Hacker News Reader

Hacker News

Comment by blibble | Hacker News Reader

Full thread

blibble

as much as I hate subscriptions this doesn't sound unreasonable

you're paying for X pages a month, and the ink is supplied to you to allow you to do that

would it be any different if you were in the local staples paying for X pages/month

if you cancelled would you feel entitled to go behind the counter and take the ink you've "purchased"?

View on HN

I think one major difference is that a reasonable default expectation is that when I have an ink cartridge in my possession, I am able to use it until it's empty. I wouldn't have the same expectation of the ink cartridge at the local copy center. I'm sure that HP states somewhere that the ink is their property even if you physically have it, as the OP said. However, I think whenever you violate reasonable expectations, you should also make an extra effort to make sure the consumer is aware.

You are not able to use it until it is empty. You are paying for X pages a month. If you have printed X pages, you need to pay more.

You don't need to use the subscription model to use a printer, you can use regular cartridges.

I understand how the subscription model works. My point is that I think it is a very reasonable expectation that once you have an ink cartridge, you should be able to use it until empty. This was evidently not made clear to the OP. I'm saying that this seems to be a failure on the part of HP to clearly communicate the restrictions in place with the subscription model.

I'm not suggesting they violated their agreement with the user, I'm saying that the terms of the agreement could have been more clearly communicated.

If you cancel your magazine subscription, do the magazines you have already received vanish, or become unreadable? An ink subscription should be exactly the same. You send them money every month, they send you ink every month. When you cancel the subscription, you still own the ink that you paid for.

> If you cancel your magazine subscription, do the magazines you have already received vanish, or become unreadable? An ink subscription should be exactly the same.

it's not an ink subscription

it's a printed pages subscription

you still have your printed pages after cancelling

It's more like a series of books, and they send you all the books at once to save shipping costs. But each book is locked in a box that needs a key to open. Your subscription is for a monthly key. If you cancel your subscription do you have the right to read the remaining books?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com