Not all companies waive the fee.
1 Like
You can vote with your feet and go to another supplier, āoh wait but they all charge it nowā is the refrain I hear you say.
As I said earlier:
Arguing against the force of the internet to disrupt traditional businesses and their communication methods is like standing on the beach and commanding the tide to stop coming in, sure you can do it but all you achieve is getting wet feet.
2 Likes
Well said! Iām the computer literate and older than partner, and noticed NAB has stopped sending statements even though didnāt agree on website but its a tricky one as cant do anything as default is online etc. Nasty eh. Recently told them changing to local Bank walking distance as our NAB Branch in Burnie Tas has no parking and Iām disabled cant walk up the steep hill from closest parking. And now cant use debit card as can only change temp at this ATM outside Bank or drive to another town til find one I can park at etc. And to do this have to apply for new temp password and do the ATM run in same 24 hours. Been with them for 40 years business and now only personal so not attractive to them I guess. Yet Seniors are a huge body of people who are reliable donāt overdraw and keep saving for rainy days.
1 Like
2 Likes
Thatās a great idea if you have a printer. I have - but donāt use it anymore because of the outlandish cost of printer ink.
Depending on the make, get compatible inks. They are usually about 20-30% the cost of originals via internet, or about 40-50% in shopping centre kiosks or business supply shops, if available for your particular printer.
3 Likes
Or just buy a sub $100 laser black and white printer some have the ability to print 10000 pages on their toner cartridge and unlike when you use generic ink in inkjet printers the toner doesnāt dry out and block up.
I have a $89 samsung purchased in 2009 that had over 4000 pages in its original delivery ādisplayā toner cartridge, and the first replacement genuine cartridge had 10,000 pages for around $60, I have printed two full repair manuals plus many other things with that oneā¦ The next aftermarket $35 refilled cartridge is still going strong after 8000 pages.
4 Likes
I hear today that Energy Australia has scrapped fees for paper bills. This is wise and excellent customer service, Genuine respect for consumers who choose to receive paper bills.
1 Like
Many thanks for all the good sound suggestions re my problem with the cost of printer ink! I am really grateful for you taking the time to help me.
BUT - Even the cheapest of these really needs justifying. Since this ink must be approaching the status of the most expensive fluid per litre on earth, maybe we could get Choice to mount a campaign to push for some commonsense re this rip-off.
1 Like
The printer business model is to āgive awayā the printers at cost or less in the hopes the customer will buy ink, and more ink, and more ink, regardless of whether it is inkjet or laser. Believe it or not, HP once had a few thousand chemical engineer types doing nothing but developing ink. It is not a simple product but has become a commodity. There are differences between OEM and compatibles that are not relevant for many of us, such as colour quality, fading, and more. Not defending the price, just explaining some of why it is so.
3 Likes
I use a business that charges me about $5 a cartridge to refill them with ink. I am up to 4th refill on current cartridges. Pages per cartridge (I use the XL ones) runs to about 300 so $10/300 pages gives an ink cost of approx 3 cents per page. But this is simplistic and doesnāt reflect all the other costs involved in getting to the refill place, replacement costs of the cartridges when the other refilled ones fail, the cost of the paper, reduction in the life of my printer, electricity, computer costs and other involved costs.
We all fund businesses that create profits from selling us an essential service (electricity and gas, and Telcos), any store /business faces costs of running a business and they price a product to cover the costs of doing business and they then place a mark-up on the product/s they sell to create a profit. Electricity/Gas/Telcos are no different from any other product, and when I get an invoice from any other business they do not request a payment to offset the cost of sending me that invoice, it is an expected cost of that business. Electricity, Gas and Telcos should be on that same footing and adsorbing that cost within the business.
3 Likes
Not quite sub-100$ but I bought a Fuji-Xerox 5 years ago, colour printer, scanner, copier with sheet feeder - Iāve no idea how many reams Iāve put through it but it is āa lotā and I only use the finest, cheapest and nastiest aftermarket toner I can buy - Iād estimate all up printer/toner costs about $450 over 5 years - not including paper. Itās not the cheap end, you wouldnāt buy it just to print your bills, but for what I need it has been fantastic (I have no connection with the manufacturer) - and yes I do print quite a few bills on it 
It is rumoured that people who worked for HP said they worked for an ink company, that āalso did computersā. There are also some who might suggest when HP recently detonated into a number of smaller chunks, the remnant āHP Incā should really have been āHP Inkā ā¦ I donāt know who those people might be ā¦ rumour mills are like that 
2 Likes
australia post is quite a profitable business
old timers claiming because you paid taxes in the past somehow creates some sort of social responsibility to make things free for you! into the future disgusts.
The younger generation with be paying through the nose for the feeding tube on the death beds of the previous generation; in not too distant future through medicare.
This is a problem world wide where people a are living much longer with significant burdens on public and private medical systems in western nations. many likely to run out of money all together in 20 years.
one difference is the encryption key in the genuine ones that report to the printer it is genuine.
The printer otherwise with non genuine always complains the toner is depleted so other than when the toner completely stops working i donāt know how long my non genuine will actually last so i have to keep spare on hand.
but $150 printer $200 Genuine toner and $30 non Genuine Toner
by god how can any company expect me to pay upto 10x the price for a genuine just for convenience of a toner usage graph.
you need a new printer
a $200 Laser printer with a $30 refill toner should last > 3000 sheets
an $80 high capacity toner > 10000 sheets
Including the purchase printer $280 thats 2.8c
Heh my Laser costs far less than that I was talking Inkjet. IJs are generally more expensive regarding consumables. But for my Laser I pay $54 for a 4 toner set (colour laser) with about a 3,000 page run so toner cost per page is about 1.8 cents, but I have the added expense of replacing the drum, fuser, toner recovery unit at varying intervals. If I use Mono printing on the Laser Toner costs are again cheaper as Black costs me $17 for 2 (so about 6,000 pages)ā¦no HC toner cartridges for my one.
1 Like
That is one of the techniques some printer manufacturers use to dissuade us from buying compatibles. My Brothers (1 MFC inkjet, 1 mono laser) work 100% on compatibles. I cannot speak for other brands but prior to buying a printer I research how they work (or donāt work) with compatibles as my first filter for a short list.
3 Likes
