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The company behind the 123inkjets.com site has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges (story).
A note from the company:
Dear Customers,
At 123inkjets we strive to meet or exceed original manufacture standards at a considerable discount. We sell only the best remanufactured and compatible cartridges made, that is why we can offer what many don’t a 1 year full warranty against any issues you may have with the quality of our product. Our hours of operation are. Monday-Friday 6am-6pm and Saturday's 9am-5pm. Pacific stander time. I encourage you to contact our customer service department during normal business hours for any issues you may have and if for any reason you are not 100% satisfied please feel free to contact me directly. Thank you.
Patrick Hannigan
Customer Service Manager
123inkjets.com
25 E. Easy St.
Simi Valley CA 93065
phannigan@123inkjets.com
(888)465-7765
Ron of Overland Park KS (05/06/08)
I ordered 8 inkjets cartridges April 21, 2008 totaling $59.11. Out of the first four I installed, two failed to work. I filed trouble tickets twice in the course of one week asking for the company's return authorization procedures. I then found the name of their customer service guru on the Consumer Affairs web site and emailed him. Within 24 hours I received an email from the company detailing the return authorization process and giving me a telephone number to call.
When I reached the company I got a recording indicating they were experiencing high call volume, but to leave a message and they would get back to me within 24 hours. When I did not hear back, I called again and left another message. That was last week and I still haven't heard from them.
When I called today, I couldn't even leave a message because the mailbox was full! My email today to the customer service guru was rejected by their SMTP server. This outfit was nailed by the FTC in 2002 for selling remanufactured product as new. So now they sell product that doesn't work.
Wasted money, wasted paper, wasted time.
Gil of Toledo OH (04/25/08)
ordered ink and the entire order was screwed up. Following is an e mail I sent to their customer service manager
I had a printer out of service for over 2 weeks based upon their internal issues. I WILL NEVER ORDER FROM THEM AGAIN You people are incredible. I ordered $60 worth of ink on APRIL 8. When i finally contacted customer service people--paperwork said it was ordered on April 15, and was to be shipped on April 16th. All I got was a absolute runaround regarding when it was ordered. I WROTE 5 TIMES THRU inquiry program. My last one was to inquire when someone would respond to my inquiries. My LAST ticket id was responded to as follows. Is this your idea of customer service?
I will NEVER NEVER NEVER ever give you people on bit of business. You could care less about how customers are treated. MANY of my friends use other than OEM ink, and I will tell ALL of them of how you people treat CUSTOMERS. No wonder you continuously send coupons to people to entice them to purchase. A good sign that a company is having cash flow problems, or business issues. Your response to my ticket was to once again call you and sit on the phone for over 1/2 hour. Pathetic service.
William of Huntington WV (01/08/08)
I have had a Wal-Mart credit card for threee years, and I have never had a late payment, and has been completely paid off approximately 1 year ago. I made a payment of approx. $1,300 in Oct 2007,and $45 in Nov 2007. I went to my local Wal-Mart to shop and was told that my card had been declined. I called customer service and was told that doing a review of my crdit bureau prompted them to lower my credit limit, even though I have not had any delinquencies. Wal- Mart will not even talk to me or deal with me.They send me nice little form letters. Customer service stinks.
Robb of Minneapolis MN (11/13/07)
Placed an order on 10/15/07. Order never arrived. Tracking of order states that it was delivered. I am here all day, no order was ever received. I gave them 3 days after the order was stated as delivered and still no goods. E-mailed there customer service on 10/26/07 that goods had not been received. Was sent a return e-mail that told me to call there 800 number. Called the 800 number and was told that i would have to wait until the 6th of november to file a claim, or 15 shipping days? Called on 11/6/07 was told that I must fill out a claim formf from them and mail it back. They were to mail it out to me on that day. I call them today 11/13/07, have still not received the goods or the claim form. They inform me that the claim form is a legal doc. and they can not issue a new form, that It is mailed from CA via usps and may have not been sent out until Sat or Mon.
I feel that I am getting the run around from this company. I deal with mail order all the time and this is the first company that I have found that has such poor customer service. If you sell on the internet then you need to do all you business on the net. Forms should be able to sent via e-mail, etc.
Henry of Walnut Creek CA (11/10/07)
The color ink cartridge does not work - does not show actual colors just pale green/blue. Require return authorization and replacement.
Chad of Carlsbad CA (09/29/07)
I ordered 8 ink cartridges, 4 black and 4 color. When I put them on my printer the quality was really poor and the documents we not printing correctly. I called and reported the issue and they told me to change the setting or call HP. I gave it a tried and nothing happened so I called again, this time they told me they would refund me in full when I spoke to the customer service department, and they sent me a shipping slip so I would send the cartridges back.
I waisted a lot of paper trying to print and changing the settings of my printer hoping it was just a matter of settings, but the problem never got better. So I shipped the whole 8 cartridges, with proof of the poor quality of the print cartridges. I typed a letter explaining what occurred and informing them that I was enclosing two extra cartridges for them to recycle. So I shipped a total of 10 cartridges. But they only credited me for 5. It is not fair the way they handled the matter, I wasted too much time calling their customers service department waiting for my full refund and they did not take responsibility for their actions. Whatever one customer service told me over the phone when I called did not matter to the other one I talked to the next time I called. They did not keep records of the number of calls I made and the complaints I gave. What an awful experience!
Larry of Worcester, MA (09/18/07)
After placing an online order for printers ink cartdridges, www.123InkJets.com billed my credit card and reportedly shipped the item. When the item did not arrived, I was told that I had wait 21 business days before I could file a claim/refund.
Now I am told that it will take another 21 business days for a refund to be credited to my CC. Including weekends, that means they will have had my money for 2 full months, and I have no product. As is often the case, the manager or supervisor is always out of the office.
Charles of Laguna Niguel CA (06/05/07)
I ordered a package (12) of cartridges for a Cannon photo printer. After experiencing continuous problems with nozzle clogging and bleeding of them, I contacted customer service. They admit that there is a high defect rate in relation to their product. I mentioned that they do not note this in a disclaimer and that beyond the refund of my money I would like them to pay to have my printer cleaned. They refused. When I suggested that I would like to speak with a manager, I was told they had already left for the day. When I asked to know the name of their legal consul, I was not given it.
I am out $37.00 in product and will have to have my printer cleaned and serviced, approx. $75.00
Charles of Laguna Niguel CA (06/05/07)
I ordered a package (12) of cartridges for a Cannon photo printer ip 6000. After experiencing continuous problems with nozzle clogging and bleeding of them, I contacted the customer service line. The admit that there is a high defect rate in relation to their product. I mentioned that they don't note this in a disclaimer and that beyond the refund of my money I would like them to pay to have my printer cleaned. They refused. When I suggested that I would like to speak with a manager, I was told they had already left for the day.It was 3:30 California time, where they are located.
James of Crestone, CO (04/26/07)
In early March,'07 my wife made an on-line purchase from 123inkjets.com of two replacement cartridges, one color and one black ink for our HP deskjet 920c printer. The products arrived after about 3 weeks, however neither cartridge had sufficient ink in them. The black cartridge ran out of ink almost immediately. The color cartridge did not print except in pale black.
On April 25, '07 I called the 800 # and after explaining my complaint, the young woman told me a supervisor would call me back. I said that I wished to speak to someone in authority immediately. She put me on hold, with loud music playing for about 7 minutes, until an automated voice said to hang up. When I called back another young woman advised me to go to support@certifiedink.com to download a refund form and mail it them. Then they would refund our money.
That website cannot be located by Google and after just now reading all the complaints about this company I figure its safer to just eat the $27.19 and not have any further dealings with them.
Edward of Jonesboro GA (04/16/07)
I ordered on line and received an E-40 Toner Cartridge for my Canon Copier. I have ordered cartridges ands inkjet printer cartridges, but this time the toner leaves a black ridge about 1 inch on the right side of page. Nothing seems to remedy it. I have taken the cartridge apart many times and shifted it around.
Ruth of Jessup MD (04/04/07)
When I type 123InkJets into the Google space, a page comes up, listing many web sites for them. On that page, several times it says free shipping; another place free shipping on all orders. When you try to order, the form changes to free shipping on orders over $55. Their response was it's an old web site and erroneous. The first day I tried to order, there was a coupon for a discount. When it would't go through and I called, they said, there are some old coupons on the web site which are no longer in effect. The people, 3 different ones including a supervisor are not at all pleasant, nor customer oriented. How can you put something in writing and then say, sorry, it's old and invalid. That's false advertising. They may as well advertise them at 5 cents each and just say, sorry, old, invalid. I also saw a list of complaints about the company. I will NEVER buy from them after all of this.
Ellen of Grafton MA (02/13/07)
A brand new inkjet cartridge was leaking ink as soon as opened - got all over me so I threw away cartridge. In addition, my black ink cartridges this time around printed less than 30 sheets of lightly printed pages each. They refused to replace any!
Lost money on several cartridges - and a damaged shirt thrown away from leaked ink all over and clean up time to get rid of spilled ink on office area.
Ruth of Ely MN (01/12/07)
Why is 123inkjets allowed to do business? My order totaled $92.70
3 black cartridges and 3 colored cartridges. 1 black works. none of the colored. One prints only in shades of red to pink and the other two in blue and yellow only. My printer says they are low in ink.
Ruth of Ely MN (01/10/07)
C6578AN - (78) does not print in all colors. I've cleaned the printer according to instructions and the results were only the shades of red printed. I have 2 more cartridges on hand. I suspect the blue and green was not added. I use only premium paper.
Richard of Mountain View CA (09/12/06)
On 9/5/06 I ordered two ink cartridges for my Action Laser 1500 Epson. On 9/12/06, seven days later, I receive an e-mail that I needed to call to verify my address. I did so. They said that they needed to verify my address, which was clearly stated in the invoice when $199.00 was deducted from my credit card for the cartridges. The company simply held my order for 7 days to use my money for their own cash management. Simi Valley is in the State of California and only hours from my location. I was unable to locate Management because this appears to be call center operation and also uppers under another name, inkblvd.
I am a businessman. I needed the ink because my printers ran out of ink. I was unable to complete a project on time as a result. To add insult into injury, Mike state that they would ship by ground and I should receive in 7 days. I have lost over $4,000.00 as a direct result of dealing with this company.
Carmy of Ramsey, MN (07/23/06)
I ordered 2 refill cartridges in May, 2006. Only one was shipped but I was charged for two.
I have e-mailed twice and have gotten no response.
James of Fort Walton Beach FL (06/29/06)
I placed as order for a No 94 HP ink cartridge with 123injets on 12/20/05 and received a cartridge. When I tried to put it in my HP, I realized it was the incorrect cartridge. I called 123inkjets back and they sent me an email with a return label, postage paid, and they would send me the correct cartridge back. I mailed the cartridge back and waited for my correct cartridge. After 2 months, I called today to see if the cartridge was on it's way. Robert took my call, informed me that my cartridge had arrived in Hawaii on 6/13/06 and sent on 6/6/06. Since I live in Florida, I asked how that would help me so he asked me to hold on. After a few minutes, he came back on the phone to inform me that the warehouse had received an OEM No 45 empty cartridge. I informed him that that is what they sent me, please credit my credit card $19.95. He said that he could not do that because I sent an empty cartridge. I then asked to speak to a supervisor (Amy) who called me back about 20 minutes later and told me that I sent back an empty cartridge.
I returned the cartridge that they sent me and there was no recourse or evidence because I sent the evidence.
It is evident from other complaints I have found now on the internet that this company has a history of misleading customers i.e. filed complaint 0n 8/22/02, Clerk US Dist Court, Central Dist of Calif, Los Angeles, Consumeraffairs.com, Complaints.com and ectnews.com.
Marilyn of St.petersburg FL (04/28/06)
I ordered inkjets(Black) for a StylusPhoto Series 820 (Epson printer) they are the small ones I received the larger ones and paid for it with my debit card.I would like to get the right ones that I ordered,before I send the wrong ones back.
Tiffany of Chicago, IL (04/22/06)
I was charged for an order I cancelled and 123 refuses to do anything about it. The charge cost me ISF fees from my bank and returned check fees. I have incurred over $100 in fees due to this error.
I have spoken to managers and supervisors who have told me they would call me back and never have. They won't even offer to at least send me the ink.
Edith of Lumberton NC (04/21/06)
Received in feb but did not need until today. First one would not work 2nd one did. Computer say something wrong with cartridge. Would like to have replaced and need to know how. can not afford to lose 17.00.
Ruth of Columbia Cross Roads, PA (04/21/06)
The last week of February I purchased 1-color ink cartridge and 3-black cartridges. I finally received a package on the first week of April. The color cartridge was correct; however the wrong size black cartridges were sent. The invoice was correct, but the cartridges would not fit my machine.
I called twice about replacements but was told I couldn't get replacements until they received the return items. Both times when I asked to speak to the manager I was told the manager had stepped out and they would call back, but they didn't.
I sent the black cartridges back around the 4/10/06. I called 4/21 to tell them I returned the cartridges and I wanted my money back. They said they can't give me my money back until they receive the cartridges. I said, "you have my money, I don't have any cartridges, and I want my money back now! Where is your manager?" She said, "the manager just stepped out". At that point, I slammed down the phone.
David L. Cole of Holyoke MA (03/23/06)
I waited 2 1/2 weeks for an order of ink and notified the company. They evedently don't care much about their clients as they never even had the courtesy to respond. I guess I will have to kiss my money goodbye on this order. BUY CHEAP, and you get exactly what you pay for, or in this case NOTHING.
David of Washington DC (03/15/06)
I responded to an email ad offering a 25% discount for orders up to $60 and 25% for orders over $60; however, the ordering system did not give me the discount. I called and was told the discount would be credited to my credit card in about a week. After a week I was told it would take 7 to 10 business days. After 10 business days I called and was told it would take at least 21 business days because the paperwork had to be mailed between facilities. Given the other complaints about this company on your web site I doubt I will ever get my refund.
Joe of Huntland TN (02/23/06)
I have placed a couple of orders with 123Injets.com for printer cartridges. While checking my credit card statements I noticed a recurring charge of nine dollars a month from Reservations Rewards. I called them and they said I must have accidentally hit a button when I placed an order through 123Inkjets.com authorizing them to do this. It would be hard to accidentally give someone your credit card info. I told them I did not authorize this and to stop the withdrawal. I called 123Inkjets.com to complain and did not get a very good response from their customer service rep. The lady said I could do what ever I wanted to do about it. I thought that was a very poor customer service response and I will not use their company again. I have reported the transactions to my credit card company.
I thought this was a very deceptive practice by Reservation Rewards and 123Inkjets.com. Reservation Revards says they will refund my money from the last 5 monthly withdrawals.
Nicole of Longview WA (01/21/06)
i ordered ink jet replacements 2 weeks ago and have yet to get them. in fact i got a delivery satisfaction survey from inkjet.com to see how happy i was with my delivery...not very...no delivery occured.
I use this printer for my biz and it has put me behind at least a week!!!
Joan of Walnut Hill, FL (01/14/06)
I orderd black ink and I got color ink. I was told I would have to mail the other ink back before I could get the ink I ordered.
It is already paid for and I want my ink!
David of Lincoln, RI (01/02/06)
I have been doing business with 123inkjets.com for about a year with no complaints and then a charge of $9.00 from Reservation Rewards was charged to my credit card for October 2005. The charge was on the statement again for November so I called the listed number and asked where this charge originated. They said it came from 123inkjets.com and knowing that I didn't authorize the transaction, I cancelled it.
This leads me to believe that either 123jets.com shares credit card information with other companies or that Reservation Rewards is part of their outfit and they used my credit card information for their purpose. When I called the number for Reservation Rewards, as soon as I got connected, there was an option to cancel. This leads me to believe that this could be some sort of a scam for people that overlook small charged to their credit cards. I'm not sure if this is legal or not but it sure is a slime ball way of doing business.
Edgar A. Dascomb of Hemet CA (12/18/05)
I ordered two ink cartridges, 10N0016 and 10N0026 order # 1145335 and have never received them. I have been charged on my credit card but no ink.
Address; Edgar A. Dascomb 1300 W. Menlo Ave Sp.104 Hemet Ca. 92543. I believe we had an address mix-up. Please correct and send me my ink.
Edgar A. Dascomb
Statt of San Antonio, TX (10/27/05)
I ordered ink but I never got it, although they said it was at my post office. The post office said they didn't have it.
I had to wait 15 or so days before they would reship via Fed Exp 2 days - one week later and I am still waiting on that one.
I asked for a refund and they gave me a RA to return for credit. Joke is I've never gotten anything! I'm out my $90, plus had to go to local store and purchase same items for $72!!
Charlotte of Philadelphia, PA (10/12/05)
I ordered cartridges, received them promptly - No problem. After installation I printed 3 pages and was out of ink! For $43.00 I think I was bamboozled.
I intend to notify my credit card company and let them know of my dissatisfaction, then dispute payment.
Orvin of Seattle WA (08/01/01)
When I purchased four inkjet cartridges (two black and two color) from this company, I did not realize that they were remanufactured. Revisiting the site after receiving the cartridges, I discovered that this important fact was indeed present on the home page, hidden in small type at the bottom of the page. I hadn’t read the fine print in the first place. Mistake number one.
I put one of the black cartridges to use almost immediately and it produced a dark black, if somewhat fuzzy, imprint. My second mistake was not to try the color cartridges when I received them, or at least within the 45-day warranty period. When I did put one of them into my printer, I found that it lacked two of the three colors necessary for full-color printing and was useless.
Not counting the $33.90 for the two black cartridges, which I'm keeping for emergency backup, I'm out $47.90.
Janet, M.D., Hyattsville MD writes (1/9/02):
On October 16, 2001 I ordered a new toner cartridge. It took over a month before I received it. One week after putting it into my computer I began getting notices from the printer that the cartridge wasn't in properly. I took it out and reset it. Then the colors were not right, the only color was red of different shades. Now I have to buy a replacement toner.
I use my computer for myself only, it is not a business computer and have to only replace the color toner six to seven months. The toner from 123 Inkjets has not even lasted three months.
Douglas of Milwaukee writes (10/1/01):
Here is a copy of the e-mail and letter I have send this company. I have received no reply:
I have tried to contact you several times via your website. I was charged $101.75 twice by your company, once on 9/6/01 and once on 9/7/ 01. I was attempting to order cartridges for a Compaq 750 on the evening of 9/6. The order, as far as I knew, never went through. I never received an invoice. I have never received anything from you. You have never responded to my inquiries.
As result of these charges, the first of which I didn't think I made and the second which I certainly never made, I am having problems with my bank. I have already been charged $30 twice because I thought I had money when I did not. I did not have money because the charges that were made by your company. Please refund the full amount of these two charges. I also ask you to consider reimbursing me the $60 that my bank has charged me as result of the charges you made. At least send me something stating that the charges were erroneous so I can try to clear this matter with my bank.
I have been charged 203.50 by their company, and have been charged $60 by my bank as result of this company's erronous charges.
Dan of Indianapolis (8/14/01):
I ordered 2 inkjet cartridges from the website www.123inkjet.com. I ordered on line as I desired fast service. Ha! It took weeks to get them. This was my first time getting inkjet cartridges and when they didn't work, I assumed they were ok and that something else was wrong. I had to spend hours and hours on line with support from Lexmark and Dell to find out that the problem was with the cartridges, which I had assumed were new.
They had me try to use a wet papertowel finally to see if I could get any ink flowing, but to no avail. Once arriving at the conclusion that they had sent me empty cartridges that I had paid $45 for, I went to Kmart and bought the real deal that worked immediately. I'm a savvy webuser and normally do not get ripped off. I should have ignored their boasts of fast service, guarantees, etc. and looked for an address and phone number. Now its too late.
I've filled out their forms and get an email saying I need to tell them some order number that I do not have. They always ignore all my emails. I've told them again and again, my name and address and phone number and the date purchased. I've told them in every correspondence via the form, as well as responding to the email sent by Benjamin F. Although every correspondence plainly states I do not know their order numbers, because they never sent it to me, this guy keeps requesting it, so he isn't reading the emails or forms I filled out. It has been 2 months and they still have my $45.
Orvin of Seattle (8/1/01):
When I purchased four inkjet cartridges (two black and two color) from this company, I did not realize that they were remanufactured. Revisiting the site at www.123inkjets.com after receiving the cartridges, I discovered that this important fact was indeed present on the home page, hidden in small type at the bottom of the page. I hadn�t read the fine print in the first place. Mistake number one.
I put one of the black cartridges to use almost immediately and it produced a dark black, if somewhat fuzzy, imprint. My second mistake was not to try the color cartridges when I received them, or at least within the 45-day warranty period. When I did put one of them into my printer, I found that it lacked two of the three colors necessary for full-color printing and was useless. The second one lacked just one of the colors but was also useless. When I contacted the company for a refill, I was told this: �Unfortunately our guarantee has expired and we will no longer be able to accept returns for replacements or refunds on this order.�
Larry of Hayward, CA, writes (2/1/01):
I puchased 2 inkjet cartridges on 1/15/01 and the money was paid from my accountt on 1/ 18/01. I started getting concerned since they haven't arrived so I started emailing them about 4 days ago and as yet have had no response. Their website provides no address or phone number. They advertise quick response to inquiries but you couldn't prove it by me. I never dealt with them before and won't in the future.
I'm medically retired with HIV and living on a fixed income and if I'm not getting the product I ordered I would like to have that money back so I can get what I need elsewhere.
123inkjets Responds (4/23/01):
To Whom It May Concern,
As a viewer of your website I was surprised to find our company on your website. I've personally taken a look into the situation form Mr. Larry from Hayward CA. Looking at the information he has given you and the information I have on our systems and he is grossly misinformed.
At the bottom of this e-mail I have included a copy of his order. If you look carefully at his address he entered in his name, also he does not list his phone number or enters in a proper e-mail address. We kept his order live for a week and then it was canceled and the card was refunded on 1/23/2001. I do know that we do not post a phone number on our website but that is because the area we are currently located in can not support the volume of calls we receive, but we do list an address on our website it can be found at on the bottom of our website, in our Mail Order form, and even on our customer support page. Also all e-mails are responded to within at least 48 hours by a real person not an automated server.
In short please remove all listings of our website as you do not have permission to publish them or we will begin legal procedures against you for slander, you have 72 hours. As a consumer who has relied on services as your own and the Better Business Bureaus, I am greatly disappointed in the lack of professionalism and authenticity of your services.
Thank you
Benjamin F.
Manager, Customer Service
We would have posted Benjamin's response sooner but it was mixed in with all the spam we receive daily about inkjet cartridges and we frankly overlooked it. If we read it correctly, Benjamin F. seems to be saying that the problem has been resolved, which ought to make everyone happy.
Bradley of Yucaipa, CA, writes (4/4/01):
I responded to an online ad about Lexmark refils. I purchased 1 Lexmark refill. When the item arrived, I found it to be light. I thought it may not contain as much ink as possible. After installing the new cartridge, the device would not work. It appeared that the ink was old or missing.
No ink, no printer. I am in business. I use my printer all the time. I now will need to purchase another cartridge. Out the money, out the time, and out of business until I can get another cartridge.
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