Walgreens inkjet/coupon usage- please read...

[s zimmer]

This is in regards of a post I stumbled upon this morning....

Any imput would be appreciated...
I brought both my black and color HP ink carts in to be refilled at the half price special today. My color has been refilled once before and the black has never been refilled. First they blew up my black cartridge ink was going everywhere the cashier told me it couldn't be salvaged so I took the loss and bought one their for $23 ouch. Then she gives me my color and tells me it passed the test. I get home and print and all reds are now purple!! I see that it says 100% satisfaction guaranteed and should have no problem getting my $7.50 back for the refill. But..I am now stuck with two screwed up cartridges that cannot be refilled and have to buy yet another color one. $7.50 back is not making me satisfied when I am out $50+ because they couldn't fill it right. What would you do?????:shrug7:

Hi everyone!!,

I work for a local walgreens for amany years....and have had the refill machine for over a year and a half now... We fill hundreds of different types of cartriges black and color, and I would say only 85% of them fill properly. This is not due to neglect from the photo tech's... so please do not jump down their throats. This machine is so easy a monkey could do it... defective catridges are due to manufactures purposly making some models unfillable. I hardly ever have any problems with all models of HP, but almost all lexmarks I work on don't fill properly the first time- I usually have to suck out the ink and start again..Sometimes up to 3 times before I give up..... some lexmark models don't fill at all for me, but I always try for the customer. Pretty much anything that has to be drilled, rather then just the needles being poked in the right chambers have a chance to bleed colors.

When you take your cartridge back to staples for your $3 coupon towards a new cartridge - (or other retailers)....it is sent to the manufacturer to be refilled, and resold as new. Just like when you bring in throw away cameras, the film is removed, and the cameras are resent to Kodak and other companies to reuse, repackage, and resell... So when you buy your new cartridge, your actually buying refurbished ones that have new ink. Plus the new ink cartridges are only 1/2 filled, unlike getting them at walgreens where you get 100% fresh ink. -

When your cartridge is filled, there are a series of tests we preform for quality assurance. A few problems: Ink is skipping when you test print it- might be due to ink cartridges being too dry inside. If your going to refill your cartridge either at home, or at Walgreens, fill it when your printer first tells you you have low ink. If you wait too long you will damage the electrical connectors on the cartridge and the ink will dry up on the heads. Once you remove it from theprinter, place it in a sealed zip lock baggie. (to help from stains, and from drying up) If your cartridge fails our electrical test, then we wont be able to even try to refill it. The electrical connecters on the bottom of your cartridge are very sensitive... They can be damaged by handling, by power surges, and by dried up ink on the print heads. If colors are bleeding then it is most likely a case of the manufacturers aim to make you buy a new one with their ink. If you call Lexmark OR HP you'll get the same thing. They will tell you absolutly do not refill cartridges with anything other then THEIR ink! Why? because that $35.00 cartridge you just bought.....just made them a $34.90 profit. Ink is very inexpensive. It is the casing, print heads ect that is adding to the cost... but when all those pieces are refurbished the cost is minimal. This is why all new cartridges are sold with prepaid envelopes to mail back empty cartridges, and propaganda about waste vs recycling...

I have always thought that walgreens should have more information to pass out regarding how cartridges are filled ect. I know when I take orders I explain to my customers that I will try to fill it, but not all cartridges are able to be filled to our satisfaction. We have to guarantee that all cartridges are fillable, but thats why we never charge you ANY fee's for our time/ink ect... Walgreens goal is satisfaction. there is no risks involved. If your cartridge was empty in the first place, and you wern't charged, then your not out of anything but time. We used to hand out coupons for 10 free prints if your cartridges would not fill..TO say thank you for trying out our services....and spending your time- I'm not sure the coupons are valid anymore, but you can ask your photo specialists if they still have that policy.. I haven't worked in photo in awhile now. (It was a coupon you dowload from the picture care plus order screen) Remember being curtious and assertive gets you a lot farther with ANYONE then being a pain.

When people pick up the cartridge and the quality test does not meet our standards I tell them, that I tried, refilled, emptied, cleaned ect... and I was not happy with how it came out. You THEN recieve your ink cartridge for free.... WITH the ink still in it... - I always tell customers to try it anyways, at worst they have free ink to try...If you are not given the option to have your cartridge back (to try in your printer, or take somewhere else to be refilled) then please ask for it back. You can still take it to stapels or wherever to have it recycled for your $3.

Of course Walgreens wants you to be satisfied 100%,- Which is why you are not charged for our time/ink.... and customers are the first priority -But I don't think walgreens can be expected to pay for a brand new cartridge because your cartridge was defective for filling by the manufacturer... or was not cared for properly at home. Remember your cartridge was empty, and if we didn't have our services you'd be shelling out $30-$40 for a new one anyways. At home refill kits often cost more then walgreens fills- arn't guaranteed by the manufacturer for satisfaction, and make more of a mess then what it's worth.

Please also read your printer manuals about reccomended printer cleaning cycles on a regular basis....

Theres too much information here, that I agree- SHOULD be presented at the time of ordering your printer cartridge refill... But please be resonable.


PLEASE also realize that Walgreens is under contract with Manufacturers for the coupons we accept. We could care less how many items you get for free, discounted ect... I say you deserve it, if your willing to sit at home all day cross referencing merchandise to find the best deals.... in the end each store gets their money back from coupon sales (IF they are redeemed properly)... The problems are each coupon is coded into the register for the terms of manufacturers guidlines... Even if a few "one per customer limit" deals are accepted, eventually the registers DO stop accepting the deals after so many items, loopholes are discovered and fixed that would prevent you from doing the same deals the next visit to our store.... along with home printed coupons that are "not on file" which tend to be fakes, and cost our company hundreds every month.... This does not mean YOU made them at home, it means your sources just might not be so kosher. They are out there, and we see them every day. A quick call to the manufacturer of the product can fix that problem. They can tell what current coupon deals are authorized by them.

When you come into our stores with 30 items, and 70 coupons, on top of our weekly ad coupons, easy saver coupons, and insist on being rung up sepperatly for your each of your 5 free rebate items, so auntie Bertha and grandma Helen, brother Bob, and your daughter can all get rebate checks too....(when limit is 1 per customer)- and there's 12 people behind you with only 2 or 3 items....- that just want to go home and take they're cough medicine..... And your pissed at us for "being stupid cashiers" -Please be patiant, and realize that we WANT you to have whatever it is in your basket, we want to get you out of our store as quickly as possible... but #1 we are under contract with manufacturers, and repetitive coupon abuse can get us into trouble...We have to abide by what the coupon says.... If "Cashier Mary Smith" forced the coupon last week for you- then consider yourself lucky because it should have never been done-
secondly we have a lot of other customers that are trying to be patiant with you also. Trying to find a balance isn't always easy.

Just because you found a loophole in the wording, or something wasn't written in blood in the fine print, I hope next time you will remember this post, take a deep breath- be patiant, and ask yourself if it is worth being "one of those customers"

Some of my favorite daily shoppers at my store are AMAZING at finding deals,- they even tell ME about deals I never knew about... they are very curtious to us all-Understand when home printed coupons are not being recongized in our system, are willing to wait patiantly for additional help....and know when the limit says 1 per customer, it does not mean 1 per coupon, ect.... and those are the customers that get told about upcomming deals, advance months rebate items, our own secret loopholes....and sometimes, just sometimes, I hold back a few free after rebate items when I know they are in short demand.- for our best shoppers. Which would you rather be?

This post is not meaning to be rude, and I hope this gives you a little inside information for the next time a problem arises on our end. Unfortunatly I can't speak for everyones actions, and just like every company there will be a few bad seeds- I imagine not every smart shopper is greeted with open arms like they are in my store. But please- do yourself a favour- and treat our cashiers and other customers with respect. You'll find that in the long run it will be worth your while...

Thanks,


Walgreens employee

[mmb1996]

well said, thanks for your view.

[melodyjg]

Thank You!!! You redeem our faith in human beings!!!

[coupon-junkie]

Thank you for taking the time to write a very well written and informative piece on Walgreens. I found it very helpful.

[billythekid]

Excellent Post, I too fill ink cartridges for friends and local businesses, and it trully is a hit or miss pain. Just leaving the cartridge in the car for an hour while doing another activity can ruin it.

[miss]

Thank you for taking the time to share this useful info and restoring my faith in WG's.

[amy s]

awesome post and very true!