New York, NY -- Printer ink, as we all know, is not cheap. Do a search online any given day and you probably will see any number of blog posts decrying this fact. In an August 20 article for the Palm Beach Post, journalist Bill Husted spoke about how people can lower their cost of printing. This is fine in and of itself, but he went on to suggest that using refilled ink cartridges can void your warranty. The Recycler picked up a story that refuted those claims which was written to the paper by the owner of a print refilling firm, Ink and Toner USA, Bob Bloom.
In his refutation, Bloom cited the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act which indicates that “Tie-In Sales” Provisions are illegal. That is, you cannot require a person to do only use certain products or take certain actions. In this case, refill an ink cartridge. Bloom went so far as to reference the “‘potential customers with whom we will never get to speak that will be lost to us forever.’” We understand his point, but doubt that one column in a newspaper in one city in the United States can derail the entire ink refilling market. The Recycler is quick to point out that Husted did say that he did not “‘have enough personal experience with refills to offer a sound opinion.’”
