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.
OfficeMax Printer Ink Cartridge Refill Class Action Lawsuit
By Kimberly Mirando
OfficeMax gyps customers out of printer ink cartridge refills by only refilling them halfway, a class action lawsuit claims in Illinois.
Plaintiff Richard Schaefer alleges in the OfficeMax ink refill class action lawsuit that he and other Class Members “each paid $10 to have Defendants ‘refill’ their printer ink cartridge at an OfficeMax ‘refill’ station and were damaged when in fact only half of the ink cartridge was refilled.”
According to the class action lawsuit, “OfficeMax carried out its unfair and deceptive scheme by advertising that an ‘Ink Refill’ would only cost ‘$10,’ while secretly instructing employees to only fill ink cartridges halfway. No reasonable customer would expect ‘refill’ to mean ‘half fill.’”
The OfficeMax class action lawsuit continues: “OfficeMax failed to disclose its common practice of half refilling printer ink cartridges with the intent that Plaintiff and members of the proposed class would rely on this omission in paying for printer ink cartridge refills instead of purchasing a new printer ink cartridge. Defendants should have either refilled the ink cartridges in full or charged $5.00 for the half refills.”
Schaefer is seeking $5 million in restitution for a proposed class of all persons or companies in Illinois who paid to have a printer ink cartridge refilled by OfficeMax but did not receive a full refill of the ink cartridge.
A copy of the OfficeMax Printer Ink Cartridge Refill Class Action Lawsuit can be read here.
The case is Richard Schaefer v. OfficeMax Inc., et al., Case No. 12-L-12L334, Circuit Court for the 20th Judicial Circuit, St. Clair County, Illinois.
Updated July 13th, 2012
All class action and lawsuit news updates are listed in the Lawsuit News section of Top Class Actions
Top Class Actions Legal Statement
One thought on OfficeMax Printer Ink Cartridge Refill Class Action Lawsuit
Speaking as an Office Max employee, this is insane. We have no control over the amount of ink that goes into a refill. The machine that we use (Phoenix Ink) is comepletely automated, based on the manufacturer and cartridge number. We don’t calibrate or set up the machines, and there is no way to “half fill” a cartridge. Anyone who has seen this process done knows that once the needles are inserted into the cartridge, the cartridge is placed into a vaccuum sealed port on the machine that cannot be opened until the refill process is complete. Yet another cheap person looking to make money for nothing. They need to take this up with Phoenix Ink, since OMX has no control whatsoever over the operation of the machine.