> As many techies will probably always say anytime inkjet product shenanigans come up: just buy a laser printer
It's Canon/HP/$MANUFATURER shenanigans - nothing inherent to inkjets. I think the better solution is to buy from more ethical printer companies, like Brother.
Personal story about a sister-in-law that worked for Brother for 5+ years, all her stories made it seem like a employee focused and ethical company.
She got really sick really fast, Brother fired her as suddenly the "position no longe existed", cancelled her health insurance, and - speaking with their lawyers - they knew that she might very well not live to see the end of a civil case trying to reinstate her position/insurance. She did not get to see a day in court, had to fight to get subpar health care for the short duration of the rest of her life.
Just one story, and I'm sure there are many cases where they treated their sick employees better, and there are always two sides of every story, "would have increased the total cost of everyone's insurance" etc... that said no Brother product will enter my abode again.
I almost never comment on anything, but seeing ethical and Brother in the same sentence just got me. Apparently that story is still raw after 4 years.
I'm sorry your sister went through this, and that I unintentionally picked at your emotional scab. My PoV is that of a customer, and Brother is relatively less customer-hostile.
I am also sorry for GPs loss. I would point out, though, that in an organization of that size, the people making personnel decisions are likely several degrees removed from the people making product and customer support decisions. Kind of like how I love my Amazon Prime, but I get a little knot in my stomach when I hear about the lives of their fulfillment people.
> that in an organization of that size, the people making personnel decisions are likely several degrees removed from the people making product and customer support decisions.
This is morally and ethically wrong. If you run a company it is _your responsibility_ if your employees are mistreated.
More, why exactly is this happening? Do you think the lower-downs make policy like this about healthcare?
No. They are given unrealistic financial targets by management and can choose either to leave, or to grind the workers for every spare penny.
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The people who run these companies take the lions' shares of the profits and yet when their companies deliberately do something horrible, they shrug and say, "Not my fault."
That's just your rationalization of a company's bad practices. A company can provide great service and great benefits to its employees, at the cost of a single factor - its bottomline.
FWIW, I think Brother's lawyers are really bad if they think they can do this with impunity. I'm not a lawyer, and of course I don't know your family's situation or if your grieving sibling had/has energy to fight them, but this sounds to me like something that the next-of-kin/a heir can call them on if they choose to. In particular, if this was in the US I think it's illegal to terminate the position and health coverage without offering COBRA, regardless of the reason. There would be very clear damages, and this additionally makes one view "the position no longer existed" skeptically. I was a potential juror in a civil wrongful termination case this month. (I got excused on the third day of jury selection.) This case went to court nine years after the event, so four years is not too late. My understanding is that in a civil case, your sibling would just have to convince a jury it's more likely than not your sister-in-law was terminated improperly. I wouldn't rule out a criminal case also.
My own experience is that these things - things you deeply care about and are separated from, it doesn't need to be via death, there are (unfortunately) so many ways this experience comes - will probably seem raw forever, as you care, and there will always be moments that those feelings overwhelm you.
I've found no answer to that, other than to face those moments with sincerity and finally a shrug and a smile. I'm not sure there should be one.
> requiring replacement even if you only use it occasionally
I'd say especially if you only use occasionally, given how many times I sometimes had to run the head-clean on the last inkjet I used, every time it was left alone for a couple of weeks.
At the time I ran a B&W laser for bulk (and letters & other documents that needed to be crisp) and the inkjet for occasional photos and other colour work. I now just have a colour laser and on the rare occasion I need better photo quality I get a print done commercially.
Be careful on your selection of laser printer though, some are far more expensive than others wrt consumables, and/or far less reliable, especially as the not-silly-expensive-for-home-use end of the market.
Like Epsom printers that come with just enough ink to prime the print head, dump the rest and print two colour pages. It is a terrible purchasing experience.
It's Canon/HP/$MANUFATURER shenanigans - nothing inherent to inkjets. I think the better solution is to buy from more ethical printer companies, like Brother.