Woman Blasts HP Printer for Not Working Without a Subscription: “My Final Straw in Capitalism”

It seems like every piece of software and content is now asking folks to hand over a credit card so they can be put on a monthly subscription plan. We have subs for music, subs for the content that we watch — heck, even subs for our food delivery and ride share services.

But now, it seems like there's a new technology sub that a major computing manufacturer is trying to get people on: printers.

And a TikToker named Hunter (@hunterlollo) is not on board with it. She shared her frustration and shock at the practice in a viral clip where she slammed the printing subscription service. And although she didn't name what the printer was in her video, she responded to users in the comments who wanted to know the brand.

"This is my final straw. My final straw in capitalism. So, the printer that I bought with my money. And the paper that I supply with it, that costs money," she says, continuing her rant's momentum before she begins speaking on her printer grievance again.

"The ink that I supply it with costs money. in the house that I have to plug it into. The Wi-Fi that I use to connect it to. The phone that I use to print said things to that all cost money. I can't use the printer unless I have a subscription to it," she states, looking into the camera.

She makes sure to drive forth the point that she's paying for all of these printer supplies to highlight the absurdity that she must also pay a subscription fee for the privilege of using these items that she paid for:

"You have to have a subscription to said printer to use the printer that I already bought. With money."

After dropping this bombshell, she loudly guffaws into the camera, opening her mouth widely before backing away from the lens and speaking again on how ridiculous this pricing structure is.

"I know life is just a bunch of subscriptions. At this point, we subscribe to the air that we breathe. But a printer?! Five dollars a month," she holds her hand up to the lens. "Five dollars a month. To print things. That I already bought."

The TikToker continued, "Printer, paid for. Ink. Paid for. Paper. Paid for. Phone. Paid for. Wi-Fi. Paid For. Electricity. Paid for. Printer. Subscription. My last straw, this is it," Hunter states before the video closes out.

A number of other users on the app stated that they, too, were shocked by the printer subscription service: "Welcome to late stage capitalism," one person wrote.

However there was another TikTok user who stated that this was primarily a problem with HP printers: "Note to self - don't buy hp printer," they wrote, apparently referencing Hewlett Packard's "Instant Ink" subscription.

So why would anyone sign up for a service that forces them to pay a monthly fee just to use their printers, otherwise they won't function properly? Well, that's due to the verbiage surrounding the "Instant Ink" service.

When folks shop for a new printer, they're given the option of signing up for Instant Ink, which gives them free ink/toner upon purchase. It seems that there aren't a lot of people who know that this also means that "free" cartridge at the end of the day isn't really free.

In fact, it means that customers will then be forced to continually pay for the Instant Ink subscription and if they don't, then they're going to have to buy another printer from a different brand if they want to use it. Or hope that there was someone on the internet who found a way around HP's Instant Ink protocols.

Even if you try using another brand of ink cartridge in the HP printer that you paid for, the device will probably inform you that you're using an incompatible product, as others have said they've experienced. There may be some workarounds, but it wouldn't be surprising if HP invested significant resources into ensuring that folks aren't able to bypass these restrictions so easily.

Redditors who responded to this post in the r/printers sub weren't exactly thrilled with HP's Instant Ink service. While OP was clearly miffed that they were hoodwinked by the six-month free ink promotion without reading the terms and conditions of "Instant Ink," there were some people who weren't so sympathetic, stating that they ultimately should've known better.

As one commenter wrote: "What did you expect? These HP Instant Ink cartridges only work with an active HP Instant Ink subscription, because the ink is basically free and you're supposed to pay for the number of pages that you print, but without a subscription they cannot send you a bill anymore. Otherwise everybody and their dog would just sign up for a 99 cent subscription and then cancel to get new ink cartridges for 99 cents including free shipping."