D
Darrell
The following is an exceptionally long posting but is being provided so
that others can use this experience when determining printer purchase
decisions. I am a 30-year IT veteran and am still in disbelief at how
poor Brother handled this.
I do not see a Brother printer in my near/distant future; however,
kudos to Office Max (see below).
---
Here's the attachment to the letter I just sent Brother International
(with some minor changes to remove individual names/phone numbers):
---
On August 18, 2006, I purchased Brother International's MFC9420CN,
S/N Uxxxx. Shortly after acquisition, I began to have problems
reproducing consistent colors.
Within a couple of weeks I attempted to print a newsletter with a
1-inch, left-hand color margin, and the printer failed to produce the
color selected from Microsoft Word. I was attempting to create an
Orange margin and made several print attempts, with each producing a
different color result. After several attempts, I found a printout
that was satisfying, accepted it, and moved on. I hadn't yet
realized this was, in fact, a problem with my particular printer.
Later, while attempting to make copies of some hand-drawn items, the
copy function failed to correctly reproduce their colors. Originals in
Orange came out Red and Yellow printed without any color.
After determining the printer had issues that would not go away, I
opted to invoke the manufacturer's warranty and sent an email to
Brother Technical Support in mid-October. I received a return email
asking me to call support in order to discuss the problem.
On October 25 I contacted Brother Technical Support; I spoke with a
support specialist for about 35 minutes. I gave the entire synopsis of
my printer's problems and was told, time and time again, that the
printer is not designed to reproduce colors in the exact original form.
What? This is a color laser printer, what else is it supposed to do?
I explained to the support technician that I was not talking about a
mere difference of hues; I was talking about Orange becoming Red and
Yellow failing to reproduce at all. The most he could offer was to
change the copy quality from Text to Photo (low to high). Believe it
or not, at no time during the 35 minute call did this technician have
me print one of the printer's own color test pages (it has more than
one). I concluded the call by asking the support technician to
annotate my record with the fact that I was not happy and that I would
continue to pursue a solution for this problem.
Later that night I spoke with a relative who knows copiers and he asked
me how the printer's color calibration test went. Color calibration
test? What's that? He stated that every printer of this type should
have one. So, I began working through the printer's menu and found
the option to run a color calibration test. It failed! Over and over
again, it failed. This printer has an issue.
With this, I send my second email to Brother Technical Support.
Thirty-five minutes and all I am told is that this printer isn't
designed to copy colors exactly like the original. Of course, this
doesn't account for its inability to print the newsletter using the
color labeled "orange" within Word or the fact that it's failing
its own color calibration test. I was beginning to have doubts about
Brother Technical Support.
When I got home from work on the 26th, I checked my email to see if
there was a response from Brother; there was not. I then called
Brother and spoke with another Brother Technical Support specialist.
This person seemed to know her troubleshooting much better. We
performed numerous checks, including a color print test; removal,
cleaning, and re-insertion of all color cartridges. Nothing helped and
it continued to fail to print Yellow consistently. This specialist
said she was going to turn my case over to warranty. This was Thursday
and I was to be contacted on Friday.
I was at home all Friday, available from 6:30 am until 7:00 pm and
received no call. I waited until Tuesday (Oct 31) without as much as a
call.
Time for my third email, sent October 31 (and shown below):
Images copied and printed on my system fail to produce colors near the
original. Additionally, the unit fails its own color calibration test.
I have sent in two emails prior and spoke with technical support twice
prior.
Last I spoke, Thursday, October 26, I was informed this issue would be
turned over to warranty and that I would get a call on Friday.
It's now Tuesday and I have yet to hear from anybody.
At this point, I would really like to get a working system. This is
for home use and $800 is a lot of money to not have it working.
Additionally, this is to support my wife (Elementary Librarian) and I
do not care to have this drag out for months.
The next day, November 1, I received a call from Brother Warranty
Department specialist, Anthony L. I called him back when I got home;
he was not in so I left him a message.
According to my cell phone records, I called twice on November 2 and
left messages that I would be home all day Friday. At 8:41 am Friday,
November 2, I called the warranty department again and finally spoke
with Anthony.
I reviewed all that had been happening with the printer (newsletter
printing various colors-but not the intended Orange, copies of Orange
coming out Red, Yellow not coming out, the internal color calibration
test failing, etc.). He had me print a test page (different than
Customer Service Tech #2) and it showed some yellow. I sent him to
digital photographs of the Orange and Yellow items I had attempted to
copy and he said he would do some research. He concluded by stating he
would call me back in an hour. The call lasted all of 17 minutes (cell
phone records) and ended just before 9:00 am. I stayed home until 7:00
pm, no call.
No call on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday. So, on Tuesday,
November 7 (2:42 pm), I place a call to Brother Customer Service and
ask to speak to a manager; I speak with Mike. Other than saying (as
they all do) that they are sorry I'm having problems with my Brother
Printer, Mike offers no other assistance. I guess I was expecting some
action from a Customer Service Manager. Instead, Mike places me on
hold and calls to Anthony in Brother Warranty. He gets back on the
line and advises me that Anthony will call me on my home phone, and
then places me back on hold. Just over ten minutes, Mike comes back on
the line asking if Anthony has called...he has not. Mike then states
that he's going to transfer me to Anthony. I think to myself,
"What good is this?" This is the warranty person I've waited for
days to call me back and, for my escalation call, I'm going to get to
talk with him now.
So, I once again talk with Anthony. At first, he states he's still
looking into it. I told Anthony just what I felt and that included
that he had failed to call me after numerous days without as much as a
phone call or email (he had both). I further stated that he obviously
did not share my since of urgency and that I was not thrilled. He then
stated that, after examination, it was determined that the Brother
color laser printer was not designed to print the precise shade of
Orange within my drawing (wow, what a line!). He also stated that the
Brother color laser printer would not recognize the Yellow and that's
why that didn't copy.
[Commentary: Tell you what, I would sure hate to have to print or copy
of bowl of fruit such as yellow apples, bananas, lemons, and
pumpkins...that would appear to be items the Brother color laser is not
supposed to work with.]
The warranty technician made the comment that he could send a person to
my home to check out my printer but that would not be worthwhile
because (as I've already written) the printer's just not supposed
to print that particular shade of Orange.
[Commentary: I guess it's also not supposed to print Orange from
Microsoft Word, nor Yellow from Crayola Crayon, nor even pass its own
color calibration test, etc.]
At this point in the conversation, I ask for an RMA to return the
ill-fated printer. Anthony asks me where I purchased it (Office Max)
and then advises me to return it to them.
[Commentary: Great, I'm two months into a one-year warranty that
claims to do on-site warranty and I'm now being asked to bring the
printer back to the place where I bought it.]
I called Office Max, they only offer a 14-day return policy for such
items.
On November 10 (7:20 am), I called back to Brother to continue the RMA
option since I am beyond the Office Max return period. I spoke with
Elaine and was informed that Brother does not do direct returns and
transfers me to Customer Service. I then spoke with David at Customer
Service, who transfers me again to what he claims to be a customer
service department for this particular printer (first time this has
happened during all my calls). This new Customer Service
representative now informs me that Brother International does not
accept direct returns except when purchased directly from them.
[Commentary: Wow again! What a scam. What consumer buys directly from
Brother? How does a regular consumer take advantage of their one-year
warranty? Is this all Brother has to offer?]
I then went to Office Max (Nov 10) and, to their great credit, they
stepped up to the plate and willingly returned the Brother printer.
This solves my "Brother problem" at many levels: I'm not out the
money for a Brother printer that doesn't work, I no longer own a
Brother product nor have to deal with their view of customer support,
and am now the owner of an HP color laser AIO printer.
I strongly believe Brother International needs to do some serious
review of their customer service process and make some significant
changes.
that others can use this experience when determining printer purchase
decisions. I am a 30-year IT veteran and am still in disbelief at how
poor Brother handled this.
I do not see a Brother printer in my near/distant future; however,
kudos to Office Max (see below).
---
Here's the attachment to the letter I just sent Brother International
(with some minor changes to remove individual names/phone numbers):
---
On August 18, 2006, I purchased Brother International's MFC9420CN,
S/N Uxxxx. Shortly after acquisition, I began to have problems
reproducing consistent colors.
Within a couple of weeks I attempted to print a newsletter with a
1-inch, left-hand color margin, and the printer failed to produce the
color selected from Microsoft Word. I was attempting to create an
Orange margin and made several print attempts, with each producing a
different color result. After several attempts, I found a printout
that was satisfying, accepted it, and moved on. I hadn't yet
realized this was, in fact, a problem with my particular printer.
Later, while attempting to make copies of some hand-drawn items, the
copy function failed to correctly reproduce their colors. Originals in
Orange came out Red and Yellow printed without any color.
After determining the printer had issues that would not go away, I
opted to invoke the manufacturer's warranty and sent an email to
Brother Technical Support in mid-October. I received a return email
asking me to call support in order to discuss the problem.
On October 25 I contacted Brother Technical Support; I spoke with a
support specialist for about 35 minutes. I gave the entire synopsis of
my printer's problems and was told, time and time again, that the
printer is not designed to reproduce colors in the exact original form.
What? This is a color laser printer, what else is it supposed to do?
I explained to the support technician that I was not talking about a
mere difference of hues; I was talking about Orange becoming Red and
Yellow failing to reproduce at all. The most he could offer was to
change the copy quality from Text to Photo (low to high). Believe it
or not, at no time during the 35 minute call did this technician have
me print one of the printer's own color test pages (it has more than
one). I concluded the call by asking the support technician to
annotate my record with the fact that I was not happy and that I would
continue to pursue a solution for this problem.
Later that night I spoke with a relative who knows copiers and he asked
me how the printer's color calibration test went. Color calibration
test? What's that? He stated that every printer of this type should
have one. So, I began working through the printer's menu and found
the option to run a color calibration test. It failed! Over and over
again, it failed. This printer has an issue.
With this, I send my second email to Brother Technical Support.
Thirty-five minutes and all I am told is that this printer isn't
designed to copy colors exactly like the original. Of course, this
doesn't account for its inability to print the newsletter using the
color labeled "orange" within Word or the fact that it's failing
its own color calibration test. I was beginning to have doubts about
Brother Technical Support.
When I got home from work on the 26th, I checked my email to see if
there was a response from Brother; there was not. I then called
Brother and spoke with another Brother Technical Support specialist.
This person seemed to know her troubleshooting much better. We
performed numerous checks, including a color print test; removal,
cleaning, and re-insertion of all color cartridges. Nothing helped and
it continued to fail to print Yellow consistently. This specialist
said she was going to turn my case over to warranty. This was Thursday
and I was to be contacted on Friday.
I was at home all Friday, available from 6:30 am until 7:00 pm and
received no call. I waited until Tuesday (Oct 31) without as much as a
call.
Time for my third email, sent October 31 (and shown below):
Images copied and printed on my system fail to produce colors near the
original. Additionally, the unit fails its own color calibration test.
I have sent in two emails prior and spoke with technical support twice
prior.
Last I spoke, Thursday, October 26, I was informed this issue would be
turned over to warranty and that I would get a call on Friday.
It's now Tuesday and I have yet to hear from anybody.
At this point, I would really like to get a working system. This is
for home use and $800 is a lot of money to not have it working.
Additionally, this is to support my wife (Elementary Librarian) and I
do not care to have this drag out for months.
The next day, November 1, I received a call from Brother Warranty
Department specialist, Anthony L. I called him back when I got home;
he was not in so I left him a message.
According to my cell phone records, I called twice on November 2 and
left messages that I would be home all day Friday. At 8:41 am Friday,
November 2, I called the warranty department again and finally spoke
with Anthony.
I reviewed all that had been happening with the printer (newsletter
printing various colors-but not the intended Orange, copies of Orange
coming out Red, Yellow not coming out, the internal color calibration
test failing, etc.). He had me print a test page (different than
Customer Service Tech #2) and it showed some yellow. I sent him to
digital photographs of the Orange and Yellow items I had attempted to
copy and he said he would do some research. He concluded by stating he
would call me back in an hour. The call lasted all of 17 minutes (cell
phone records) and ended just before 9:00 am. I stayed home until 7:00
pm, no call.
No call on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday. So, on Tuesday,
November 7 (2:42 pm), I place a call to Brother Customer Service and
ask to speak to a manager; I speak with Mike. Other than saying (as
they all do) that they are sorry I'm having problems with my Brother
Printer, Mike offers no other assistance. I guess I was expecting some
action from a Customer Service Manager. Instead, Mike places me on
hold and calls to Anthony in Brother Warranty. He gets back on the
line and advises me that Anthony will call me on my home phone, and
then places me back on hold. Just over ten minutes, Mike comes back on
the line asking if Anthony has called...he has not. Mike then states
that he's going to transfer me to Anthony. I think to myself,
"What good is this?" This is the warranty person I've waited for
days to call me back and, for my escalation call, I'm going to get to
talk with him now.
So, I once again talk with Anthony. At first, he states he's still
looking into it. I told Anthony just what I felt and that included
that he had failed to call me after numerous days without as much as a
phone call or email (he had both). I further stated that he obviously
did not share my since of urgency and that I was not thrilled. He then
stated that, after examination, it was determined that the Brother
color laser printer was not designed to print the precise shade of
Orange within my drawing (wow, what a line!). He also stated that the
Brother color laser printer would not recognize the Yellow and that's
why that didn't copy.
[Commentary: Tell you what, I would sure hate to have to print or copy
of bowl of fruit such as yellow apples, bananas, lemons, and
pumpkins...that would appear to be items the Brother color laser is not
supposed to work with.]
The warranty technician made the comment that he could send a person to
my home to check out my printer but that would not be worthwhile
because (as I've already written) the printer's just not supposed
to print that particular shade of Orange.
[Commentary: I guess it's also not supposed to print Orange from
Microsoft Word, nor Yellow from Crayola Crayon, nor even pass its own
color calibration test, etc.]
At this point in the conversation, I ask for an RMA to return the
ill-fated printer. Anthony asks me where I purchased it (Office Max)
and then advises me to return it to them.
[Commentary: Great, I'm two months into a one-year warranty that
claims to do on-site warranty and I'm now being asked to bring the
printer back to the place where I bought it.]
I called Office Max, they only offer a 14-day return policy for such
items.
On November 10 (7:20 am), I called back to Brother to continue the RMA
option since I am beyond the Office Max return period. I spoke with
Elaine and was informed that Brother does not do direct returns and
transfers me to Customer Service. I then spoke with David at Customer
Service, who transfers me again to what he claims to be a customer
service department for this particular printer (first time this has
happened during all my calls). This new Customer Service
representative now informs me that Brother International does not
accept direct returns except when purchased directly from them.
[Commentary: Wow again! What a scam. What consumer buys directly from
Brother? How does a regular consumer take advantage of their one-year
warranty? Is this all Brother has to offer?]
I then went to Office Max (Nov 10) and, to their great credit, they
stepped up to the plate and willingly returned the Brother printer.
This solves my "Brother problem" at many levels: I'm not out the
money for a Brother printer that doesn't work, I no longer own a
Brother product nor have to deal with their view of customer support,
and am now the owner of an HP color laser AIO printer.
I strongly believe Brother International needs to do some serious
review of their customer service process and make some significant
changes.