This afternoon, after a week of exchanging emails with HP Support, my printer has accepted the UK ink cartridges that I bought for it last Saturday. The cartridges said nothing about being suitable only for machines bought in the UK; they said they would work in an HP C4480, the exact model printer that I shipped over here; and when I installed them, they reported that they were “incompatible” with my US-purchased printer. Needless to say, I was irked.
I just counted; HP Support sent me twelve messages since I registered my frustration last Saturday (and of course, I sent fourteen, since I started the chain and ended it). Bruce, Ashley, Ronnie, and Nick gave me instructions that differed at least slightly each time, and sometimes their instructions didn’t fit the model of printer I’m working with. All told, I know I spent more than two hours fiddling with the printer and fulfilling their instructions. On their end, they must have spent at least a half hour or so. It’s hard for me to believe that companies actually come out ahead by devising, installing, and maintaining region-restrictions on their products. But hey, I’m a lecturer in biblical studies; what do I know?
And you forgot to include in your calculations the cost of the negative PR this post just cost them!