Warranty FAQ
Will using a refilled cartridge void my printer warranty?
No.
1. Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act:
“US Federal law prohibits any company from requiring you to purchase only their products and prohibits a manufacturer from voiding your machine’s warranty simply by using alternative cartridge solutions. See Magnuson-Moss Warranty Improvement Act”. For more information see below.
2. Supreme Court Ruling, May 2017
The US Supreme Court ruling on printer cartridges in May 2017 legally validates ink cartridge refill services and helps protect the customer when it comes to aftermarket ink choice, via New York Times.
United States
US Federal law prohibits any company from requiring you to purchase only their products and prohibits a manufacturer from voiding your machine’s warranty simply by using alternative cartridge solutions. See Magnuson-Moss Warranty Improvement Act below for more details.
The law excerpt below indicates that a printer manufacturer cannot void the printer warranty due to refilled cartridges, unless they can prove that the refills caused or contributed to the failure in the printer. Under no circumstances may any company or associate, salesperson, or service technician deny you service or warranty work that would otherwise be covered under a warranty program simply because the cartridge was refilled. The U.S. government protects your consumer rights.
If a representative threatens to void the machine warranty or charge for a service call because you are using a refilled ink supply, ask for their statement in writing.
Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (USA)
United States Code Annotated, Title 15 – Commerce and Trade, Chapter 50 – Consumer Product Warranties, 15 Section 2302:
“(c) No warrantor of a consumer product may condition his written or implied warranty of such product on the consumer’s using, in connection with such product, any article or service (other than article or service provided without charge under the terms of the warranty) which is identified by brand, trade or corporate name; except that the prohibition of this subsection be waived by the commission if:
1) The warrantor satisfies the Commission that the warranted product will function properly only if the article or service so identified is used in connection with the warranted product, and
2) the Commission finds that such a waiver is in the public interest.”
Understanding the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (PDF)
Canada
Under Canadian law, no company can sell a product and then force the customer to buy further products from them in order to ensure their warranty remains valid. This is a practice referred to as “tied selling” and is forbidden by the Competition Act in Canada (Section 77). The only valid way that a company could require you to use only brand name cartridges would be to supply you with all the cartridges you need at no charge for the duration of the warranty (and they are not about to do this). If you read the warranty printer language, you’ll see that damage resulting from the use of a non-name-brand cartridge is not covered by the warranty, but in no way does using refilled cartridges void the entire warranty:
United Kingdom
In United Kingdom (UK), no company can sell a product and then force the customer to buy further products from them in order to ensure their warranty remains valid. Consumers are protected under the Competition Act 1998, C41, Part I Competition, Section 2 – “Agreement etc. preventing, restricting or distorting competition” – Clause 1 to 8:
URL: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/41/section/2
—
Find a Refill Store Location (USA, Canada, France, Germany, Romania):
Premium ink refilling services are provided by major retailers in the USA, Canada, France, Germany & Romania; to find the nearest refill store and ink pricing, refer to links below:
Retail Inkjet Solutions (Ink Refill Equipment Provider)
Don’t know your cartridge number? Click here to check:
To find the nearest ink refill center near you…
—
CAUTION: It is suggested you avoid purchasing ‘compatible’ ink cartridges as they can be quite problematic. The smart chip (at base of cartridge) may not provide reliable printer-cartridge connectivity once installed. Compatible cartridges are typically purchased on-line (i.e sold under a different label than the manufacturer) and is essentially a “knock-off” ink cartridge of the OEM (original/genuine) ink cartridge. For the best refilling experience, only use OEM original/genuine ink tanks or remanufactured OEM cartridges which have been cleaned, refilled and tested for proper performance.
—
For questions regarding refilled cartridge usage, printer questions/problems, new cartridge support offerings or ink refill locations please Contact Us.