HP Class Action Says Smart Install Printers Are Falsely Advertised

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A California man says the HP Smart Install feature fails to work as advertised on many printers, leaving HP customers in the lurch.

Plaintiff Robin Sergi says defendant HP Inc. has been falsely promoting some of its printers as having an automatic installation feature that does not actually function.

The company advertises many of its printers as having this HP Smart Install feature when in fact the feature is disabled by default and therefore cannot work, Sergi claims.

“Defendant misrepresented and falsely advertised to Plaintiff and others similarly situated that the HP Smart Install feature would be installed in these printers, but in fact they were disabled from the printers sold to Plaintiff and others similarly situated, providing them with printers without the feature that they were advertised to have,” the class action states.

Based on HP’s advertising, purchasers specifically pay for the HP Smart Install feature so that they can avoid the complications associated with installing their printers manually, according to Sergi’s HP class action lawsuit.

Only after purchasers have bought the printer and opened its box do they find out that its HP Smart Install feature has been disabled, he claims.

Sergi says he purchased an HP LaserJet P1102w printer in September 2016 from an Office Depot in Orange County, Calif. In choosing that particular printer, Sergi says he relied on promotional materials he found on HP’s website that said the printer was equipped with the HP Smart Install feature.

The plaintiff says he bought that printer specifically because of the advertising that told him the HP Smart Install feature would take care of installing it without the use of a CD.

But after buying the printer and opening its packaging, Sergi says he found an insert titled “Smart Install Removal” that told him the HP Smart Install feature is disabled by default. With HP Smart Install disabled, Sergi says he had no luck trying to install the printer manually.

After trying and failing to install the printer using the enclosed CD, Sergi says he bought a new computer under the impression that something was wrong with the computer he already owned. When attempts to install the printer on the new computer also failed, Sergi says he had to call tech support and get help. He says he never would have bought the printer if he had known the HP Smart Install feature was disabled.

Sergi seeks to represent a plaintiff Class consisting of all persons who from April 2014 through the present bought an HP printer that was advertised as having the HP Smart Install feature but in which that feature was disabled.

He is asking for a court order that would require HP to conduct a corrective advertising campaign to remedy the alleged misinformation at issue. He also seeks an award of damages, restitution, attorneys’ fees, and costs of litigation, all with pre- and post-judgment interest.

The plaintiff is represented by attorneys Todd M. Friedman and Adrian R. Bacon of the Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman PC.

The HP Smart Install Class Action Lawsuit is Robin Sergi v. HP Inc., Case No. 8:16-cv-02225, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.