Budget Blunder....

[kristenrice]

Last year, I broke down and spent the "big bucks" on a color laser printer for our household. We don't do a lot of printing regularly so I figured that it would be more economical to buy toner once a year (or less) than to have to continuously replenish the ink that kept drying out in our inkjet printers. So far, so good...but the toner finally ran out. The black ran out first so I used Staples.com and put in my printer model which brought me to the compatible cartridges. I ordered a high-capacity black one and that's it. It showed up the next day and all was well.

When the color levels were down to 30%, I went back to the Staples website (as I always did with my other printers) and I *thought* I put in the correct model of our printer. I found the "matching" toner and I bought one cartridge of each color....at over $120 each. They showed up and I let them sit until the level was down to 10%. I went to replace the yellow cartridge yesterday and it didn't fit! I looked at the old (original) cartridge and I looked at the new one and realized that they are different numbers! UGH! Of course, I already have the box opened so now what?? I can return the cyan and magenta ones since they haven't been opened, but what do I do with the yellow one? I am fairly certain that I will be out the $120 and I am just going to have to deal with the mistake, but I thought I would check with you all and see if you have any ideas. I do not know anyone that could use it so that's not an option. I am wondering if I brought it back to the store (I have to go there anyways and pick up my correct toner that I re-ordered) and plead my case, maybe I will get lucky and a sympathetic employee will allow the return.

So much for "saving" money by purchasing a laser printer.

 

[firefly_ris]

I would first ask the store to see if they will still take it back. They might still take it.

If not, I would consider selling it on FB Marketplace at a more attractive price than new -- you would at least recoup some of your costs.

For future budget, I have a Brother printer that uses toner cartridges and I ordered replacement cartridges via 123inkjets.com. Their customer service is also amazing. I thought I had purchased the wrong yellow toner because my printer wasn't recognizing it; I couldn't find my email receipt for the order because I had checked out as a guest. I emailed customer support and they were able to find my order history, offered to help troubleshoot, and also said if it still didn't work, they would replace it for free under warranty. I was able to get it working so didn't need to do that. Then I had to email them AGAIN later that year because I needed to print out a receipt for the toner purchase for my business tax purposes, and they promptly replied and attached a PDF receipt. Not to mention they were way cheaper than the Brother-branded toners and work just fine. I paid $125 for a 4 pack of Cyan, Yellow, Magenta and Black, and individually they were like $36. They do also sell the OEM Brother cartridges but I haven't noticed a difference as far as what I use my printer for, which is pretty much just printing documents and the occasional picture for kids school projects.

 

[MrsPete]

Just presenting an alternative to color printing:

We print so little these days. I send my printing to the UPS Store; if memory serves, it's something like fifty cents per page. Yes, I have to drive to pick it up, but it's in a shopping center with other stores I frequent, so it's not really a big deal.

 

[_19disnA]

Can't hurt to go back to the Staples store and see what they might offer. I know the color laser cartridges we use at the office have various plastic parts/seals that have to be removed before use. If it is clear yours wasn't actually used, they might be agreeable to taking it back. If the website listed the item incorrectly and/or they shipped you the wrong item would seem like a different issue, but I couldn't tell from your remarks if you ordered the wrong product or it was mislabeled. Over the years I have found that various companies make 'compatible' ink cartridge products that may not be exactly the same. I always try to buy the one made by the original manufacturer, might be a bit more expensive, but you know it works.

Gave up on any type of home printer with liquid ink cartridges due to their high cost and the fact we rarely need to print anything in color. Liquid ink tends to clog the nozzles or dry out if not used frequently. Tried buying some replacement ink cartridges from one of those online budget ink sites for an older printer and they turned out to be more trouble than they were worth and did a terrible job when printing. Have a B&W laser printer now that uses the dry powder and seems to last forever without issues of clogging. It is great for infrequent home printing of various documents. Printing color pictures at home is not worth the cost and there are always a lot of different websites (local drugstores as well) offering specials on color pictures. Sending them off for printing also allows for larger picture sizes that wouldn't be possible with the typical home printer.

 

[MomToOne]

Sell it on eBay, saying it's open but unused. I've done the same thing myself - transposed two numbers in the cartridge number so I ordered the wrong one. And I've bought cartridges from people I think did the same too. You won't fully recoup your money, but you'll get some back.

 

[kristenrice]

Can't hurt to go back to the Staples store and see what they might offer. I know the color laser cartridges we use at the office have various plastic parts/seals that have to be removed before use. If it is clear yours wasn't actually used, they might be agreeable to taking it back. If the website listed the item incorrectly and/or they shipped you the wrong item would seem like a different issue, but I couldn't tell from your remarks if you ordered the wrong product or it was mislabeled. Over the years I have found that various companies make 'compatible' ink cartridge products that may not be exactly the same. I always try to buy the one made by the original manufacturer, might be a bit more expensive, but you know it works.

Gave up on any type of home printer with liquid ink cartridges due to their high cost and the fact we rarely need to print anything in color. Liquid ink tends to clog the nozzles or dry out if not used frequently. Tried buying some replacement ink cartridges from one of those online budget ink sites for an older printer and they turned out to be more trouble than they were worth and did a terrible job when printing. Have a B&W laser printer now that uses the dry powder and seems to last forever without issues of clogging. It is great for infrequent home printing of various documents. Printing color pictures at home is not worth the cost and there are always a lot of different websites (local drugstores as well) offering specials on color pictures. Sending them off for printing also allows for larger picture sizes that wouldn't be possible with the typical home printer.

Between school projects, coupons and my habit to print every confirmation involved in vacation planning, we only print about 30 pages a month. I kept having problems with the printer ink drying up and clogging, usually right at the time we NEEDED to print something. We don't print pictures, but we need a color printer for school stuff (I teach on the side) and also for all of the Disney stuff I print (maps, menus, etc). I finally broke down and bought the laser printer so that I did not have to worry about the ink drying up.

When I bought the toner, I bought black first since it was the first one to run out. About a month later, I needed to buy the color ones since they were at 30% capacity and I wanted replacements on hand when they ran out. I *thought* that I simply went to my previous order (black) and found the "matching" color cartridges. I don't know if I actually input my printer model to assure compatibility so I am taking the blame for the mixup. I definitely ordered the wrong ones, I am just not sure how I managed to do it. The good news is that I explained the situation to the Staples employee and he took it back and issued me a full refund without batting an eye! I will also use the OEM toner (Canon), even if it does cost more, because I have had problems with the off-brand ink before when the printer would not recognize the cartridge. Since I usually wait until the last minute to a) order new ink/toner, or b) I order it, but don't replace it until I need it, I do not want to chance having ink/toner that doesn't work. Staples often has specials on their rewards program which helps keep the cost down. For this last order, I received 50% "rebate" in points so I now have over $150 in rewards points that I can use towards my next toner purchase.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Between school projects, coupons and my habit to print every confirmation involved in vacation planning, we only print about 30 pages a month. I kept having problems with the printer ink drying up and clogging, usually right at the time we NEEDED to print something. We don't print pictures, but we need a color printer for school stuff (I teach on the side) and also for all of the Disney stuff I print (maps, menus, etc). I finally broke down and bought the laser printer so that I did not have to worry about the ink drying up.

When I bought the toner, I bought black first since it was the first one to run out. About a month later, I needed to buy the color ones since they were at 30% capacity and I wanted replacements on hand when they ran out. I *thought* that I simply went to my previous order (black) and found the "matching" color cartridges. I don't know if I actually input my printer model to assure compatibility so I am taking the blame for the mixup. I definitely ordered the wrong ones, I am just not sure how I managed to do it. The good news is that I explained the situation to the Staples employee and he took it back and issued me a full refund without batting an eye! I will also use the OEM toner (Canon), even if it does cost more, because I have had problems with the off-brand ink before when the printer would not recognize the cartridge. Since I usually wait until the last minute to a) order new ink/toner, or b) I order it, but don't replace it until I need it, I do not want to chance having ink/toner that doesn't work. Staples often has specials on their rewards program which helps keep the cost down. For this last order, I received 50% "rebate" in points so I now have over $150 in rewards points that I can use towards my next toner purchase.

Just keep an eye on the rewards expiration date. I remember them expiring fairly quickly.

 

[mikehn]

I have an HP printer and I subscribe to HPs ink delivery service so Im never out of ink and its actually a great deal

 

[Anthony1971]

I doubt staples will take back an open cartridge but they will unopened ones.

Brother has a BW printer that is on sales a lot at staples and many other places for 100 or less. The genuine Brother cart. Are in the 40-60 for high and low cap. The printer still uses a drum hence the cheaper price and cart. The drum should last 1500++ pages depending on how much print is on a page. The drum was around 80 last time I checked. Great alternative if you can deal with BW only. There are also some BW HP printers that use a roughly 85 toner that has no drum. Those printers are in the 2-400 range. Yes color printers are generally in the same range or a few dollars more because they make the money on toner. Be aware most new laser printers come with a starter toner cart especially the color ones they will not last long.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Between school projects, coupons and my habit to print every confirmation involved in vacation planning, we only print about 30 pages a month. I kept having problems with the printer ink drying up and clogging, usually right at the time we NEEDED to print something. We don't print pictures, but we need a color printer for school stuff (I teach on the side) and also for all of the Disney stuff I print (maps, menus, etc). I finally broke down and bought the laser printer so that I did not have to worry about the ink drying up.

When I bought the toner, I bought black first since it was the first one to run out. About a month later, I needed to buy the color ones since they were at 30% capacity and I wanted replacements on hand when they ran out. I *thought* that I simply went to my previous order (black) and found the "matching" color cartridges. I don't know if I actually input my printer model to assure compatibility so I am taking the blame for the mixup. I definitely ordered the wrong ones, I am just not sure how I managed to do it. The good news is that I explained the situation to the Staples employee and he took it back and issued me a full refund without batting an eye! I will also use the OEM toner (Canon), even if it does cost more, because I have had problems with the off-brand ink before when the printer would not recognize the cartridge. Since I usually wait until the last minute to a) order new ink/toner, or b) I order it, but don't replace it until I need it, I do not want to chance having ink/toner that doesn't work. Staples often has specials on their rewards program which helps keep the cost down. For this last order, I received 50% "rebate" in points so I now have over $150 in rewards points that I can use towards my next toner purchase.

Happy to hear that Staples issued you a refund.