Buying Printer Ink, Why does it have to be so difficult!

Ok. So we’re at the store. My wife and I. I bring the technical attitude and she the ability to remember stuff. What a combo! But is it enough? We’re staring at a wall of ink cartridges trying to remember what printer we have at home that’s crying out for more ink. We know it’s an Epson. That narrows it down. I’ve had HP for years and like HP, but decided to change it up and haven’t regretted the Epson -just the same difficulty in buying ink!

I understand technology progresses. I’m in the tech field. I’m a geek dude. So, the same ink cartridge that fits 5 models from Epson no longer fits the next five models that come out. It’s either due to size, chemical composition of the ink or better ink delivery. The printer in question is an inkjet printer.

So, the wall again. It’s now strategically placed on the back wall of the store. A retail technique to get the shopper to pass everything they don’t need to get to what they do need. I commend thee, merchandising guru.

And yet, even by using the handy dandy old school cross reference hanging in the ink section (similar to what we use to find lightbulbs for our car at the auto parts store), we are still not sure. It’s indexed by model number and they’re quite similar!

Even with Mr. Tech and Mrs. Recall, we almost bought the wrong ink! So how did we figure it out? Nope. No one at home to call. The pets don’t have cell phones yet.

My Surface tablet is at home, but on. It has the model number in the driver settings. But, I have my iPad. I use it to remote into my surface tablet and look up the model number. We were way off! The correct ink was purchased (after the typical stamping at feet and whining over the high cost of the stuff – that’s why the carpet is worn more in front of the ink display). Mission accomplished.

But, for the poor soul with now way to remote in or call someone, you have less than a 50-50 chance of picking the correct ink. Perhaps you brought the old ink with you? That would be a good idea – just make sure it’s in a bag so you don’t get strange tattoos all over you carrying the thing into the store.

If this weren’t a big box store and this were back in the ol’ days – perhaps the people that work there would remember what printer we had bought. Kept the info on file for just such an occasion. Whoa! Wouldn’t that be customer service! Instead, they could at least put a public webcam up in the ink aisle to entertain the social media masses.

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