Costco Ink Refill Service?

[eytonxav]

I was waiting for the store to open this morning and noticed a sign advertizing Costo ink refill service for printer cartridges. I have a bunch of empty HP cartridges laying around and am wondering if their service is worthwhile vs buying new. Has anyone tried and are you happy with the print quality from their refills?

 

[TrvlBug]

Our local Costco started offering this w/in the past year and I've been using it for the last 6 mos. Cost is about 1/2 of new and I'm very pleased with the quality. I freaked out the first time when the refilled ink cart didn't work and discovered they forgot to reset the sensor . However, even with the Costco refills, the ink is still way too expensive so I added a b/w laser jet printer and now use it most of the time.

 

[frank]

there are some good buys on ebay if you use the right kind of printer. my son has an epson and I bought a set of cartridges new for 12.95. I have a lexmark now, but am thinking about buying an epson inkjet to use for everyday printing.

 

[Buckeye]

I had a black and a color HP cartridge refilled but I haven't tried them out yet. Waiting for the ones currently in use to get truly empty or they can't be refilled. My printer told me my cartridges were almost empty a month ago but still going strong so far.

Costco weighs your cartridge and it must be below a certain weight (i.e. be EMPTY) or they won't refill it.

The price was right and if it doesn't work or it stops working, I can just take it back to Costco and get a refund. No risk.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

I found out recently about this service at Costco's. With their guarantee, I don't see how you could go wrong. Also, they showed me the equipment and told me this was state of the art. The latest and greatest. We'll see. Previously I tried Walgreens refill service and wasn't happy at all.

 

[omni550]

I found out recently about this service at Costco's. With their guarantee, I don't see how you could go wrong. Also, they showed me the equipment and told me this was state of the art. The latest and greatest. We'll see. Previously I tried Walgreens refill service and wasn't happy at all.

One possible way you could"go wrong" is if the ink they use with causes problems (especially permanent ones) with your printer.

I have no idea about the Costco refills...but I've read about problems with other refill systems for laser printers.

omni

 

[Animorph]

Ink jet ink only touches the cartridge and the paper. No permanent problem there if it gums up a cartridge. Lasers and my Xerox solid ink printer could gum up part of the printer if something screws up.

 

[omni550]

From a quick glance at their site, it appears as though Costco is only offering refilling service for ink JET cartridges, not the [-]oh-so-expensive[/-] LASER cartridges.

omni

 

[eytonxav]

Johnnies right, nothing really to lose in giving them a try. Thanks

 

[nwsteve]

I have bought but not yet used the refilled cartridges from Costco. One heads up from my one experience is to plan to allow at least an hour for turnaround. I am sure that could be much longer in a busier Costco. There was very little happening in our Costco midweek, when I decided to give it a try. Dropped off the color cartridges as soon as we hit the store. Clerk said to allow 30-45 minutes. Came back after about an hour and they needed another 15 minutes (had the 3 color HP cartridges refilled). Price was half of new as I recall.
Probably works best if you live close by or make regular trips so you can drop off and pick up the next time.
Nwsteve

 

[eytonxav]

IProbably works best if you live close by or make regular trips so you can drop off and pick up the next time.
Nwsteve

Thanks for the heads up Steve. Fortunately, our Costco is maybe 2 miles at most from my house.