I Hate You So Much Right Now! (HP 2000 C)

Member Name: Technical Tobes

Product:	HP 2000 C
Date:	12/11/00 (1189 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Errr, cheapeat networkable colour printer

Disadvantages: Unreliable!!

Are you sitting comfortably? …

A few months the company that I work for decided they needed a cheap colour network printer. Our needs were not great, just a few financial reports per month.
So, Fair enough, I had a flick through our Action catalogue and, after much searching, we came to the decision that this, the HP2000C, was the best most cost effective way to get a colour printer.

Brilliant, the printer turned up the next day, we unpacked it, attached the jet direct box (enabled it to connect to a network), inserted the 4 print heads followed by the 4 ink cartridges & finally the paper tray was fitted to the bottom - all as per the instructions. The printer’s jet direct box was configured and the printer installed into our network. Took a fair bit of time, but, at last it was ready. Yippee!

The printer itself is fairly big compared to your normal colour inkjet and also cost a fair bit more (£400ish with support) so you’d be forgiven for thinking that you’d bought a better than average printer, you’d expect better reliability, better quality print-outs, perhaps even longer lasting ink cartridges. I think that’s reasonable enough!?

BUT…

Oh no…
Oh no no no no no…
Oh no no, no no no no no… (No ‘Vicar of Dibley’ impressions please!)

What we’d actually & unwittingly purchased was a 3 month training course for an HP engineer of HP’s choice plus a bonus of 10 compulsory hours HP technical support time. Unfortunately there was no anger management course but a free magical hair loss solution was included.

So, here goes….

The printers installed, setup etc and in use, after 2 weeks it starts reporting an error & refusing to print any colour but white! I look up the error on the HP website (naturally the error code descriptions aren’t supplied with the printer – far to sensible) and b
asically it was a non-user solvable problem, which means it required a HP engineer to visit.
Now, we were sensible enough to take out HP’s cover package, but having experienced this kind of thing before, I was not looking forward to sorting it out.

But hey, I phoned HP support, listened to lots of options, tapped in lots of numbers; evidently the wrong numbers, was diverted, was diverted, listened to some music, had a coffee, quoted my support pack number and they arranged to have an engineer sent out, sorted…

Two days later an engineer turned up – not bad. I had duly brought the printer downstairs (it was on the top floor), plugged it in, checked that the error was still actually there (..we’ve all been there!), so it was all ready & waiting.
So the engineer started poking around in the printer, printing invisible test pages, sticking his screw driver in it, printing more invisible test pages until disappearing to his van & bringing out a new printer. Apparently a little metal clip had broken so rather than fix it on site (the engineers are not allowed to!), they swap the printer & take the other away for repair.

The engineer was friendly & pleasant and let us keep the old ink cartridges as spares as well as not swapping the jet direct box (which, otherwise, would have needed reconfiguring).

So the printer is taken back upstairs and plugged back in. Sorted.
A few days later I get a phone call from the finance department, the printer is displaying an error again. I look up the code on the net and this time, it’s the print-head that is faulty, of which a diagnostic printout will show me which one.
So I go upstairs and attempt to do the diagnostic printout, this is a somewhat silly procedure, you have to press & hold two buttons, press another one, stand on one leg and sing Yankee Doodle – which initiates a diagnostic printout (note: that was an artists impression of the diagno
stic printout procedure). Incidentally, the error codes are worked out by counting how many times each of the three lights flash to get each digit of the error code!

Anyway, it turns out to be the black print-head, so rather than simply phone HP technical support, I decide to have a fiddle!! I pull out the cartridges, remove the black print-head, have a nose & stick it all back in. I do another diagnostic printout… this time, the yellow print-head is at fault, and the black one is fine! So I have another fiddle and eventually get them all working. Fingers a crossed, I head back down stairs.

You know what’s coming now don’t you!! …
Yep, a few days later the phone rings – it’s the same problem, I have a fiddle, it works. I also find that it only happens after about 20+ prints have been done, if it’s turned off & back on it usually works, especially if given a fair rest.

Anyway, for 2/3 weeks this goes on (after all the printer is not used too much) until it gradually gets worse.

So, I phone HP support, listen to music, scratch my bum, blah blah blah… an engineer is sent out.
Now, of course, the printer has not been used for a fair bit, so the engineer switches it on and does some prints. Will the bl**dy thing come up with an error, oh no, works fine – for over a hundred pages!! So the engineer fiddles with the cartridge, asks if we’ve got the latest drivers etc, all the usual ‘this customer is an idiot, better humour him’ type stuff.

The engineer goes, the printer goes back up stairs & 2 printouts later, the error reappears!!! I have a fiddle, but my fiddling is getting less & less effective.
I phone HP support back (tap tap, music, coffee, scratch), tell them an engineer has just been and the printer is playing up again. They try and contact the engineer to get him to come back but it was one coffee to late!

So a few da
ys later another engineer comes out, I explain that the problem is a tad intermittent and he nicely agrees to replace the printer unit again. This time, only the main printer unit is replaced – he said that they are not allowed to replace consumables like print-heads & cartridges. (Funny, last bloke replaced the lot).
So it’s replaced, he goes, and after two dozen prints the error comes back.

So, I run around the building screaming & jump out the window!! No no, actually I storm downstairs very pi**ed off, muttering lots of colourful words about HP & printers in general. I then made my desk an exclusion zone, banned the words printers and HP, snarled ay my sniggering colleagues and picked up the phone….

This time, I make sure I get a direct line number, ask to make a complaint, ask to speak to the most senior person there and, after a while, you guessed it, they want to send out an engineer.
The engineer comes out next day, swaps the printer, where upon I butt in! …

I ask why on earth he is simply replacing the printer again, when none of the other replacements work. At this point, I discover that the printers they use as replacements are the printers taken away and repaired & reconditioned. Great!
I ask him why he doesn’t actually have a look at the printer – he is meant to be an engineer! I then put it to him that it’s actually the print-head causing the problem (since the error code said print-head fault!), and changing the whole printer but not the print-heads ain’t going to help. I also state that the only ‘new’ print-heads we’ve ever had are the ones from the original printer, the second lot we got I now know to be second hand!
The engineer eventually gives in, asks me to speak to the HP support desk manger & explain the problem and goes home!

So I phone him (big boos person), he’s not there – I leave a message. I speak to
another senior HP person, he agrees I’m probably right and agrees to send out some brand new print-heads - not normally allowed (consumable) but he does so anyway as a goodwill gesture.
I then get a phone call back from the HP support boss chap, I have a good long moan & explain in details everything. What a bl**dy nice chap, he agrees to send out a different printer altogether (all for free), This being the much bigger, better & a lot more expensive (£1,200) HP2500CM. Result!

Better still, the print-heads came for the HP2000C, which worked!!! The printer was fine from then one!!!
The HP2500CM arrived (it’s huge – needed some office rearranging to get it in) and was setup, plugged in. It’s miles better & a lot faster plus much easier to configure for a network. It also uses the same cartridges as the 2000C
Better still, when HP delivered the printer, they didn’t take the 2000C back, and to this day we still have it – in perfect working order. In fact it’s next to my desk as a little memento!

Of course I did tell a tiny white lie or two, to the dozens of HP support people that came grovelling for forgiveness (by way of follow up phone calls), I didn’t mention that their boss had given us a brand new bigger & better printer, just let them know it was sorted out!! After all, it’s not my fault, if they can’t communicate to each other!

In fairness to HP, the support staff were very pleasant and my thanks to them for there help & patience.


So, in summary, key points are…

- Don’t get a HP2000C; you may end up with a lot of hassle
- HP (and probably other companies) use reconditioned NOT new equipment as warranty replacements! They don’t tell you though!
- HP engineers (who are not actually HP engineers, merely contacted out by them) are no more than glorified delivery men with a crew driver!
- Moan, moan and moan
if things go wrong, make yourself as bigger pain in the rear as you can, it’s worth it!

The End!


Thanks for reading!
Tobes

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