Epson support sucks

I have a R1800 printer and I have spent a ton of time trying to print with Windows 7.

I have downloaded the latest drivers and spent time on the phone with their support people.

Why don't they just say that they do not support Windows 7?

I posted about this a few weeks ago. I have bought all new ink cartridges. I have beeen in touch with an authorized service center at their recomendation.

So finally before giving my printer the old heave-ho, I try it on my old XP computer and it works like a charm.


I just wish they had told me the truth in the first place.

I used to think their support was great, (I know they want you to be able to print and use ink), but have I wasted a great deal of time and if they had just said up front "your R1800 is not going to work with Windows 7" I'd be happier.

Are all Epson printers going to stop working when the next OS comes out?

BTW I just bought a new HP wireless printer/scanner/copier for $80. When I get a new OS if HP dosn't support it - no big deal

Tapeman wrote in post #10059001
BTW I just bought a new HP wireless printer/scanner/copier for $80. When I get a new OS if HP dosn't support it - no big deal

Actually, that's probably the only thing HP printers have going for them. HP happily provided me with Windows 7 64bit drivers for a printer that was discontinued 6 years ago. Shame that ICC profiles are thin on the ground for them with 3rd party papers.

As for Epson, I agree that their customer service is horrible. Not quite as bad as Lexmark but still not great.

However, my other half prints to her R1800 using Windows 7 64bit drivers from Epson (Printer Driver v6.5cAs).

I have to disagree. While I had the same problems as far as Epson printer, the 4000 to be exact, not working with the then new Mac with Intel inside, one simple phone call to Epson confirmed the problem. They indicated (this was over three years ago) that they were working on the drivers.

Yes, I did think it should have been a lot quicker to market with the drivers, but their support was fine.

I then bought the 4800 and now own the 7900. The quality of the printer and the prints is unsurpassed.

mark

I hate epson, their website sucks, their drivers never work. Actually I hate printers in general.

their drivers never work? Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration? I'm printing on this right now with absolutely no problems:

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

I have the R800, Windows 7 64-bit, and can print fine. I believe they share the same driver. Maybe a setting is incorrect somewhere.

Tapeman wrote in post #10059001
I have a R1800 printer and I have spent a ton of time trying to print with Windows 7.

I have downloaded the latest drivers and spent time on the phone with their support people.

Why don't they just say that they do not support Windows 7?

I posted about this a few weeks ago. I have bought all new ink cartridges. I have beeen in touch with an authorized service center at their recomendation.

So finally before giving my printer the old heave-ho, I try it on my old XP computer and it works like a charm.


I just wish they had told me the truth in the first place.

I used to think their support was great, (I know they want you to be able to print and use ink), but have I wasted a great deal of time and if they had just said up front "your R1800 is not going to work with Windows 7" I'd be happier.

Are all Epson printers going to stop working when the next OS comes out?

BTW I just bought a new HP wireless printer/scanner/copier for $80. When I get a new OS if HP dosn't support it - no big deal

Every new operating system from Microsoft goes through this problem period and its why I will never ever be an early adopter.

Whether its because they don't release the code early enough for the third party software providers to write it, or the code they release is not trusted I have no idea.

So dont blame Epson, because they are only one of many playing catch up. Epson are actually one of the better help desk teams, have you ever tried Microsoft or Canon or Symantec?

Lowner wrote in post #10062294
So dont blame Epson, because they are only one of many playing catch up.

Actually Vista and Windows 7 had the longest beta and release to manufacturer phases of any operating system in history. It was manufacturers like Epson who dropped the ball and couldn't or wouldn't create drivers in time.
The reason Vista got such a bad reputation is because manufacturers refused to re-write drivers for a more secure and stable platform so they abandoned nearly new hardware, leaving users in the cold.

I don't buy the idea that Vista was a lemon only because of the lack of drivers. It was so full of bugs it needed the local council to come round and deinfest it. Microsoft admitted publicly that they had screwed up but instead of doing the honourable thing and solving the issues, they just abandonned it!

Question: Has Microsoft offered EVERY Vista user a free copy of 7? If not, why not?

If I was writing software for Win7, I would want to have a production version loaded on a PC in front of me, otherwise anything I write is likely to be unusable. I have had my issues with Epson, but I personally would not use Win7 for a couple of years simply because it will take that long for Epson and others to create a stable working platform.

Lowner wrote in post #10062477
I don't buy the idea that Vista was a lemon only because of the lack of drivers. It was so full of bugs it needed the local council to come round and deinfest it.

Name 5 bugs.

Vista wasn't and isn't a lemon. It's infinitely better than XP ever was for both security and stability and Windows 7 is better still. I'm not some rabid MS fanboy but it's that kind of FUD that makes me irate.

I've been an Epson printer user for a long time. As operating systems come and go, have not experienced any difficulties with them. Will be upgrading to a new PC and Windows 7, hopefully, it will be seamless.

The problem of updating software to new OSs is an old one -- it's like a "tradition"! I remember the exact same thing when Win 2k and Win XP came out, it took a long time for things like printer drivers to catch up. And, believe it or not you hear similar things from Mac users!

It does boil down to the resources of the vendors -- they need to be dedicated to their new stuff but it is good business to do their best to update the old stuff. But, having dealt with such stuff in a design/research/develo​pment environment I know from frustrating experience that it can be a long time coming.

The good new is that each new release of Windows does pack in a healthy number of drivers for printers that have been out for a while, but still it is up to the printer manufacturers to devote the resources to adapt to the upcoming OS and, as has been said, there is a healthy time alotted to do this if the vendors step up. So, you can have Adobe releasing 64 bit versions of CS4 and Lightroom and charging for the R&D or you can have Canon with no 64 bit software but rather a bootstrap to load the 32 bit app into a 64 bit OS. But then, the Canon software is free...

Hank,

The biggy was the inability of Vista to successfully boot up using a colour management monitor profile. I have a cast iron copy of a document in which Microsoft admit its nothing to do with the profile(s) but is (was) entirely a Vista issue "and we will get around to solving it, but its low on our priority list". In the end they never did sort it out.

I have more in a similar vein if you are serious.