Call to Arms for the dreaded U052 Wrong Printhead Error

[macnicol]

This is a "call to arms" for all of you Canon customers who have had this problem and have had their printers disabled because of it.  Please respond with the model of your printer and if you were able to fix it, what you did to fix it. 

We need to put pressure on Canon to respond this product defect.  It appears to be bad firmware that does not allow the user to override the problem and to continue to use the printer even in a degraded mode.  From my investigations the problem is NOT a printhead issue - no way one can be printing fine and then have this error alert without having changed the printhead or ink cartridges!

Canon, PLEASE take this issue seriously and provide a solution across the affected models.  If nothing else there should be a trade-in allowance for those printers that have been affected by this product defect.

I have had many Canon printers because they have superior functional specifications. I want to be able to continue using Canon products but only if I can have confidence that this product defect will not destroy my investment.

If Canon is unresponsive our next step should be to aggressively publisize this product defect on social media and on major product vendor outlet sites as negatives reviews.

Forum Users, please reply with your affected model number(s) and with details of any succdessful fix procedure.

[Aardvark]

Yes they are. Federman & Sherwood. Google it for contact details. Spread the word.

[cfed]

Yes, the class action information link is on the homepage of Federman and Sherwood. It looks as if they have begun an investigation and are looking for people who have had the UO52 error to share their experience.

[athesen]

I have recently had the experience of being stonewalled by the Canon service people in Cape Town. While I know there will be no joy this far from the US and am keen to know how this pans out.

[jayR]

I own many Canon products and love the company, but this printer head mess is inexcuseable.  I have several  Pixma IP1600 and a MP210.  Both models had the printer head problems.  I now have over $100 of unuseable ink. 

Canon will not address the probelm but will evetually have to.  There's an agency who's bringing a calss action regarding  canon and this particular printer head.  Google federman & sherwood.  They have a page on their website regarding Canon.

[macnicol]

Appears that the forum moderator is deleting responses to this thread.

Last week I posted message that Canon had finally replaced my $450 MP960 with a $225 MG7120. 

The MG7120 is working OK and is almost as good as the MP960.

If you have received a replacement printer please post what your old printer model was and what model printer did you get as a replacement.

[faithful]

My MX720 was replaced with an MX922. It is a $99 printer on Amazon. It looks much lower budget than my original and the first one sent was bad, with the resend I had to switch out the printer head, inks, and trays....from thebad one sent...these were both refurbish printers, however, my original printer was not.   I can't say how I like the printer that Canon sent because the ink ran out after just a couple of printings, but first uses...not impressed...it is slower and noisier than my other...I have not used the other features, yet.  I should probably get doing that

[JLH]

My original printer was PIXMA MG5320 and I'd had it for about 15 months.  They replaced it with PIXMA MG6420.  It is much noisier.  We do not print much, but for recent small jobs, it has printed well enough.

[RenuNergy]

I also received a replacement Canon MG6420 for my previously defective Canon MG5320 that one day decided it was time to trigger the built in obsolescence feature and display the suspicious U052 error..  However I have not turned it on since I've received it.  Simply because I've lost my faith in Canon as a Printer Manufacturer and I had already purchased a Epson Workforce Printer as I've stated earlier.

Canon is reading these post and I have been contacted to obtain my opinion about their customer service. As I keep receiving notifications of additional former Canon loyalist receiving this problem, my overal opinion of Canon's Printer division continues to spiral downward.  I guess I was hoping that they would resolve this issue and simply sending out a few replacement printers isn't going to do the trick.

This U052 flaw is a major headache for Canon and it seems like they're going to length to deny that its a catastrophic problem. 

Let's see $149/printer every 12-18 months, $54.99 for replacement ink cartridges every few of months. Extract the manufacturing cost; ~$50 for the printer, $6 for the ink cartridges (all 4) and multiple that by the millions who purchase the ink and the replacement cartridges and Canon is rolling in money.  The one factor that was omitted was the human factor and the exponential influence of the internet.

My recently acquired Epson has been working perfectly and I'm only at odds with the fact that maybe a Brother Printer would have been a more reliable long term purchase.  I saw a Canon Printer today while I was out shopping and you know that strange feeling you get in the stomach when you see a former love-interest who jilted you; that was the feeling I had.

I felt sad for the lonely Canon Printer and a distaste in my mouth.  I walked by and shook my head thinking to myself how stupid could they be. 

[stuffed1printer]

Living in Perth, Western Australia, I know Canon will not replace my MP610.However being in the worlds most isolated city doesn't prevent me from voicing my opinion to a large audience. I put up with no colour printer for a few weeks....using the wife's mono laser Brother which never skips a beat. I eventually saw an older HP 7180 multifunction for free on a site. I grabbed it and have got it going, wireless and Bluetooth, negative scanner etc.The print counter says it has done 16500 prints [bet a Canon cannot do that!] and the prints are great quality, equal to the Canon. So I am a happy printer again but wary of the whole home printer world. Best to keep as close to an industrial model or maker as possible seems to be the trick. Running the HP7180 on Windows 7 64 bit so the software is still up with the current OS. If anybody is still a Canon fan, I suggest they get a stand alone printer [no scanner or bells and whistles], don't buy ink in advance and expect to dump it within 2 years, and keep taking those pills!

[enchiladas]

I just wasted about 30 minutes of my life talking to Canon.  I have a MG8120 that showed up with the U052 error in between two print jobs.  After trying a number of different suggested fixes with no success I decided to call Canon to see what they could do for me.  First I talked to the Tech guy who said that with what everything that I have done, the next step would be to take it to be serviced which doesn’t seem to be reasonable given the value of the printer.  He said that they could offer me a great discount through their Service Exchange Program where I send my printer in for free (using a prepaid box) and they will send out a new printer in exchange. Of course none of the new printers take the same ink cartridges I have which is awful since I have about 5 replacements sets ready to use. He said since I had so much extra ink they would give me an extra set if I did the exchange program.  I said OK, let’s see what they can do for me.  So then I talk to the Service guy.  He said the replacement for my current model would be a new MG6420 for the discounted price of $125.99.  I immediately look on Amazon where I can buy the same printer for $105.95, and free shipping, without having to ship my old one back.  I told him this and he said there is nothing he can do, that is already Canon’s “discounted price” off a $199 printer.  I said that if that is the best they are going to do for me that I will not purchase a Canon as my next printer as that isn’t really an acceptable option.  He said he was sorry to hear that - end of conversation.  This is a very sad conclusion to my printer situation.  I have loved having Canon printers over the years and have been a very loyal customer and now feel compelled to spend my money elsewhere.