Episode 17: Cancel Your HP Instant Ink -- No Two Clicks Allowed

Music courtesy of Banjo HangOut July/3, I got my instant ink bill from HP (June activity). I went 10 pages over my plan, and my bill was twice as high.I decided to cancel Instant Ink and visited HP’s website. You have to do it by telephone — no two-click service here.Here’s what I found out — first, they encourage you to “upgrade your plan” I selected cancel, now they want the printer model number (this is a stall tactic). I suggested they look it up because I have only a single unit.At any rate, I learned two things:First cancellation is effective in August — I’m already into the July billing cycle, when I received my bill.Second, I have to replace the cartridges in my printer after August 1st — they will no longer work.Based on my experience with HP cartridges, I can expect six to eight months of service, which means a $38 cartridge is costing me about $8.50 per month vs the $9.25 in July. Here’s a little hint for HP users — write the date of cartridge installation on the label with a Sharpie. Record the date taken out of service in a blank check register. That will track your usage.