G&G carts for Canon!!!

[neilslade]

Well, of 11 brands of ink I test, not a single one matched another-- especially the inexpensive carts, they were all different

proof- http://www.neilslade.com/Papers/inktest.html

Apparently out of this group of 11, not one shared the same ink formula or source.

 

[Fishin' the Kadmoni]

I got a leaky G&G cartridge from inkgrabber back in february, then ordered several sets from alotofthings.com in April to avoid any bad cartridges from inkgrabber, and 9 out of 12 of the BCI-6's I received were leaky. Ink all over the print head. That's 75%!

Alotofthings.com says that this is the first time they've ever heard of their cartridges leaking, and that the manufacturer is certain that inkgrabber was the only vendor who had been sent the bad ones. But since I have ink leaking all over and (as of yesterday) color-stained fingers to prove it, I don't think that the G&G leaking ink problem is solved... If anyone bought from alotofthings.com around Apr-7, they might have problems.

Maybe a chinese factory worker decided to pack up all the rejects with off-center holes and send them to alotofthings.com as a joke... I don't know.

By the way, the cartridges I received had color-matched labels on them, not the "red uniform" label that Neil mentioned. Alotofthings.com has never seen the red labels as of today.

They haven't offered me a refund or exchange yet, though they HAVE been very concerned about the matter, and replied quick to my email, which I have to give them credit for. I'm supposed to send the cartridges to the manufacturer's rep in california, so they can examine them. The problem is that I'm out of ink and don't know whether to just buy some more from inkgrabber or wait for a week before the manufacturer gets my cartridges and sends me replacements (if they indeed own up to them).

Has anyone else gotten leaky G&G cartridges from other vendors?

By the way, most of them had 09/2008 exp dates, except the yellows, which all had 12/2008 dates, and all of them leaked.

 

[neilslade]

I had long discussions with alotofthings about G&G carts.

I have only heard of four people now (you are #4) with this issue.

NOTE:>>>By contrast, two of my neighbors exclusively use G&G, and got carts in this same period-- neither had a problem. They have the same printer I do.

Its not the placement of the outlet hole, because the new carts are ALL like that, and they don't leak. My best guess at this point was that it was the sponge material that didn't retain the ink- and that they got a different supplier.

I also guess that the leaking also required a well used printer--

I don't know-- in any case, its was never a problem for most people, and all of the new carts I've bought from Inkgrabber this past 45 days has been fine. If you've gotten bad carts from one dealer, avoid them that's all. It means they've got a batch that proved problematic for you.

I had problems with a batch of carts in my printer-- the same carts worked flawlessly in my neighbors identical printer.

Get a simple refund and be happy. Go somewhere else.

I've never had any customer service problem with Inkgrabber, and without exception they've offered replacements for any cart found defective or problematic. They even arranged through G&G to directly send me replacement carts when I stumbled upon this problem that a few of us had months ago without me asking.

Ink is so cheap-- gosh-- don't have a cow.


Neil

 

[Fishin' the Kadmoni]

Thanks Neil. Joseph and also the customer service person who first replied to my email both told me that I was the very first of their customers to have this problem from the G&G cartridges.

My printer (an MP780) isn't old (bought august, '05) and hasn't been excessively used. Never had any problems with ink leaking until this february.

It does sound like it's the sponge, but I still think it has something to do with the holes being off-center... Some of the the holes were on-center (those were two of the three that didn't leak) and the all the ones that leaked were off-center... just coincidence?

 

[neilslade]

Joseph at alotofstuff spent considerable time with me on the phone a couple of months ago regarding carts and ink.

He told me that yes, indeed, you were the first to complain of this problem at his company.

In fact, all of the carts I got from alotofthings were perfectly fine.

The incidence of leaking carts has been statistically insignificant, as I've stated at this point, so it wouldn't surprise me that no one had complained about this at his company.



Joseph was very helpful regarding conversations I had about toner, and other in depth issues, and took the time to have further discussions with me again on the topics of ink brand consistancy, defective carts, and customer service.

All of the inks I received from them that I used in my test were not problematic in any way, including G&G carts-- with the exception of the Arrow carts which several did not release ink and proved to be defective in my experience. I did not ask for a refund or a return for this relatively small number of bad carts, since I recieved such an outstanding bargain buying these inks under his test program to being with.

 

[Fishin' the Kadmoni]

A quick question Neil,

Off the top of your head, what was the percent defective rate of the cartridges you received? They're telling me that they're having trouble believing I've got a 75% failure rate in the batch I received, saying that it's astronomical compared to what others got.

Thanks.

 

[neilslade]

I had a similar failure rate on one order I recieved-- then the new carts with red labels arrived and these were all fine.

Yes, 75% is high and I believe it is possible-- but I also believe that it is very unusual. Get a set from Inkgrabber for all of $16 and see what you get.




I recieved a call from the alotofstuff.com owner today, and in my estimation he is treating his customers very well.

I would simply follow his instructions for return at this point if you want replacement carts, this may mean sending the carts back to the manufacturer.

If you had problems with his stock, it would not seem wise to get further stock from him at this time.

I

 

[Fishin' the Kadmoni]

A simple refund, and I would have been happy.

Alotofthings.com may be treating their other customers well... but when I contacted them (my first several emails were polite, incidentally) about returning defective merchandise, I got unprofessional emails which denied there were any issues with these carts and that they had done nothing wrong and implied that I was trying to return another vendor's carts. There were even off-handed references to getting their legal department involved. I don't know if these were intended as threats, but that's the way they came across to me. It could just be a case of someone at the company having a bad day... and maybe I should overlook it, but still... not very professional.

I am currently trying to contact the G&G rep to try & get the bad carts replaced. Alotofthings.com sent me his shipping address, but because of the emails I received from them, I was suspicious and stopped trusting their information. Is that wrong of me? Maybe. But, in the absence of any apology, I think I'll wait to hear directly from the G&G rep on whether they will take these back. If they don't, maybe I'll suck the ink out of the cartridges and try to refill the few good ones... it's worth a try anyway.

To other readers of this thread: Neil did some editing of posts, so if you're a little lost with some of the comments, don't worry about it.

 

[Manuchau]

I use 2 methods for sealing these, and have never had a leakage problem. A glue gun works well if you refill for yourself. When refilling for others, I use candle wax...because the final result looks better...no bumps from the glue blob.

 

[neilslade]

I never edit anyone's posts but my own- and I removed some of my previous comments regarding alotofthings, after hearing the other side of the story. There's always two sides, and frankly, I'm not about to jump to conclusions -

Again, I've stated my experience with customer service at Inkgrabber, which has been flawless, and that's why I've provided a link on my pages.

You may or may not have a similar experience with others.

Fortunately, ink isn't terribly expensive, so even if you get less than perfect customer service, its not a catastrophe in even the worst case scenario.

*****

Per refill sealing-- I prefer the Computer Friends blue plugs, easy, quick, reusable many times. I've resealed with glue, it also works, but to me, less convenient.