Last Updated on 20/11/2020 by Drashti

Earlier this month, however, the business enterprise did announce the release of HP+, a brand new provider to fulfil domestic and workplace printing needs. 

HP Inc is has been criticized for not only failing to deliver on the promise of lifetime free ink but also automatically subscribing customers to keep using ink on their printers.

“During the pandemic, home printers have become far more important to our lives,” said Cory Doctorow of the digital-rights warriors at the EFF. “It’s hard to imagine a worse time for HP to shove its hands deeper into its customers’ pockets.”

Users of HP’s Instant Ink subscription carrier are in for an unpleasant surprise subsequent month whilst their printer costs are set for a massive increase. In an email sent out to subscribers of Instant Ink last week, they were informed that HP’s ‘Free Ink for Life’ plan would not be free for much longer.

Let’s go back and start from the Beginning

So, HP performs a function called Instant Ink. With this feature, you pay a monthly fee and receive regular ink cartridges that fit your printer. The amount you pay determines the number of pages you can print.  For instance, $25 a month lets you print up to 700 pages in that period, of which you can roll over up to 2,100 unused pages to subsequent months. After running out of your allowance, you must pay $1 per 15 pages. If you don’t pay for the same, you won’t be able to print anymore.

For users who don’t need to print much, and to lure folks into the subscription system, HP marketed a print-free-for-life tier that cost nothing, though it was limited to 15 pages a month, and $1 per 10 additional pages. With ink suppliers automatically notified when ink levels were running low, so new cartridges could be delivered. 

But from now onwards subscribers will be forced to pay a monthly fee based on the number of pages they expect to print each month, with no free tier available.

Subscribers can change between 5 tiers as they please that are mentioned on the HP’s support pages, and there’s no minimum contract to sign. Therefore, it is up to the customers whether they want to go forward with Instant Ink subscription or want to go to their separate own way and buy cartridges themselves.

The Only thing that is unsettling here is the fact that if you end the subscription then all the new cartridges that you receive will stop working on its own. Therefore, if you choose to go from HP Instant Ink to buying cartridges as normal, you’ll have to purchase a fresh set since those sent out under the scheme will not allow printing.

An HP spokesperson argued that the IT giant’s print-free-for-life plan was “an introductory offer,” adding:

We notified our customers in October via email……We are ending our free printing plan offer starting this December for existing customers, and we have ended our free printing plan as of November 4 for new customers.

The new proposals may lead HP printer owners to question whether they actually own the device. With a new subscription, not paying the monthly ink bill means the printer will not work, no matter how much ink is left in the cartridge.