Are you worried about the warranty on your printer?

1. The Trade Practices Act 1974 (here on in referred to as “The Act”) requires manufacturers of new printers to honour the terms of their new printer warranty unless they are able to prove that the damage done to the printer has been caused by a non-genuine cartridge.

If the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) makes such a claim then this claim MUST be in writing, clearly explaining how the cartridge has caused the fault. The OEM must prove that the cartridge has caused the fault, it is not up to the user to prove that it has not.

2. It is prohibited by the Trade Practices Act for an OEM to state that customers should use only their original products when other product (such as a remanufactured cartridge) is available.

The Act prescribes fines of up to $10 million for the company involved and $500,000 for any individual involved.

This provision extends to service technicians employed by OEMs who claims a generic product has caused damage to a machine without then providing the appropriate evidence.

It is becoming increasingly common for service technicians to blame a remanufactured cartridge in order to sell the customer a genuine cartridge that they just happen to sell.