Spun around with "Atlantic Inkjet"

[Richard Steinfeld]

Whoops!
Some people had good experiences with Atlantic Inkjet's ink
quality so I sent them an order around a 3 years ago. What I'd
bought was a refill kit for my HP #78 cartridges. Something was up.

My order was filled, at least, I thought, by a place located in
New Brunswick, Canada, just over the border from Maine. In fact,
I tracked them down in my map software.

I had trouble with the refill kit. The needles were far too long,
puncturing the business end of the cartridges. I followed the
instructions, which were rather dumb; obviously written by
someone who hadn't done it. Previously I'd purchased an Inktek
refill kit (Korean) and my refills came out fine. Inktec's
instructions were excellent and the needles were obviously cut to
fit my HP cartridge.

Today, I went to the Atlantic site and found that the ink-only
product I wanted wasn't there. There seemed to be other changes,
as well. Other products were there instead: there were refill
kits under the brand "Uni-Kit," and these seemed awfully much
like a former brand called "Universal" made by an outfit named
"Kalvin's." The kit comes with a few sheets of the old special
photo paper that locks their ink. I remembered this from a
conversation maybe 8 years ago with someone at Universal. And it
looks like yesterday's Universal one-size-fits-all color kit is
now the "Uni-Kit."

Confused, I called the number on the Atlantic site, wondering why
an actual human was answering the phone so late in New Brunswick.
Not registering yet, I placed an order. The clerk said that the
name on my credit card debit would be "EZ Group." With confusion
growing, I wound up ordering one refilled cartridge and one
"Uni-Kit." He quoted California sales tax, and then I asked him
if Atlantic had a California presence: he said "yes."

With the confusion growing over how come a Canadian company
shipping from across the border in Maine was asking for
California sales tax, and had a California location, I asked him
where he was.

He said he was in Los Angeles, and that Atlantic was only one of
24 ink sites that they own! And when I asked directly, he
replied, Yes: "Universal" is one of their brands. Well, I'm going
to receive some one-size-fits all ink. I recall reading a long
time ago that some outfit in Florida had purchased
Universal/Kalvin's.

So, my head's kinda spinning. Some folks up in New Brunswick are
out of work. I believe that these people actually had mixed their
own ink.

And there's some outfit that's bought up lots of independent ink
companies. Wow! Who'm I gonna trust? Who will I buy from next
time? And when I do, will they still be the same people?

Ironically, I have a hunch that my Universal ink will actually
work out fine for my needs: I need dye ink, and dye's going to be
more universally dependable for a one-size-fits-all application.
My head's still spinning.

Richard
PS: I've been gone for a long time.

 

[TJ]

Whoops!
Some people had good experiences with Atlantic Inkjet's ink quality so I
sent them an order around a 3 years ago. What I'd bought was a refill
kit for my HP #78 cartridges. Something was up.

My order was filled, at least, I thought, by a place located in New
Brunswick, Canada, just over the border from Maine. In fact, I tracked
them down in my map software.

I had trouble with the refill kit. The needles were far too long,
puncturing the business end of the cartridges. I followed the
instructions, which were rather dumb; obviously written by someone who
hadn't done it. Previously I'd purchased an Inktek refill kit (Korean)
and my refills came out fine. Inktec's instructions were excellent and
the needles were obviously cut to fit my HP cartridge.

Today, I went to the Atlantic site and found that the ink-only product I
wanted wasn't there. There seemed to be other changes, as well. Other
products were there instead: there were refill kits under the brand
"Uni-Kit," and these seemed awfully much like a former brand called
"Universal" made by an outfit named "Kalvin's." The kit comes with a few
sheets of the old special photo paper that locks their ink. I remembered
this from a conversation maybe 8 years ago with someone at Universal.
And it looks like yesterday's Universal one-size-fits-all color kit is
now the "Uni-Kit."

Confused, I called the number on the Atlantic site, wondering why an
actual human was answering the phone so late in New Brunswick. Not
registering yet, I placed an order. The clerk said that the name on my
credit card debit would be "EZ Group." With confusion growing, I wound
up ordering one refilled cartridge and one "Uni-Kit." He quoted
California sales tax, and then I asked him if Atlantic had a California
presence: he said "yes."

With the confusion growing over how come a Canadian company shipping
from across the border in Maine was asking for California sales tax, and
had a California location, I asked him where he was.

He said he was in Los Angeles, and that Atlantic was only one of 24 ink
sites that they own! And when I asked directly, he replied, Yes:
"Universal" is one of their brands. Well, I'm going to receive some
one-size-fits all ink. I recall reading a long time ago that some outfit
in Florida had purchased Universal/Kalvin's.

So, my head's kinda spinning. Some folks up in New Brunswick are out of
work. I believe that these people actually had mixed their own ink.

And there's some outfit that's bought up lots of independent ink
companies. Wow! Who'm I gonna trust? Who will I buy from next time? And
when I do, will they still be the same people?

Ironically, I have a hunch that my Universal ink will actually work out
fine for my needs: I need dye ink, and dye's going to be more
universally dependable for a one-size-fits-all application. My head's
still spinning.

Richard
PS: I've been gone for a long time.

Welcome back, Richard. Wish I could help, but the last time I bought
bulk ink I bought too much, and my print needs have decreased lately.
I'm still working on that batch, and likely won't need any for a good
year or better.

On the bright side, this ink, which wasn't fancy by any means, has
worked just fine in my HP 57 carts. If all you're looking for is
day-to-day stuff, you shouldn't have any trouble.

BTW, we all know that even if refilled carefully, HP carts eventually
wear out. When buying replacements, I no longer buy refilled or
"remanufactured" tricolor carts. Too many failures. Instead, I've taken
to scouring eBay for "genuine," still-sealed HP carts. Most of these are
recently-expired shelf-pulls that are sold at "bargain" (for unused
carts) prices. Prices that are very close to those of refilled carts. Of
course, the usual caveats of buying on eBay apply, but so far none of
them have failed me, and I get a LOT more refills than I did when
starting with "remanufactured" carts.

I've found much more success with refilled black cart replacements, even
those found on eBay. Go figure.

TJ

 

[Richard Steinfeld]

Just a follow-up. I feel baited and switched.

1. Atlantic Inkjet and their true Canadian name, "Re-Inks," no
longer exist except as web pages. They have been absorbed into
the gaping maw of Easy Group

2. Easy Group uses at least 24 different names to sell ink and
refilled cartridges. These are probably mostly other former ink
sellers they've purchased and shut down.

3. The Uni-Kit that I bought says "Made in China" on the box. In
the advertisement pop-up, it's hawked as "Made in USA."

4. "Easy Group" is a name that's used by more than two other
independent companies. There's one in the UK that I figure has
been at it the longest, and their "product" is some sort of
cooperative marketing enterprise. Sure doesn't seem like these
ink hustlers.

Well, now I have it, so I'll try it. But I sure don't feel all
lovvie and kissie about these people.