Epson Sent Me the Wrong Printer!

[magicmikey]

I ordered a refurbished R1800 early this week. It came in yesterday (at least I thought it did!) I opened it this morning and went to work on removing my Epson 1270 that it's replacing. (Anyone need a good deal on a good 1270?)

Anyway, I cleared the space, put the printer on the shelf, plugged it in and started to put the ink cartridges in. First, I noticed that the printer has a label on it saying Epson UltraChrome K3 Ink. That's odd, I thought. I didn't think an R1800 could use the K3 ink. Then, l looked at the printer and realized they sent me an R2400 instead of an R1800. All the accessories, inks, CD and manuals are for the R1800.

I know the R2400 is a more expensive printer but I really wanted the R1800 and now I have to wait until Monday to let Epson know so they can replace it. (They're closed on weekends.)

I was really ready to try the R1800 out and now I'm going to have to be patient. (That's not one of my strong suits!)

Well, that's my rant!

Michael

[zacker]

wow... they should give ya some free ink for returning it and being honest!!

[magicmikey]

That would be nice! I might see if I can talk them into it.

Michael

[canonphotog]

It's possible that it was not a mistake on their part. They could have run out of re-furbed R1800's and fulfilled your order with with a suitable replacement.

Before you call them on monday, I'd go back to the website where you purchased your re-furbed printer and read all the sales and return/exchange information again very carefully.

Hope it turns out favorably for you.

Ken

[gparvan]

perhaps you could sell the R2400 for $500 and buy a brand new R1800!

[magicmikey]

perhaps you could sell the R2400 for $500 and buy a brand new R1800!

That's a thought but, since the refurb R2400s sell for $500 with a full set of accessories, I doubt I could get away with it.:lol:

I just spoke to Epson and they agreed to overnight me a R1800. They didn't go for the extra set of inks idea.:cry: It was worth a try, anyway.

Michael

[tzalman]

I'm curious. Is there a reason other than financial why you prefer the 1800 to the 2400?

[magicmikey]

Price is the primary reason but, believe it or not, it's also because of the ability to print on CDs and DVDs. I'm replacing both of my inkjets with the R1800. I currently use an R200 for CDs/DVDs and photos and I use the Epson 1270 for signs and banners.

The printer profiles for the 1270 have never been that good and Epson didn't do much of an update on the driver for Mac OS X so it lost some of it's capability. I pretty much stopped using it for photos.

The printer profiles for the R200 are a mixed bag and the photos aren't rated for a very long life so I've never felt good about giving someone a photo printed with it.

The R1800 reportedly has much better printer profiles, the reviews are outstanding on it and it will cover most of my needs. (I just wish the ink wasn't so expensive!)

I thought long and hard about the R2400 but, in the end, the lower cost (refurbished $500 vs $299) and the CD/DVD printing made it relatively easy to decide. One other factor is that I don't remember ever printing a black & white photo on an inkjet printer so I didn't need that capability that the R2400 excels at. (It's ironic because I did custom black and white printing at a photo lab for years but I just am not drawn to making black and white images.)

Michael

[magicmikey]

Okay, this is getting worse not better. I just got the replacement R1800 and the power button doesn't work! Now, I have two huge boxes to bring to FedEx. They're sending out a third printer tomorrow. I should have it Thursday.

I can't believe I'm having this much trouble!

Michael

[Steve Beck]

Thats a refurb for ya. I hope it all works out for you...

[magicmikey]

I've never had a problem with a refurb before. My computer is a refurb, my MiniDisk recorder is a refurb and my Canon Speedlight 420EX is a refurb. My past experiences, until this, has been that refurbs were as good as new.

Michael

[gparvan]

I've had mixed results with refurbs. Sounds like Epson is standing behind their product and taking care of you. This makes me feel comfortable buying a refurb from them.

I'm now considering the R2400 refurb! ;)

[magicmikey]

They are taking care of the returns and replacements without problem. They e-mail me a pre-paid shipping label for the packages and they overnight the replacements. (The only reason I won't get the replacement R1800 tomorrow was that the warehouse was closed already when I contacted them.)

The refurb price on the R2400 is super. Actually, the refurb price on the R800, R1800 and the R2400 is amazing. A lot of refurbs are only 20% lower than the retail cost. Epson's refurb prices on these is 40% or more off retail. (The best price I saw on a new R1800 is around $460 so $299 is a big savings.)

Michael

[gparvan]

What printer do you use for documents color or B&W ? I have a Canon S800 that is heading South on me. I can print both docs and photos but I'm not sure about how the R1800 or R2400 would do?

[magicmikey]

I go overboard. I have a Brother HL-1850 duplexing b&w laser printer and a Dell 3100cn duplexing color laser printer. The Epson 1270 I have was used mostly for signs and banners. (I'm a professional magician so I make signs for the events I do.) The R200 was used for DVD printing and color photos, although I used it mainly to proof photos before sending to a commercial lab.

Assuming I get the R1800 situation straightened out, I'll sell the 1270 and the R200 and I'll use the R1800 for photos, DVDs and signs/banners. It's probably more expensive to make signs/banners on it than on the 1270 but I won't have to buy two different ink sets. And, I am anticipating printing a lot more large photos on it since they are archival inks.

[gparvan]

LOL - I don't have room for two printers let alone as many as you have!! :lol:

[snake0ape]

I am recieving my R1800 tomorrow from Epson. I am wishing they send me your R2400 instead. Anyways, do anyone know of the cheapest web site to order R1800 inks?

[magicmikey]

At this point, the lowest I've found is Atlex. http://www.atlex.com/epson-stylus-inkjet-printer/photo_r1800_printer_paper_ink.htm

If there's someplace lower, I'd love to know about it!

Michael

[gparvan]

Did your new printer arrive to your satisfaction?

I was wondering if the printer appeared used in any way? Hopefully, they are out of box failures that have been fixed versus something that was used for almost the entire warranty period ~ 1 year.

[magicmikey]

Epson did take care of me, although I had to return one final printer. In the end, they shipped me 4 printers. The first being the R2400 that I hadn't ordered. The second being the R1800 that had a bad power button. The third had a printing issue where black ink would appear along one edge of every print. The fourth was a brand new R1800.

The condition of the refurbs varied. The R2400 showed a little wear on the corners of the printer but looked like they had replaced the plastic lid. The first R1800 looked like new. The second one looked a little more used than the first R1800 but still was in excellent condition. (There were minor scratches on the plastic lid.)

Here's what I found interesting. The reason I was able to get a new R1800 in the end is because I called Tech Support the last time and not The Epson Store. In the first two circumstances (the R2400 and the R1800 with the stuck button,) I called the Epson Store for a return authorization.

The third time, when the black ink issue appeared, I called Tech Support because I wanted to fix it. The Tech Support representative worked with me to try to clear it up. When it was apparent that there was an issue with the printer, she said I can do something the Epson Store can't. She said she can "upgrade me to a new printer" because of my problems.

The good news is that Epson was great to work with. They overnighted all the replacements and promptly e-mailed me the pre-paid return shipping labels. In the end, it took 15 days from my order until I got the 4th and final printer. It took a little patience but it paid off! One other thing, Epson let me keep the ink that came in the third printer. The fourth came with brand new inks and they told me to use them because a new printer has to be charged with brand new inks the first time. So, I also ended up with an extra set of inks. Talk about a good deal in the end!:D

Michael

[gparvan]

Excellent news.