HP printer issues (or any printer issues) are nothing new, in fact we would not bet much money that if we hit file > print right now, the result would be what we expected. There is a chance nothing would happen, it would print on the wrong paper, run out of ink, the list goes on.

So, when we got a phone call from a customer that we have solved some complex problems for to say their printer wasn’t working, there was nothing extraordinary about it.

We arrived about an hour later as our customer was due to go on holiday and urgently need to print out some documents.

We ran through everything, restarting, reinstalling the drivers, setting up on another device, and checking for jams. However, nothing worked, it wouldn’t even photocopy, which does not even use the PC. Paper was drawing through slowly when printing diagnostics and stopping altogether. It was bizarre and none of the diagnostics were helping.

We decided to call it in to HP as concluded there must be hardware fault. As it was only 6 months old, we just wanted to quickest way to get a replacement arranged, and are we glad we did!

HP printers all come with a free trial of HP Instant Ink, which this customer had opted into. They subsequently realised they did not need it so cancelled, or at least thought they did. Turns out they hadn’t, and the subscription continued until they got a new credit card, at which point they missed a payment.

With a massive £3.06 outstanding on the account, HP put the printer into brick mode remotely, rendering it useless.

After navigating the HP account logon issues, we updated the card details, settled the debt, and cancelled HP Instant Ink once and for all.

Printer functionality was restored, holiday documents were printed, and the customer was delighted they did not have to rush around the day before their holiday trying to complete last minute office work.

Categories: Technology