Canon PIXMA MG5750

[Simon]

I've had the above printer for a few months, purchased new from Currys, and I'm finding it a little troublesome. 

Firstly, it regularly complains about being out of paper, when there is plenty loaded, and I have to gently push the paper into the tray, at which point it will start printing happily.  This is an irritation when I am sitting at the PC, where the printer is, but when I want to print something via WiFi from another room, it's bloody annoying!

Secondly, this evening, I went to print something from the main PC, which is connected via USB, and was informed that the printer was "offline".  I switched the printer off and on again, which had no effect, so then rebooted the computer, which also failed to resolve the issue, and finally had to disconnect and reconnect the USB lead to make the printer work.

I know one or two others here have this printer - has anyone else had problems?

[Clive]

Mine is wireless Simon and I haven't experienced too many problems with it other than the usual operator errors.  Usually Mrs Clive of course.     It doesn't like being stacked with too many sheets of paper in the paper tray and it doesn't like paper that is too thin.  But I've found this applies to all printers.  What impressed me was the ease at which is connects wirelessly to all my computers. 

[Simon]

Maybe the paper quality is an issue.  I don't tend to buy the most expensive, but never use less than 80gsm. 

[Clive]

80 gsm is generally what I use Simon so I can't see that being an issue.  Just make certain that everything is fitting together properly as the region encompassing the paper tray is very flimsy.  Check that there is nothing in the way or foreign objects caught up anywhere.  Remove and replace the cartridges to make sure they are fitting properly.  If all else fails uninstall the software and reinstall it again. 

[Simon]

... or send the bloody thing back.   

[Clive]

If you bought it from Amazon that will be easy!

[Simon]

Currys.  But I'll put the offline thing down to a USB glitch for now, and try some different paper.  Never had any such problems with my previous Brother printer, but I couldn't get an equivalent model from them, as they seem to have changed their product range.  That said, the Brother only lasted about three years, and it didn't get all that much use.

[Clive]

I bought mine from the Coop as it was on special offer.   

[Simon]

So was mine at Currys!  It was £49.99.   

[Clive]

I think that's what I paid for mine too. 

[nowster]

Sub-£150 inkjet printers are pretty much disposable items. The ink for them is extremely expensive, with the cartridges having very little in the way of capacity.

[Simon]

Yes, the branded inks for mine were as much as the printer itself, but compatibles are available for much less.

[Simon]

Well, this printer is useless.  It is now complaining of no paper for every page to print, and once I press the OK button, without touching the paper, it prints.  There is obviously a problem with the paper feed, so I will be taking it back to Currys for a refund, and have ordered a Brother from Amazon.

[nowster]

Some printer firmwares detect non-official cartridges and report all sorts of weird and wonderful errors instead of "buy ours or else", presumably because the latter would fall foul of many jurisdictions' competition laws.

[Simon]

As it happens, I found that the paper feed mechanism at the back wasn't secure, so I released it and resecured it, and it actually managed to print 20 pages in a row last night.  But, I still can't rely on it, so I may just change it anyway.

[Clive]

Sounds like operator error to me Simon.   

[Simon]

Possibly, but it's been playing up since I've had it.  I'll see how it goes, but it might also be nice to have one which doesn't disturb the neighbours!

[Clive]

   This is so true!

[Simon]

Annoyingly, I've just replaced the cartridges from the first batch it came with, so if it holds out, I'll use it till those are gone, then install the Brother. 

[Clive]

Perhaps you could send the Brother back? 

[Simon]

Possibly.  I'll see how it goes over the next week or so.

[john]

Good luck with the printer Simon, I bought a Canon MX925 to use with my Chromebook as it was advertised that it would do cloud printing and scanning. It was relatively straightforward to set up cloud printing but I could never get it to scan to the cloud. after trying over about 3 months I decided I must be doing something wrong so telephoned John Lewis's support to see if they could resolve it. After much fruitless discussion and trying different things (I don't think they really understood cloud printing/scanning) they asked me to contact Canon's support. After telephoning and e-mailing them without making any progress they escalated it to a senior engineer. Several e-mails later they admitted that it was incapable of cloud scanning (despite it saying so on the Canon website). I got back to John Lewis to see if I could return the printer as it did not do what it was supposed to do. They said that because I had had it over 3 months it was not normally returnable (despite it not doing what it was advertised) and it would be up to the Partners to decide if they would accept it back and it would have to be in as new condition with the original packaging. I explained that it was still like new and still had the plastic film around the edge and all the packaging but I had of course used the cartridges which came with it. However they said in that case they would not accept it back because the cartridges that came with it were necessary to initially set it up and without these they would not be able to re-sell it. I've no doubt I could have demanded a refund on the grounds that it was not as advertised but they did under the circumstances agree to refund £50. Because when I bought it they were already discounting it from £150 to £100 this would mean that I had got the printer for £50 and it did cloud print well and I could scan to a USB stick so I decided to keep it. I had read one review on the John Lewis's website where someone claimed he had returned it for a refund after 6 months simply because it's slow to start so I presume it depends who you speak to but I won't be buying any more printers from John Lewis if it's their policy not to accept returns if the initial set of cartridges are used.

[Simon]

It sounds to me like you were within your rights, John, as the device wasn't capable of doing what it was advertised to do, and therefore not fit for purpose.  I'm sure if you had spoken to someone else, or pushed a bit harder, JL would have issued the refund.  I've not heard many bad reviews about their customer service, so perhaps you were just unfortunate to get the person you got. 

[john]

Yes that's what I thought, I've always been more than satisfied with their customer service on other occasions and I would still prefer to buy other things from John Lewis, just not printers.