df69652c-7bda-42dd-8c90-799702059230

I worked with HP, and got to see the sheer depths of depravity when it comes to screwing the customer.
1. They have one of the harshest cartridge ID systems, to the point that each cartridge knows the batch it was made from.  The reason for this is so the printer can reject single-cartridge replacements, forcing the customer to replace them all.
2. They have multiple layers of detection to ensure the cartridge was never unsealed.  The printers immediately break the seal on cartridges as a part of entering them, and it also knows if part of it has been peeled open because a customer attempted to open a secondary entry point.  They do this to screw people that misaligned the cartridge or attempted to refill it.
3. They have detectors that err on the side of caution when determining ink levels.  They use this to shut down the printer until new cartridges are added, which is to intentionally waste ink and force the customer to replace them all.
4. They have been "enhancing" your black ink with cyan, and there is no option to stop it.  They do this to intentionally waste one of the smaller cartridges to force the customer to replace them all.
5. They intentionally slash quality assurance for cartridges.  This means the IDs and detectors can randomly fail, which they've programmed to always deny access.  This is because some people don't return faulty cartridges, which means they get a double sale.
6. This system creates a lot of ink-filled trash.  Not only is the plastic going to last a few centuries, but the ink is highly toxic and has been proven to poison groundwater if allowed to seep.  They know this is happening and are simply trying to keep quiet to not draw attention to it.

There's a lot of other ways they're hurting their customers, but I'll keep it to the ink side of things.  If an Epson actually lets you refill the cartridges, I recommend shouting it from the mountaintops, because I was led to believe the printer industry had a gentleman's agreement amongst each other to keep ink artificially scarce by any means necessary.