Aug 22

We purchased our Xerox Phaser 790 printer in 2001, and for eight years, it has been a workhorse. Sure, we have other printers throughout the office; some large format, some desktop, but the 790 has been our "go-to" printer for a long time.

 

When service contracts for this model were available, we renewed them every year to make sure that we could always keep the machine running smoothly. A few years ago, Xerox stopped offering the contract for this particular machine. So, for the last few years, we have treated the 790 with a little more respect; avoiding the use of heavier card stocks, etc. And it's been working great - no problems. Until recently.

 

A few months ago, we ordered toner for the 790, only to find out that it is no longer being manufactured by Xerox. Apparently, Xerox considers this printer "end of life," meaning that it will no longer be supported. We have been searching high and low for compatible toner cartridges, with little success. We were hopeful when a local company that specializes in "remanufactured" toner cartridges told us they could get the toners for us. But after more than a month of back-and-forth, they informed us that there is no remanufactured option for our printer. In the meantime, we've had our vendors scrambling to find us whatever they can. One very nice and patient vendor has managed to find a distributor with about 19 yellow cartridges... but yellow won't do us much good without the others, so I politely passed.

 

What is really frustrating is that the 790 is a perfectly good printer. It works consistently, prints up to 12x18 paper, and suits our needs very well. But because Xerox has decided for us, we will be forced to buy a new printer in the very near future. And this upsets me on several levels.

 

1. I hate to waste things. Here is a perfectly good, functioning printer that will soon be sent to the trash heap simply because we can no longer get the toner for it. It's kind of like the whole "Cash for Clunkers" program... Some of the cars that were traded in would have been great transportation for charitable organizations, but the program required that the trade-ins be destroyed. Again, I hate the idea of wasting things... not to mention that discarding a useful item is not very environmentally sound.

 

2. Finances. Let's face it... the economy is still not exactly flourishing. We had made the decision that we would probably add another comparable printer about a year from now, just so that, when the 790 did stop working, we would be set. But now, we no longer have control of the situation. Xerox has decided that we need to buy a new printer: end of story. We're all for progress, but this situation is ridiculous.

 

3. Common Sense. It really bothers me that every different printer model requires a unique ink/toner. All the brands do it: Epson, Xerox, HP, they all develop a different ink/toner system for each individual printer. This makes no sense to me. I refuse to believe that different printers can't be engineered to use an existing toner system. If a newer printer model had been designed to use the same toner as our 790, we would have access to the toner we need, and I wouldn't have to sit here and verbally spank Xerox.

 

I am writing a letter to Xerox to voice/vent my frustration.  I'll let you know how it goes. Feel free to vent your frustration below.