(More than) Fourinarow.net

I am on a tech high!  I could be pi-polar, though, as yesterday and this morning I was at a very, very low…

When the ink ran out on our several-year-old printer the other day, we decided we’d take advantage of the moment and buy a new printer.  After all, the cost of the ink and the cost of a new printer were virtually the same.  I asked a few people for recommendations and then looked up some reviews.  It looked to me like there were a few good ones.  What I wanted most was a printer that would work with all my devices – desktop, laptop, ipad & iphone.

I went to Costco with two products in mind.  One and HP and one an Epson.  They were out of the HP that I wanted and didn’t carry the Epson, so I headed off to (*&!$#) Walmart.  Bought an Epson.  Brought it home, hooked it up and immediately had issues.  Did some research, did some tweaking, still had problems.  Called Epson support and got this:  “It’s a router issue.  The printer times out after a while.  To get it working again, just reset  your router.  EVERY TIME YOU WANT TO PRINT.”

Really?  Are you kidding me?  No way was I going to put up with that, so back went the printer.

I waited a day and Costco came through for me.  I went back and picked up an HP Photosmart 7525.  It’s pretty

Brought it home, set it up – quickly and easily – and lo and behold, it worked beautifully with both my laptop and desktop (both Mac).  Whooohooo!  Now, to print from my iPhone and iPad.

Well, that process didn’t go so well.  Back to the research.  I found that Apple Airprint uses a special technology that may or may not be supported by my router.  Dug some more.  Looks like router might not be supported.  Checked the Comcast website and found that there were “known issues” with the router they installed in my home and that I could get a replacement.  Called the 800 number, explained, and they told me to simply exchange the router for a different brand at my local Comcast office.

Visited said Comcast office this morning.  Guess what?  My router is the only kind they have.  They can send a tech out, which will cost me money, and he may or may not have something different for me.  I set up an appointment and on my way home called the 800 to explain and complain.  She took notes.  I was to wait for the tech.

In the meantime, once home, I reinstalled my router so I could continue to have service through my wait.  Weirdly, my iPhone was suddenly able to print!  And my iPad!  But, guess what?!?  NOT MY COMPUTERS!

Ready to pull my hair out, I looked up the HP customer service phone number and called them.  I expected no satisfaction, especially after my experience with Epson and the wonderful Comcast.  But, guess what?

Unbelievably, I received EXCELLENT customer service from HP.  The woman I spoke to was professional, polite and understanding.  She was easy to understand, understood me, and did not appear to be reading from script cards.  Cautiously, hoped bloomed.

After walking me through a few settings on my new printer (which is a computer in itself), she had me choose an obscure setting that never would I have found on my own.  Changing the setting changed everything!  It worked!  I printed from my iPad, my iPhone and both my computers – while she waited!  AND, she explained what we did and why!  She did say that routers can be tricky and that we changed the way the printer communicated with the router.  AND – get this – she asked if I wanted them to call me back tomorrow or the next day to make sure everything was still working!!!  After picking my jaw up off the floor, I told her that I’d love a call back.

After hanging up, I immediately ran from device to device printing sample pages – just to BE SURE.  Whoooohoooooooo! It all works.  I can even print from Texas next time I visit.

I am SO HAPPY!!!!