Canon Faces Lawsuit For Disabling Scanners To Apparently Force People To Buy Ink
A photo of the Canon PIXMA MX925 printer. Image ID 141382836 © via Oleksandr Lutsenko | Dreamstime.com
If you’ve purchased a printer, you’ll know that replacing the ink cartridges in the device cost nearly as much as the machine itself. It’s one of the banes of technology, and even with gadgets getting more advanced each year, it seems we’re still stuck with the same printer problems from the 2000s.
Recently, a customer filed a class-action lawsuit against printer manufacturer Canon, alleging that the company had misled consumers by disabling a device’s scanning or faxing capabilities once it was out of printer ink.
While it would make sense to be unable to print if there isn’t any ink left, both scanning and faxing don’t require the use of ink, leading David Leacraft to sue the firm for “deceptive marketing and unjust enrichment.”
“Plaintiff Leacraft would not have purchased the device or would not have paid as much for it had he known that he would have to maintain ink in the device in order to scan documents,” the lawsuit read.
According to Bleeping Computer, other Canon users have made similar complaints before. For example, the company doesn’t allow users to print a black-and-white document if color ink isn’t available, despite there still being adequate black ink left.
“The PIXMA MX710 must have all ink tanks installed and they all must contain ink. If you attempt to print with no ink or an empty ink, you would risk damaging the printer,” a Canon support agent wrote on the forum.
The class-action suit detailed that Canon had advertised its product as a “three-in-one” device, without stipulating that all features required ink to work. Nowhere on the printer’s packaging was it indicated that customers were required to maintain ink levels to access all three functions, and had they known of this sooner, they might’ve been dissuaded from purchasing the printer altogether.
“In truth, the All-in-One Printers do not scan or fax documents when the devices have low or empty ink cartridges (the “Design Issue”), and Canon’s advertising claims are false, misleading, and reasonably likely to deceive the public,” explained the lawsuit.
“There is no reason or technical basis for manufacturing All-in-One Printers with an ink level detection function that causes the scanner to stop functioning when ink is low or empty. Canon designed the All-in-One Printers in such a way to require consumers to maintain ink in their devices regardless of whether they intend to print.”
In total, Leacraft is seeking a minimum of US$5 million in compensation from the firm. Canon has yet to respond to requests for comments, though it’s likely the outcome of the lawsuit could set a precedent for future cases in the same vein.
[via Bleeping Computer, cover image via Oleksandr Lutsenko | Dreamstime.com]
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