Fenrir said:
I didn't mean that the business depended on having the printer 24/7. I
meant that the /only/ reason I'm /considering/ going through with the
warranty hassle instead of throwing the thing in the trash is because
it's the only printer in its price range that does good CD printing.
Canon does a fine job, in fact I spent less on my ip3000 than I would
have on epson ink... further if you are an OEM user you can buy a
referb r200 for less than the ink.. and it comes with ink and the usual
1 year warranty.
I still don't understand why HP won't get into this market (though they
seem to have done a very good marketing job convincing people that
Lightscribe slime green pixellated images are awe-inspiring)
I agree... LabelFash by Yamaha/Fuji promises to be better, at least
grey scale. But I don't know their why, but probally the same reason
that Canon doesn't have a pritner in north america... damn license
fees... probally an issue with Philips.
Which is exactly why I will buy a Canon if the replacement breaks. I
just don't want to be stuck with 300 silver printable CDs that are not
Canon-compatible.
Silvers are an issue on the Canon. They use a silver sensor close to
the hub to detect 3 inch media. However using Acoustica I have never
had an issue. I'll agree Verbatium CD silvers don't look as good as
they do on the Epson by a long shot, but there are ri-data silver DVDs
that look brillient. But Verbatium silvers are OK.
But again, if you are an OEM user, you can always shell out $60
(shipped) for a referb and save money getting a printer rather than
spending more on just ink. You can use the same 300 CDs at no loss of
money if you are an OEM user.
I've claimed warranties from HP, Gateway, and
Staples extended service for my own items. I help other people claim
warranties, such as those who don't know how to get through those
confusing phone systems or need help following all the steps the
people at the other end ask before admitting that the product is
broken.
I've never seen HP, Canon, Lexmark, or Brother ask for a card
for a hold, even for $500 printers, so to me this is far from
'normal'.
Funny, most places when i've asked about an Advance RMA ask for a
credit card, which would include Maxtor. In fact it's only been in the
past few years that i'm seeing companies not bothering to ask.
What are you supposed to do if you don't have a credit card?
It took half an hour of 'checking with the supervisor' before they'd
even agree to let me ship the broken one back first.
Well, you tell them you don't have a credit card, and they will likely
do a regular RMA, as in send the old one back first, get a new one. Or
deal with one of the authorized repair centers which from what i've
observed don't require creditcards, just the rescipt. Or, you open
up a new bank account which gives you a nice spiffy debit Visa card.
Those work as well.
Or, if you feel this trully is an issue, get a spiffy extended warranty
from best buy. Considering this is a business, and your business
depends on the printer this is not unreasonable, and in fact for
printers esp those sub $200 epsons, it's a decent investment.
Asking for a CC is not unreasonable... though this was simply not an
issue with Canon when I delt with them.
And I think that having the serial number and a reciept from Best Buy
would be proof enough, if they wanted me to mail or fax copies to
them, I would be more than willing to do that.
That is just proof that someone bought the printer in question. It's
no assurance that your printer really is broken in the first place and
you are not some person willing to scam them. Given your afraid they
won't bother to return your printer... you can see how they might be
worried that you won't return yours.
Then explain to me why every other warranty I've claimed has simply
had a sticker on the box or note with it that says 'Return within 5
days or you will be charged for this item', /without/ the company
having a credit card number?
I find it odd that your finding so many companies not asking for the CC
number, but the return within so many days or you will be charged is
perfectly normal.
A company only needs a billing address in order to charge you for something.
A bill is no assurance that you will actually pay it, or you are who
you say you are. One could make a business out of saying their printer
is broken and getting spares if they didn't take precautions.
I'm willing to admit that the
people I talked to at Epson didn't know what they're talking about and
it's just a hold and not a charge. I once had to warranty five Gateway
monitors in a row (they kept sending me ones that only displayed in
monochrome orange) back when CRTs were about $400 or so. Even a hold
blocks you from using that amount, you just don't get the charge on
your statement and pay interest on it. I don't feel like going through
a similar situation with Epson.
Odds are gateway already had your billing information to begin with,
and your credit card number on file. And there are those companies who
won't bother to put a hold on your card, only charge you if they don't
get the old goods back. I'll agree that Epson is being anal-retentive
but they are not being unreasonable. If you don't want them to have
your CC, send the old one back and wait for a new one.
Epson has a long distance number, so I have to pay to call them.
I agree, this sucks. It might be worth your time to get a calling card
to deal with tech support, most calling cards while having a per
connect charge offer excelent rates for long calls at any hour. Or, go
with a company who offers toll free tech support.
When I asked for an alternative, on the first call I was told there was no other
way. I called again later in the day, was again told I would be
charged, spent another half hour for continued 'let me ask my
supervisor' questions, until they finally agreed to send me shipping
labels to return the broken one in first, which I will now have to buy
packaging for.
I am empathic. I've had to play phone tag many times over many issues.
But in the end you were able to get the old printer to them, and
better yet get free shipping to do it. Super Duper. It sounds like to
me they have a reasonable policy and they are honoring warranty service
and will even pay shipping for the old one. But they are not required
at all to provide you with an advanced replacement, and the fact that
they offer one is a nice amenity, a somewhat common amenity. I'll even
agree I prefer Canon's return policy over Epsons for the issues you
described and they offered me a clear choice to do an advanced
replacement or use the local service center. For example I would have
prefered it if Epson put a hold on my card than having to wait for the
service center as they were pretty much just going to give me a referb
in either case. But I can not agree Epson was being unreasonable in
asking for a CC to do an advanced return.
I am sympathetic, I pretty much stopped using my r200 in favor of the
ip3000 for various reasons. In fact I went out of my way to document
how to mod a canon so people like your self have an alternative to
Epson. However my r200 was not an empty investment as I printed a hell
of alot of CDs on it.
You still don't know how to read things properly. I was responding to
zakezuke's comment that he found credit card holds to be normal, and
commenting on warranty policies in general, not my own situation.
Arthur is one of coolest users in this group, filled with a wealth if
infomation who took the time to respond to your post. He goes out of
his way to be helpful esp to Epson users. Your reponce was rude and
unjustified as there was no way for him or I to tell who you were
responding to as this is a public group.
---------------------------------
But if you plan to use the base model Epsons for a business or any
situation where uptime is important... get a spare. This is not
unreasonable for consumer grade devices esp. the epson r2x0 r3x0
series. This way you can still print if you have to return a printer.
The r200 referb is so low in price that you might as well get one and
use the ink... this costs less.
The canon models in the same price range I found to be more realiable,
and their return policy more spiffy. From what i've read from others
who ordered overseas models getting service was "not" a problem. But
if you order a printer from Japan you might have to mod the printer to
accept US ink, the cli-8 rather than the bci-7e. And if you order from
Japan, consider the pixus ip-7500, a model not sold in the states.
