$30 for upgraded software? my friend can download it free from manufacturer site

United States
December 23, 2009 3:46pm CST
A friend of mine bought a new desktop on "Black Friday". He has a printer originally connected to his old desktop; now he want to connect the printer to his new desktop computer which is running Windows 7. The problem is that the driver of the printer not compatible with the new desktop operating system. He called the customer service of the printer where it make. The representative said they can upgrade the software for him, but charge him around $30 for the upgrade fee. Later, he told us, and we simply go to the Printer manufacturer website, and they have free driver download, which he can download the updated version of the printer driver, which he could save that $30. Don't you think he got scammed?
2 responses
@kaylachan (57897)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
23 Dec 09
Not really the compny needs to make money to keep running. Software like that does cost them as well, and the fee covers costs that they have to deal with. Its like paying them back for doing the work that apppears to them, you can't do yourself. 30 isn't much, but it would either help pay for the software, or the person to come out and fix it, or if it can be done remotely, the person on the end of the connection. Its one vissious cycle.
• United States
23 Dec 09
Oh come on. Even though they don't make money from selling of those printer, which is super cheap now, or it might cost nothing to consumer. They still make money from the ink cartridge. One pair of those ink cost more than $60. And the refilled ones don't work as well as those new ones. So, they still keep the business running through selling ink cartridge. We as consumers, is to keep ourselves from rip - off or saving money.
@trruk1 (1028)
• United States
23 Dec 09
They probably were going to send him a Cd with the software loaded on it. That does cost money. But if you download the driver, it should not cost anything. If you search for the driver, you will almost certainly find a free one, even if they do not offer it on the company website. There are free, downloadable drivers out there for almost everything.