
Consumers are reportedly reasonable in assuming that colored ink is not required, meaning that HP’s lack of warning deceives them and influences their purchases.
Rose argues that she and other consumers would not have purchased the printers or would have paid significantly less if HP had revealed that black and white or text printing needed color ink.
“Ms. Rose would not have purchased the Printer or would have paid significantly less for it had she known that the Printer would engage in underprinting or that she would not be able to print images or text in black and white unless the color ink was also in supply,” the HP class action lawsuit claims.
“Moreover, Ms. Rose would have purchased fewer replacement color ink cartridges but for Defendant’s conduct.”
Although Rose was allegedly deceived by HP’s conduct, she says she would continue to purchase and use HP printers if the company accurately disclosed the truth about their printers.
However, she argues that she and other consumers will continue to bear “ongoing injury” until HP ceases their deceptive marketing practices.
Do you own an HP printer? Have you had to purchase an excessive amount of ink for your printer? Share your experiences in the comment section below.
Rose and the proposed Class are represented by Benjamin Heikali and Joshua Nassir of Faruqi & Faruqi LLP and Bonner C. Walsh of Walsh PLLC.
The HP Printer Ink Class Action Lawsuit is Rose v. HP Inc., Case No. 5:20-cv-02450-NC, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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2,035 thoughts onHP Class Action Alleges Printer Ink Defect
I would like to be included in the class action lawsuit
I have an HP 8600 printer. I use to have the option to print in black ink only, once one of my cartridges ran out. Now all of a sudden that option has disappeared. Did they hack in and reprogram my computer. The exact same thing happened on my boyfriends Hp Envy photo!
Excessive amounts of ink is an understatement.
Please add me as well! Now the ink has been discontinued because of the lawsuit! I have set my printer for years on grayscale and it doesn’t matterStill run out of color & black faster too precisely because this HP scam yet printer won’t work without a color cartridge as well! Photosmart Inkjet
I have an Officejet 8028 that most definitely goes through way more color ink that it seems like it should. And the color cartridges are very low capacity so they must be replaced frequently. The printer will not accept both XL color and black cartridges; it’s one or the other.
This printer also uses the recalled 910 cartridges which are still unavailable.
I have been using the HP Instant Ink program. There needs to be another class action lawsuit. They sold defective Cyan ink, recalled in November 2021. I’ve struggled ever since trying to get my colors to print correctly. Been on HP chat for days. They had me go into a deeper SERVICE menu and select Print head Rec Level 1, 2 and 3. The printer thinks everything is fine, but the printer is sick. HP Chat is a slow painful process. They have strung me out for days. They have me do a few things, then they disappear (go home for the day but don’t tell you). Anyway, I’ve tried everything they said. My printer is only 1 and 1/2 years old and it won’t print blue, and the other colors aren’t right. I average printing 43 pages per month – no high usage here. I told the chat guy that I was ready to take the printer to my back patio and use a sledgehammer on it, record it, and post it. I went shopping for another brand, and Best Buy and Staples were mostly sold out of all inkjet printers (January 4, 2021).
I have a HP 8600…I have always suspected that HP was using the colored ink even when printing in black/grayscale. I have only printed using black over the last few years and watched as the colored inks continued to be drained away even though I haven’t printed anything in color for years.
This is the type of purposeful corporate consumer ripoff that makes me so angry. HP should be sued to give back ALL printer profits since they started this charade.
This issued can/should be fixed with a simple software update. It is NOT, I repeat, NOT a problem with the mechanics of the printer.
Yep sign me up! I went a whole year unable to print with A FuLL black xl but because the blue was recalled I couldn’t get it to print at all! I had to keep buying ink thinking I was out of ink but I wasn’t printing that much. Spent over $200 in ink only to find out it was recalled! Now Hp is telling me to buy a new printer bc mine is out of warranty! It’s not the printer!!!! It’s the ink
I have an HP officejet pro 8600. Replacing ink cartridges is awfully expensive and I always try to keep some on hand because of how often we used the printer. However, the pandemic has caused me to have to be more financially strict. When my yellow and cyan cartridges we’re running low I thought it wasn’t that big of a deal because I do have a full black ink cartridge as well as a backup black ink cartridge. That’s when I learned that once any color cartridge is depleted despite the amount of black ink remaining the printer will not print. It is crucial that I am able to use my printer especially right now. It is one of the primary tools I use while trying to support my family. Had I been aware of this prior to purchasing this printer I can assure you I would have went another route. I simply can’t afford the expensive replacement cartridges right now and being unable to use my printer is costing me even more money. Many hard-working consumers including myself have been lied to and stolen from by HP and it’s about time that they pay.
sign me up for this class action suit.i bought a brand new officejet pro 8025 ftom day 1 it didnt work by the time it was fixed i was pnly able to print 3 pages b4 it said to replace cartridges since the day the message popped up my printer started printing faded text but when i would do a test page it printed normalley then i would print out a document and it was faded so again i did a test page and it printed normal note the first 3 months the printer didnt work from software issues i find it odd that when ever i would print somthing out it would either ghost print or print very faded but when ever i would print out a printer report or do a test page it would print perfectly note i believe the printer is on some kind of timer nomatter how much you print after a certon ammount of time the timer would tell the printer your out of ink then it would start printing as if it were out of ink. well guess what when i took the cartridges out i very carefully opened them up and there was plenty of ink in them i threw a tiney piece of led in one cartrige to make it heavier when i put the cartriges back in that one cartrige registered full on the scail it showed ink all the way to the top and wala it printed fine but the color registerd as empty even though it had plenty of ink left. so YES put me down for this law suit