HP “Instant Ink” makes printers “completely worthless,” class action lawsuit claims

In a class action lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in California, a consumer claims he and other HP Instant Ink subscription holders are stuck with defective, error-prone cartridges.

Lead plaintiff Radek Barnert seeks to represent other HP Instant Ink subscribers who were promised an “infinite supply of printer ink” but were delivered late and with faulty cartridges, leaving their printers inoperable for extended periods of time.

The plaintiff claims he prepaid for a two-year HP Instant Ink subscription when he purchased a new printer from Best Buy in June 2020. Due to late deliveries of several defect-prone cartridges, he was unable to use his printer for 35 days. He says other flaws in the program make it impossible for him to cancel the subscription or use store-bought ink for excess downtime.

“HP moved quickly to transform its business model into a subscription-based business and introduced its subscription-based ‘Instant Ink’ program, which is designed to provide HP printer owners with a virtually endless supply of printer ink – without ever having to wait to purchase new ink cartridges – because replacement ink cartridges are always on hand,” the class action lawsuit states.

Subscribers to HP’s Instant Ink program are promised that their printer will notify the company when cartridges are low. For a flat monthly fee, HP will then send subscribers replacement cartridges so they never run out of ink.

The HP Instant Ink subscription comes with two “significant catches,” Barnert claims.

First, subscribers are only allowed to use HP ink cartridges provided by the program and are not allowed to use store-bought cartridges. While this shouldn’t be a problem since the HP Instant Ink program supposedly supplies subscribers with the cartridges they need, the plaintiff says, “HP routinely fails to keep the promises it has made with respect to the program.”

“In particular, HP regularly fails to provide subscribers with replacement printer cartridges in a timely manner, and even when it does, subscribers are bombarded with error messages that prevent them from printing,” the class action lawsuit states.

Barnert claims that he and other HP Instant Ink subscribers are often unable to use their printers for long periods of time due to problems with the program. Additionally, when customers complain, HP claims it cannot fix the problems and instead offers to ship more ink cartridges – a process that can take more than a week.

To make matters worse, HP requires its subscribers to purchase ink cartridges through its Instant Ink program, but when they cancel their subscription, HP deactivates the cartridges and forces them to purchase new ink cartridges at retail stores, the class action lawsuit states.

The plaintiff also accuses HP of misrepresenting its promise to recycle used ink cartridges free of charge for subscribers. Barnert claims the company refused to send him the prepaid shipping materials to return his used or defective ink cartridges and instead told him to throw them away.

HP violated the terms of its own contract with its Instant Ink subscribers as well as consumer protection laws, the class action lawsuit alleges. Barnert plans to represent Instant Ink subscribers across the country and in New York.

The plaintiff wants to terminate the HP Instant Ink subscription and also force the company to reimburse him and other members of the class action lawsuit.

Do you pay for an HP Instant Ink subscription? We want to hear from you! Share your experience with us in the comments section below.

The plaintiff is represented by Mark L. Javitch of the Javitch Law Firm and Thomas A. Zimmerman, Jr. and Matthew C. De Re of the Zimmerman Law Firm.

The HP Instant Ink subscription class action lawsuit Is Barnert v. HP, Inc.Case No. 5:21-cv-05199 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division.

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