Printer Problems

My first mosaic crochet project was done. I was ready for another.

I had purchased the previous pattern online. Now I wanted to buy another from the same pattern designer. She has created so many colourful ones I love.

But when you purchase a pattern online, it is emailed to you. Then YOU have to print it up. Unfortunately the new printer I purchased in April wasn't printing properly. Now several colours weren't printing, so pages with color were illegible... What to do?!!

I returned to the store where I had purchased the machine to ask what my options were, but customer service wasn't at all helpful. They simply informed me that their obligation to exchange it ended 30 days after I purchased it. No mention of what I could do now.

I confess that at this point I was ready to put the printer in the trash and buy another one - NOT from the same company. There must be "lemons" in the printing world - and I had obviously bought a lemon.

Well, you have a one-year warranty, Terry reminded me. They have to fix it.

I decided to try to contact the manufacturer by phone rather than go back to the store - but of course, they no longer provide telephone contact numbers. So instead, I went to their online website and started typing in my problem using the online "chat" option. It was effective though cumbersome. Half an hour later, I was asked to open the printer and describe what I saw... I had no idea what I was looking for.

I offered to email a photograph of the inside of my printer.

They agreed and quickly identified the problem: Bubbles blocking some ink tubes. They then told me to press this and that on the "maintenance" button to fix it... And, to my amazement, the printer now worked!

Here are the pages I printed before and after the intervention. Yes!  They're the same page. That - on the right - is what the page was supposed to look like!

As I sat down to print up my new crochet patterns, it occurred to me that this is not an experience my parents would ever have had to  face. They never owned a printer - though my dad would have found it interesting. He loved machines.

I can't say I love machines - but because I wanted to print up some patterns, I forced myself to turn to technical support. As they say, "Necessity knows no defeat." 

I can almost see my dad smiling.