Printerland

[floppybootstomp]

In September I was looking for a printer with a small footprint, wireless and fax facilities so phoned online suppliers Printerland to ask for recommendations. On the plus side Printerland have a free 0800 phone number and friendly staff who understand and speak good English.

They recommended the Lexmark S815 All-in-one and I said 'You gotta be joking, Lexmark are rubbish'. Cos they were rubbish. But the guy told me they'd changed their tune and their printers were ok and most importantly, their support was good.

So I bought one. Ordered the printer and a set of ink cartridges to suit and was promised next day delivery. The printer cost £162.00 inc VAT and the cartridges cost £67.78 including VAT, I chose the bigger 'XL' cartridges.

The next day the ink cartridges arrived but the printer didn't so at 5pm I phoned Printerland and they said the printer had not been despatched. They sent it and it arrived the next day, just as well I was able to stay at home to accept delivery two days running. The printer initially worked fine and I was pleased with it.

A couple of weeks ago I ordered an Epson Stylus P50 printer from Printerland and also ordered a set of ink cartridges to suit at the same time and Printerland promised next day delivery on both items.. The next day the ink cartridges arrived but the printer did not. I phoned Printerland at 5pm and they told me the printer had not been sent.

They sent it and it arrived the next day. Are we detecting a pattern here people? Methinks Printerland have a problem somewhere in their admin system but whatever, that's the last time I use them.

The Lexmark printer went wrong a few weeks ago so I phoned Printerland who told me Lexmark deal direct with customers so I phoned Lexmark. We went through the usual stuff 'Disconnect mains, wait, reconnect' 'Reset to factory defaults' 'Have you latest firmware installed?' Yes, I have and in the end they sent me a new print head and a 'free' set of ink cartridges.

Five days later they arrived, I fitted them and all was well. That lasted three days and it went wrong again. Phoned Lexmark again and to cut a long conversation short they sent me a replacement new printer which arrived five days later.

That lasted two days and as of this moment it's mostly not working and when it does the printed text is blurred, incomplete or the wrong colour. I have tried it wireless, through USB port and stand alone copying, it is well and truly buggered.

So, so much for Lexmark having become good eh?

I will phone Lexmark tomorrow and I am going to try and get them to exchange my faulty printer for a model costing the same price This One which luckily takes the same ink cartridges as my faulty printer. We shall see what they say but if they're not willing to do that then I want my money back. And I should really get the money back for my ink cartridges as well, still sealed and unopened.

On a positive note so far the Epson Stylus P50 - a little pricey, not wireless and not an all-in-one - is excellent, it's quick and the quality, particularly on photographs, is very good indeed, best photo quality in any printer I've owned so far tbh.

 

[Anon_F]

always had hp until we bought an epson stylus dx4800 a few years ago.
apart from it eating ink cartridges it's a great all-in-one printer.

fbs are you sure that printland are not owned by poundland!

 

[bootneck02]

I had a Lexmark printer some years ago, I cannot say it went wrong but it used printer inks like no tomorow and it was so slooow. Since then I have a Epson Stylus SX200 and found it a great printer and the inks are individual all in all a great printer

 

[crazylegs]

Yep been through a few printers in me time and another thumbs up here for Epson, although it drinks ink like a 4.2 litre Jag..

 

[Reefsmoka]

Kodak for the win!

 

[floppybootstomp]

It has taken a while but today Lexmark agreed to replace my second ailing S815 with a new different model. It's the Pro 705 which costs £30 more (including VAT) than I paid for my S815. It takes the same ink cartridges so I can use my new set Lexmark sent me and it does all the same functions so things are looking good. Looking good though as long as the new one doesn't go belly up. It does actually have a five year warranty, the replacement, so that's kinda comforting.

The Pro 705 does have better spec than the S815 which I suppose is good. Trouble is, I chose the S815 for it's footprint size as it fitted perfectly on one of my bedside cabinets, the Pro 705 will overhang by a few centimetres.

To prove my replacement S815 was faulty I spent almost two hours on the phone with a tech doing all kinds of tests. It took so long as the printer was basically very very slow, that was one of the faults. Then a day after that I done more or less the same thing again for 90 minutes with a senior tech. I don't know what the result would have been if I couldn't have been at home, maybe they would have done it in the evening.

I'm told it will arrive in '5 to 7 working days' and then I have to arrange for UPS to collect the faulty one for return. I'm obviously not at home all the time so it may present a problem

Anyhow, I'll let you all know how the replacement performs. Lexmark themselves have overall been quite decent about the whole thing, albeit a little time consuming. Printerland, however, are still out to lunch as far as I'm concerned.

 

[floppybootstomp]

The Lexmark Pro705 printer arrived via UPS today at 12:30 which was two days ahead of Lexmark's promised delivery time. I've set it up and it works fine. Setup was easy with a very detailed guide from the CD taking me through each stage. Only glitch was I had to go through the wireless setup twice for it to work and for a networked printer icon to appear within Win 7's printers and devices section.

Seems well built, the fax works ok and it has better spec than the one it replaced. During setup the printer printed out a five year guarantee from the company, dated today. And it actually fits perfectly in it's allotted home, looks quite good.

So, a cautious thumbs up, if anything goes wrong I will post back here.

Oh, the Epson P50 still performing flawlessly btw

 

[crazylegs]

Glad to hear all is well in printerland mr Flopp's!

 

[floppybootstomp]

Just printed a 3 page MS Excel 2003 spreadsheet within Win 7 on my new Pro 705 Lexmark printer. The one with the 5 year guarantee. The red text came out yellow. Printed a test page and there's no red colour block where there should be.

Ink levels are all good, according to Lexmark software. Latest firmware for printer is installed.

Why oh why did I ever listen to that guy at Printerland who persuaded me Lexmark were now good? They're not, they are as S**t as they always were. Avoid Lexmark.

Lexmark can't give me a refund, I'll have to appeal to Printerland for cash back.

Which is a lot of agro and time used up and me having to remember the history of this rather regrettable purchase. Here we go.

Folks, take my advice, avoid both the supplier 'Printerland' and most especially avoid Lexmark printers like the plague.

 

[Anon_F]

If you paid by credit card you will be protected via your bank.
If paid by debit card you have limited protection via your bank.
Ask for a full refund from printerland & speak to your bank about the saga as they can help you sort it out.
Perhaps the threat of the small claims court may get printerland to pay up!

 

[bootneck02]

fore armed is fore warned thanks for the heads up Mr Flops I dont think I will be using Printer Land or Lexmark after your experience

 

[floppybootstomp]

Come morningtime, when the alcohol haze has deserted me and a bowl of some grain or other with cold milk has nourished me, I looked again to the problem. I printed the file from my Epson P50 printer and it was as it should be - red text.

So I swapped out the almost full magenta ink cartridge for a partly used one and the document printed ok, with red text, from the Lexmark printer. Put the almost full cartridge back and the problem has gone away.

I will stick with it for now, I have a year's warranty with Printerland until September and if it plays up again within that time I will demand a refund.

btw Feckit, I don't have any credit cards, cut them all in half two years ago, just a single debit card now which means I only spend what I earn. I don't know what my legal rights are but if Printerland ever give me any gyp I'm sure they'd understand the implications of one of their products crashing through a front window of their building

'So take me to court Mr Printerland, I'll make it a showcase and you will attract some very interesting publicity'. Hmmph.

 

[Anon_F]

Printerland ever give me any gyp I'm sure they'd understand the implications of one of their products crashing through a front window of their building

'So take me to court Mr Printerland, I'll make it a showcase and you will attract some very interesting publicity'. Hmmph.

I'm sure they will be more than happy to hear from an (un) satisfied customer like you!!
And yes going through the courts for criminal damage you would get you 5 mins of fame.
Suggest you make sure The Daily Mail are on hand to take your picture!

 

[floppybootstomp]

Update: Lexmark Pro705 behaving itself with the exception of one thing - it doesn't like A4 sheets of Avery labels and frequently chews them up, jamming the printer. My Epson P50 printer prints labels with these sheets perfectly.

My advice: avoid Lexmark like the plague