Is anyone else TOTALLY confused when you go to purchase a refill printer cartridge? Honestly, I had so many numbers in my head I felt like an air traffic controller when I walked into Office Depot which is SOMEHOW different than Office Max.
My CX6600 printer takes a T044120 black cartridge and the T044220, T044320, T044240 color cartridges.
But WAIT! They didn’t have them so I had to revert to the on-shelf cross-reference catalog that reads like my high school trigonometry book and search for a “compatible” store brand cartridge.
Finally, I succumbed to the pressure, turned in my Man-Card and asked the Store Manager for help. Off the top of her head, she spewed that “the T044220 could be replaced by the generic BG77G1 model or the store brand 8J4-MQ.” Then she gave me that “That-was-so-obvious” look… just like my mother used to when she would send me to fetch a can of something out of the pantry and, after 10-minutes of my mindless searching, she walked right up and snatched what she sent me for from the 2nd shelf, 4th row, third can in from the left in about .000182 seconds.
But back to the manager, she fired off the “T044220, BG77G1, 8J4-MQ” numbers and letters so fast, that some older lady, who was in the store looking for scrap-booking supplies, instinctively yelled “BINGO” and her friend was yelling at the caller for calling the numbers too fast.
The bottom line… can we just name replacement printer cartridges simple names like 1, 1-A and 1-B like the exits on the Turnpikes, Ya Jagoffs??
The codes to encrypt secret messages between our agencies are probably simpler than our printer codes. 🙂
So, Office Max must be sick of having their ears bent with great stories like this. (Add me to the list of ear-benders). Anyhoo, now somebody actually intercepts me at the door and offers to help before I start crying. It’s worth a try.
John, I just go right to the salesperson. I will not cross reference the generic cartridges with the name brand manufacturers. They need to come out with a better model number system!! Great rant!
I recently had the pleasure of going to Office Depot for printer cartridges. That experience will turn a law abiding citizen into a crazed lunatic. I never understood why they couldn’t just do A, B, C, D. I mean, why does everything have to be so complicated?!