Formulabs Ink Problem

[tyamada]

There seem to be a problem with the latest shipment of Formulabs (Alotofthings) ink. Read the posts.
http://www.howtofixcomputers.com/bb/ftopic110380.html

 

[fotofreek]

The good news - This issue about formulabs altering their color balance to attempt to come closer to OEM was discussed on this forum. Next good news item - There was a follow-up post on the printer newsgroup by the original poster that Alotofthings will replace the magenta that was off with the old one for anyone who contacts them. AND THE OTHER GOOD NEWS (pardon my shouting) - you can see the interjections by the printer NG resident troll that help no one and make that NG a less pleasant place than it could be.

 

[danrad]

After reading through those threads I would like to commend everyone in this forum for keeping things civil and polite. We are all here to help eachother, let's keep it up.

 

[Grandad35]

In point #4 in (http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2495#p2495) I said that it would not be a good idea for Formulabs/ALotofThings to change their ink formulations without letting their customer's know of the change before they bought the new ink. Apparently the planned formulation change that lead to my post was already well underway before I wrote my post.

If anyone has any clout with the ink manufacturers/distributors, please let them know that their attempts to "improve" an existing product may not be as welcome as they think. If such changes are planned, the least that they can do is to review their records for the past 18 months and e-mail everyone that previously purchased the ink that is being changed, and make an offer of a "final buy" to restock with the original ink.

Their procedure of changing an ink formulation without telling anyone causes a lot of grief for the people who buy the "improved" product, a loss of good will, and a lot of bad press that will take a long time to correct, even for those who weren't directly affected. Personally, I will never be able to order bulk ink over the internet from Formulabs/ALotofThings again. I will have to phone them and speak with a knowledgable person to make sure that I am getting what I want - a waste of two people's time.

Coke changed their formula with a lot of hoopla, and even then it was a disaster. Imagine what would have happened if they didn't tell anyone and just shipped the new product with no notice.

 

[drc023]

One thing to remember is that alotofthings.com is not part of Sensient-Formulabs. They are an independent distributor who does happen to be located in the San Diego metropolitan area as is Formulabs and that proximity may contribute to the impression the two companies are somehow under the same umbrella. While alotofthings.com clearly specifies that all their ink does come from Formulabs, there are many other vendors who also sell Formulabs ink but do not advertise the fact. I would consider the customers of alotofthings.com to be the fortunate ones since they do know the maker of the ink and if there is a problem who to contact.

 

[Kenyada]

At this point, I'd be interested in finding viable alternative ink manufacturers/distributors to Formulab/alotofthings.com... just in case.

 

[fotofreek]

Two separate orders about 9 months apart from MIS for my i960 and the color match is quite good with no printer problems.

 

[RC]

The problem is not with Formulabs, but with Canon.

Canon continues to change their printer drivers. For example for those who two or three Canon printers will notice that the i860 prints more towards the green, while the i960 prints more towards the red and the ip5000 is more balanced.

What Formulabs tried to do was to create a magenta that would be able to be used on all the printers and I give them credit for that.

The (IJC-4420) magenta has been around for a long time. Eventually they introduced (IJC-4424), but the (IJC-4420) was always available and not discontinued, therefore, giving people more choices.

Formulabs is a wholesale company and therefore does not have direct communication with the ultimate user. I feel that it is the retailer responsibility to list as much information about the ink they offer, such as the color code number, so you can order by number rather than color, giving you consistency. Having said that, I believe that Alotofthings has done the right thing. They have informed the customer and have offered an exchange, that is more than many other companies will do.

I have said this before: Formulabs is a big company, but on those occasions that I have spoken to them, I have been impressed with the attention they give to all clients, small or big. I cannot say the same for some other ink companies.

Robert