3-in-1 Printer Stops Scanning When Ink Tank Empty

Canon is being sued for allegedly blocking multifunction printers from scanning or faxing because the printer ink is empty. The customer bringing the case has asked for class action status.

David Leacraft bought an "all-in-one" Pixma device with printing, document scanning and faxing features. When his ink ran out, he found the other features no longer worked.

According to the lawsuit, multiple posts and replies on an official Canon support site suggest this is by design. One reply from a Canon "Product Expert" read:

"The Pixma MG6320 must have all ink tanks installed in the printer and they must all contain ink in order to use the functions of the printer. Replacing the empty ink tank with a new ink tank will resolve this issue. There is no workaround for this." (Source: documentcloud.org)

No Mention Of Policy

The lawsuit, spotted by Bleeping Computer, also cites several pieces of Canon promotional material for the camera that highlight the various features as being distinct but make no mention of the scanning/copying or fax (sending) as requiring ink. He says there's "no reason or technical basis" why this is necessary. (Source: bleepingcomputer.com)

Leacraft says that had he known about this limitation he either wouldn't have bought the device, or would only have done so at a lower price. He argues that it's a perfectly legitimate response of a customer who runs out of ink to switch to using the device solely for scanning and copying, then buy replacement ink as and when they need to print documents.

Class Action Status Sought

The lawsuit accuses Canon of breaching various New York business laws, most notably by not disclosing information that would affect purchase decisions and by unfairly increasing printer ink sales to boost its profits.

The filing asks for class action status to cover anyone in the US who has bought a Canon All-in-One Printer within the statute of limitations. It says such status is necessary because thousands of people are affected and it would be impractical to manually link together individual claims.

If granted, the status would mean a single case would cover all affected people and, if successful, any damages could be shared among them.

Canon had yet to comment publicly at the time of writing.

What's Your Opinion?

Does the case sound valid to you? Have you got a multifunction printer? Do you know if all functions are disabled if there's no ink, and would you be surprised if this was the case?