Have I been living under a rock?

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20163 posts

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#589095 1-Mar-2012 22:13

HP printers tend to have them, but I would ask the retailer to throw one in if I needed one. They cost only a couple of bucks for the retailer to buy, or you could buy one on dealextreme for a couple of dollars yourself.

loganjames

272 posts

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#589119 1-Mar-2012 23:17

gregmcc: I would take it back. I think the sale of goods act states that it must be in a useable condition, without the cable it's not, it would also be like no ink coming with the printer.

It doesn't come with paper either should he demand this also? If your buying printers for as low as $35 you can't expect every thing for free.

techmeister

310 posts

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#589128 1-Mar-2012 23:44

Printers have not come with a USB cable since they have had USB, but some brands do supply them now and again, I have even seen it printed on the box "USB cable included" as an extra feature, go figure.
The cable situation with a lot of products is a little hard to understand sometimes, for instance every time I buy a monitor it comes with a power cable, but inevitably when you go to install it there is a perfectly good cable already there from the old monitor, then you go to connect the DVI cable to the monitor.... oops no DVI only VGA, so I have a whole box full off IEC standard power cables and yet I have to buy DVI cables extra.
I even bought an Asus monitor that came with no less than 4 different power cables one for each type of plug.... but you guessed it no DVI cable only VGA lol.

keewee01

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#589178 2-Mar-2012 08:21

loganjames:
gregmcc: I would take it back. I think the sale of goods act states that it must be in a useable condition, without the cable it's not, it would also be like no ink coming with the printer.

It doesn't come with paper either should he demand this also? If your buying printers for as low as $35 you can't expect every thing for free.

alasta

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#589182 2-Mar-2012 08:32

When I worked at Warehouse Stationery about ten years ago I had the odd customer who got annoyed about this. I felt that was understandable, so I threw in a free cable on the odd occasions when people kicked up a stink. I think our retail price on the cables was about $15 but the cost price was minimal.

freitasm

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Geekzone

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#589183 2-Mar-2012 08:38

Byrned: Actuaally I remember an article from years ago where PanAm worked out that by reducing the amount of olives served with a martini in first class from 2 to 1 would save them $2m per year.

You have a vague memory of that. Some articles are about olives in salad saving $10,000 a year, others about olivers in martinis... Reality is no one knows the story now, so distorted it is.

UPDATE: Talkiet beat me to it.

Byrned

455 posts

Ultimate Geek

#589187 2-Mar-2012 08:46

Talkiet: I think the $2m Olive story is a vast exaggeration...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3073562/ns/business-us_business/t/how-cure-airlines-ills/#.T073RfXtMhU

Cheers - N

Ah yes, you are correct - that's what happens when you try to do things from memory. But then exagerations make for the best points!

On further examination there are amounts ranging from $40k to $500k (Corporate Creativity by Alan Robinson) the point remains the same, a small change can save a considerable sum of money

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gregmcc

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#589498 2-Mar-2012 17:08

keewee01:
loganjames:
gregmcc: I would take it back. I think the sale of goods act states that it must be in a useable condition, without the cable it's not, it would also be like no ink coming with the printer.

It doesn't come with paper either should he demand this also? If your buying printers for as low as $35 you can't expect every thing for free.

+1

What about if it came with a USB cord, but no power cord would it be any different? still just as equally useless.

As far as paper goes, some printers(not many thought) come with 'sample' packs, and besides paper is a consumable item, unlike the USB or power cable.

kyhwana2

2566 posts

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#589500 2-Mar-2012 17:11

Oh, it's been standard for longer than that. I've worked at computer shop (~10 years ago), grab a printer to install at a customer site... !@#$*$# no USB cable! *drive 30 minutes back to shop and back to customer site*

mxpress

376 posts

Ultimate Geek

#589510 2-Mar-2012 17:45

kyhwana2: Oh, it's been standard for longer than that. I've worked at computer shop (~10 years ago), grab a printer to install at a customer site... !@#$*$# no USB cable! *drive 30 minutes back to shop and back to customer site*

+ 1

Jeeze wept. I've done that a few times Grrrrrrrr

mxpress

geek4me

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#589515 2-Mar-2012 18:07

We bought 16 Oki Printers about 14 years ago and shipped them off to Afghanistan for a project we were doing in Kabul. You guessed it, there were no parallel or serial printer cables included with the printers. We had to courier over these cables separately.

In the end most of the equipment was stolen or damaged by the Taliban so we had to send new equipment all over again after the government changed.

jaymz

1133 posts

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#590723 5-Mar-2012 14:58

gregmcc:
keewee01:
loganjames:
gregmcc: I would take it back. I think the sale of goods act states that it must be in a useable condition, without the cable it's not, it would also be like no ink coming with the printer.

It doesn't come with paper either should he demand this also? If your buying printers for as low as $35 you can't expect every thing for free.

+1

What about if it came with a USB cord, but no power cord would it be any different? still just as equally useless.

As far as paper goes, some printers(not many thought) come with 'sample' packs, and besides paper is a consumable item, unlike the USB or power cable.

I suppose all of the above is nul-invoid if it is printed on the box that no cable is included.

Fair enough, if you purchase an item and it is missing part that say are included.

But if the box, or documentation say no cable included, you have no reason/right to complain. You, the consumer, have a choice on what your purchase, and you should do research/ask questions before purchasing good.

keewee01

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#590741 5-Mar-2012 15:13

jaymz:
gregmcc:
keewee01:
loganjames:
gregmcc: I would take it back. I think the sale of goods act states that it must be in a useable condition, without the cable it's not, it would also be like no ink coming with the printer.

It doesn't come with paper either should he demand this also? If your buying printers for as low as $35 you can't expect every thing for free.

+1

What about if it came with a USB cord, but no power cord would it be any different? still just as equally useless.

As far as paper goes, some printers(not many thought) come with 'sample' packs, and besides paper is a consumable item, unlike the USB or power cable.

I suppose all of the above is nul-invoid if it is printed on the box that no cable is included.

Fair enough, if you purchase an item and it is missing part that say are included.

But if the box, or documentation say no cable included, you have no reason/right to complain. You, the consumer, have a choice on what your purchase, and you should do research/ask questions before purchasing good.

tardtasticx

3075 posts

Uber Geek

#590993 6-Mar-2012 05:58

That is extremely annoying. I did manage to find a cable in the end at home though.
Surely if they're leaving the cable out to save a few cents on each printer, couldn't they add $1 to the price to make it $60 not $59? Then they're making quite a large sum of money extra, while still including that USB cable and next to no one will notice that tiny increase in price.

keewee01

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#591001 6-Mar-2012 07:32

tardtasticx: That is extremely annoying. I did manage to find a cable in the end at home though.
Surely if they're leaving the cable out to save a few cents on each printer, couldn't they add $1 to the price to make it $60 not $59? Then they're making quite a large sum of money extra, while still including that USB cable and next to no one will notice that tiny increase in price.

Problem is all the printer manufacturers were (are) dropping their pants on printer prices, so to remain competitive the manufacturer of your printer have done the same and, like others, dropped the usb cable to save some of that money.

After getting caught out a couple times at work many years ago, I always now check what the contents of the box is - and not just for printers, for everything. That way there is usually no surprises. Buyer beware.

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