Customer Service.....Not

I consider myself a relatively even-keel sort of person, able to deal with certain things like a broken-down truck, or water in the basement, without losing my cool.  But today I met my limit!

I do a lot of work with my computer and printer; writing letters, making greeting cards, printing resumes, and the like, so it's a pretty vital piece of equipment.  Last week my Epson printer ran out of ink and even though I purchased the expensive "recommended high quality Epson ink" - twice - the printer flatly refused to print.  Anything.  At all.  I contacted Epson technical support and explained all the trouble-shooting steps I had taken, according to the printer manual.  The email I received in replay simply told me to do all the trouble shooting I had already done.  One thing led to another and I found myself on the phone speaking (or trying to) with a person from somewhere very far away where they don't speak English.  The printer is less than a year old, but the best they could do would be to send me a refurbished one, with no guarantee.  They wanted my debit card number, phone number, home address, and full name before they were willing to do anything.  And, of course, they refuse to use the regular mail, despite the fact that Fed Ex can't find my house.  Arrgh!  After an hour or so on the phone they finally agreed they didn't need my debit card, but only if I would ship back the defective printer first and trust them to send a replacement. Which of course, will take at least two weeks, since they don't have my card number....and so it goes.  I'm afraid to say by the time I got off the phone I was no longer the polite, even-tempered woman I think I am.   To top it off, the instruction email that they sent to tell me how to return the printer demanded that I send it Fed Ex.  I have never seen a Fed Ex office anywhere in my area!

Not being able to go that long without a printer, I went to the store and purchased a new Canon.  For just a little over what I spent on the Epson ink cartridges, I have a brand new printer, that if it's anything like the previous Canon printer I had, will last for quite a few trouble-free years.

Moral of the story?  Don't buy an Epson NX-420 printer, it's junk, and Epson customer service will only give you the runaround.   If the refurbished printer ever arrives, I won't even open the box, and just list it for sale on eBay.  And - companies that continue to outsource their service and support branches overseas will continue to lose customers.