On issue 1... as long as the replacement printer is under the same warranty as a new one, what do you care if it is called refurbished or new. How do you know the one at the store was not refurbished. The packaging will be identical.

On issue 2... yes the company has the right to publish warranty or terms & conditions of purchase and hold you to it. Buyer beware, read the fine print before purchasing.

A better remedy for you is to take the printer back to the store for a refund, and buy a different brand. But, don't be surprised if they don't treat you any better than Epson did.

You definitely have a point. This seems borderline unethical to me. Customers always expect a new product when they pay the new product price. The customer service policies of most companies is just terrible these days. They need to think more about the customers when they're developing these policies. I don't think they fully realize the impact that a single unhappy customer can have on their business, especially with new forms of communication (such as blogging) helping word spread so quickly.

I respectfully disagree with R. Dot's comments. I agree that consumers have certain responsibilities but ultimately it the obligation of the vendor to provide the best possible customer service to it's clients. This notion that it's acceptable to drafts obscure terms and conditions in order to absolve oneself from accepting any real responsibility for the type of service that companies should provide consumers is the wrong mindset. The fact is that while companies are able to shield themselves after a purchase has been made, unfortunately, consumers do not enjoy the same privileges because they do not have any real recourse to action other than those permitted by the companies.

However, I have recently come across a new services that helps to empower consumers when dealing with CSC. The names of the service is 321-CALL-LOG and can viewed at www.321calllog.com.

I purchased an Epson stylus Photo R260 in January of 2007. It printed with banding. I tried all the trouble shooting stuff to get rid of the banding to no avail. I called Epson tech support. They had me go through all the same stuff. Still banding. They said they would send me a "new printer" with instructions of what to do with the old one. Tech support never did mention anything about a refurbished model.

About 3 days later, I got the "new printer", at least it looked new. Everything worked fine. Epson never did say what to do with the old one.

So I have two printers. So my experience with Epson replacement service has been a little different.

If you purchase anything with a credit card, you can call the credit card company and ask them not to pay the vendor. First, take the product back to the store, explain the problem and tell them you want a replacement. If they say they won't replace it or that you have to send the item back to the manufacturer, ask to speak to the store manager. If he refuses, ask to use their phone or use your cell phone. Ask the manager and salesperson to remain with you while you make your call. Call the 1-800 number for customer service on the back of your credit card and tell the CSR the problem and tell them that the store is refusing to accept the return of new, but, faulty merchandise. Ask them to cancel payment to the store or withhold payment. (This is all legal) This will normally resolve your issue. FYI: Even if the sale has already been processed, the credit card CSR can reverse the charge! Ask them to do it.

R. Dot is wrong...refurbished merchandise must be clearly maked as such by federal law. In addition, the "warranty/terms/conditions can only be upheld if it doesn't place an unfair burden or violates the primary business transaction, i.e., if the company knows or has reason to believe the product is faulty, the consumer has a right to a refund because the manufacturer knew that the product would not reasonably perform the purpose of it's manufacture.

I'm going throw hell with Epson them. I bought in Stylus R-1800 July of 2006 for $800 with a 2 warranty, I’m run a business and The sensor went on it it took them about 1 hr to say they will send me on in 3 - 5 days, I had a job to finish, so I had to go out and buy another printer in order to fish the job lost money due the quality as well. So finally get R-1800 this new printer and now it has lines going throw all the pages. So i call the up the customer service want me to talk to the Technical Support, Technical Support tells me to talk to customer service, Ever time I tried to call up Customer service no one answered, and later was told someone from customer service will call me I’m still waiting I must of spent over 1:30 on the phone with them. I will never buy any thing for epson. I don’t want this model any longer, I’ve lost money due to this I can go out get business due to a bad quality and don’t trust there product. I am also learning u send consumer refurbished printers I didn’t pay for a refurbished model. I plain on buy more printing products and will never buy anything from epson again. This problem still remains unresolved.

What you experienced is nothing new. I can tell you first hand that this is their policy which can be revereted if you complain enough. Refuse their so-called refurbished products, these units are hardly checked before shipping from their warehouse in Indianapolis, I have come across many complaints that their refurbished products are not only sometimes dirty but it's still inoperable.
Epson has also been known for poor service and mostly inferior product, the parts in the printers have a short failure limit that will cause the unit to fail shortly after the warranty of a year ends. The other inherent problem is that the expensive inks dry up in the nozzles which causes banding or no output at all.
Again, complaining works. Forward your complaints to their Customer Relations instead of wasting time with their support, if their "CR" is not cooperative, request for your complaint to be forawarded to their Executive Customer Relations in Long Beach, California where your voice and complaint will be heard and resolved.

I just experienced the worst "customer service" experience at Epson. Received a scanner, defective out of the box - makes a really loud grinding noise.
After filing an incident on line with technical support and requesting an RMA number on line through their process. Multiple emails, I was told I had to call the "Epson Store" and they would contact me to technical support, I spent over 20 minutes on the phone, repeated information such as serial number.. that I had completed on line and the tech wanted me to check the "lights" on my scanner. Since I refused to waste any more of my time he told me he would detail the info and transfer me back to the "store" who couldn't give me an RMA number and conveniently enough the RMA department was closed before 8 my time when the email states to call and also stated she couldn't forward the information, I would have to call again tomorrow.

I really like Epson products but I will no longer be suggesting them to my friends.