Avoid Lexmark like the Plague

[Cyron]

I feel the obligation to share my experience with Lexmark's printers
in hopes of sparing others from frustration and a wasted financial
investment:

In December 2006, I purchased a brand new Lexmark E232 Monochrome
Laser Printer. I don't remember what I paid for it, but it was around
$250. I don't do a lot of printing -- in fact the Printer Status
Sheet indicates that to this day I have printed a total of 436 pages
-- less than a ream of paper since December 2006. The printer has
worked well up until a few weeks ago. When I attempted to print, I
began to get error messages similar to "Unable to print to USB0001:
Device is not ready". A similar error manifested itself when I used a
parallel port cable instead of the USB cable.

Obviously since the printer was not even a year old and I have gotten
virtually no use out of it, I contacted Lexmark. Their techs ran me
through a variety of obvious troubleshooting and repair tasks (turning
the printer on then off, unplugging the printer, resinstalling the
printer drivers, etc, etc.) After several calls, a technician
determins that the "internal controller board" of the printer is
defective and needs to be replaced -- at my expense. I was shocked!
Were they seroiusly not going to provide any warranty for a printer
that was less than a year, having printed LESS than a ream of paper?
Sadly, that is the case.

As a consultant for medium to large businesses, I can only say that I
will never be recommending a Lexmark product. I can only hope that
the home users market (including myself) would never again fall prey
to these theives. I strongly recommend to anyone who is in the market
for a laser printer to spend a little more money and get an HP or
Konica Minolta. Avoid Lexmark like the plague.

 

[Cari]

What does the guarantee say? Is it not for a year?

 

[ggreekx]

I feel the obligation to share my experience with Lexmark's printers
in hopes of sparing others from frustration and a wasted financial
investment:

In December 2006, I purchased a brand new Lexmark E232 Monochrome
Laser Printer. I don't remember what I paid for it, but it was around
$250. I don't do a lot of printing -- in fact the Printer Status
Sheet indicates that to this day I have printed a total of 436 pages
-- less than a ream of paper since December 2006. The printer has
worked well up until a few weeks ago. When I attempted to print, I
began to get error messages similar to "Unable to print to USB0001:
Device is not ready". A similar error manifested itself when I used a
parallel port cable instead of the USB cable.

Obviously since the printer was not even a year old and I have gotten
virtually no use out of it, I contacted Lexmark. Their techs ran me
through a variety of obvious troubleshooting and repair tasks (turning
the printer on then off, unplugging the printer, resinstalling the
printer drivers, etc, etc.) After several calls, a technician
determins that the "internal controller board" of the printer is
defective and needs to be replaced -- at my expense. I was shocked!
Were they seroiusly not going to provide any warranty for a printer
that was less than a year, having printed LESS than a ream of paper?
Sadly, that is the case.

As a consultant for medium to large businesses, I can only say that I
will never be recommending a Lexmark product. I can only hope that
the home users market (including myself) would never again fall prey
to these theives. I strongly recommend to anyone who is in the market
for a laser printer to spend a little more money and get an HP or
Konica Minolta. Avoid Lexmark like the plague.

Unfortunately i had problems too but with brother!They replaced me the
printer twice and everytime was a refurbished with a lot of problems.
Most important is to getit REPAIRED and not REPLACED!!!
Can happen to everyone

 

[Cyron]

Unfortunately i had problems too but with brother!They replaced me the

printer twice and everytime was a refurbished with a lot of problems.
Most important is to getit REPAIRED and not REPLACED!!!
Can happen to everyone

This is true -- there are a lot of terrible printer manufacturers out
there. I wasn't aware until recently that Lexmark was one of them. I
must share that all of the HP laser printers I have purchased over the
years have performed very well -- I think I will be sticking to them
from now on.

 

[Richard Steinfeld]

This is true -- there are a lot of terrible printer manufacturers out
there. I wasn't aware until recently that Lexmark was one of them. I
must share that all of the HP laser printers I have purchased over the
years have performed very well -- I think I will be sticking to them
from now on.

I was disgusted with Lexmark's sense of responsibility (or lack of it)
regarding the superb split keyboard that IBM spun off to them. They
killed the product, gave all the parts to a nearby repair shop in
Lexington, Ky -- an outfit that refused to sell parts. I told Lexmark
that it was their responsibility to me, since as the manufacturer, the
implied contract is between me and Lexmark, not the repair cowboys.
They'd hear none of it.

By the way, I got superb support for the keyboard a few months earlier,
when the product manager personally installed a longer cable between the
two halves for me at no expense. This was one of their design parts. So,
there are or were a few great people in the company. Too bad about the
keyboard -- they could have made a lot of money selling these great ergo
products to people other than me. I don't understand stupid corporate
decisions.

Richard

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Does Lexmark not have a one year warranty on their laser printers? What
country was the purchase made in. I believe the minimum warranty for
laser printers in Canada is one year.

Art

 

[Bernie]

The warranty on your printer is for 12 months from the original purchase
date. (See page 9 of the Users Guide,
http://www.lexmark.com/publications/pdfs/e230/eng/ug.pdf)

That printer was available in 2003 and is no longer part of their
current product line. Did you buy the printer new and from Lexmark or
an authorized dealer? Do you have the purchase receipt or did you
register the printer when you bought it so that you can show that your
new printer is less than 12 months old? If the answers to those
questions are yes, was the Lexmark Customer Service Rep aware of the
fact that your printer was less than 12 months old?

I wouldn't recommend a Lexmark inkjet printer, but I haven't heard bad
things about Lexmark laser printers.

Bernie

 

[Cyron]

The warranty on your printer is for 12 months from the original purchase
date. (See page 9 of the Users Guide,http://www.lexmark.com/publications/pdfs/e230/eng/ug.pdf)

Yes, I'm aware that the printer *should* have a year warranty on it
from the time of purchase, but for whatever reason, Lexmark doesn't
want to honor it. I realize I could take legal action and pursue the
matter, but to what end? If their brand new printer I purchased less
than a year ago is breaking after printing a mere 436 pages, I don't
really want a "repaired" unit that's only going to get another 100
pages of life. My reason for posting was mostly to warn other folks
to steer clear of the shoddy Lexmark products so they don't find
themselves in the same position I'm in.

That printer was available in 2003 and is no longer part of their
current product line. Did you buy the printer new and from Lexmark or
an authorized dealer? Do you have the purchase receipt or did you
register the printer when you bought it so that you can show that your
new printer is less than 12 months old? If the answers to those
questions are yes, was the Lexmark Customer Service Rep aware of the
fact that your printer was less than 12 months old?

Yes, they were aware. You know how those support techs in India are
-- they repeat everything you say back you -- "Okay Sir, I understand
that your printer has only printed 436 pages and that it is less than
a year old. However, I regret to inform you that the cost of repair
will be completely yours."

I wouldn't recommend a Lexmark inkjet printer, but I haven't heard bad
things about Lexmark laser printers.

I was in exactly the same shoes you are in now -- I knew Lexmark
Inkjet printers sucked before I bought the laser. The business I work
for had purchased a bunch of Lexmark Laser printers (same model as the
one I bought) so I figured they must be decent. Well, now I know why
all those Lexmarks at the office are no longer there. After Googling
Lexmark's name, its amazing they're still in business.

Mike