Complaint Review: Lexmark

          I own a Lexmark C5543dn laser color printer. It I paid $250 in 2010 and it is a sm. office or home unit for network type use. It was expensive for toner cartridges from Lexmark, costing about $250 for all 4 cartridges  for 2000 pages coverage. I then found a mail order after market  replacement toner boxes that last longer and only cost $125 for about 3000 pages.

          On 6/19/2014 I got a firmware error that would repeatedly return. I contacted Lexmark Customer support. They reviewed the error code, and found one of my computer was sending a print job with a new format that jammed the firmware up. I canceled the print job and the firmware error stopped and the problem ended. The Lexmark support tech instructed me to download the new firmware from the Lexmark website to prevent this problem from reoccurring. I did as instructed. 

          Without any warning the new firmware would not recognize my aftermarket toner boxes, even though they had been working before and were at least 1/2 full. The Tech then told me I had to buy new Lexmark toner boxes only for the  printer to work again, (at a cost of $250 !!!.) I TOLD THEM TO SHOVE IT YOU KNOW WHERE, AND I WOULD DISTROY THE LEXMARK BEFORE THAN SPEND ANOTHER DIME AT LEXMARK. 

           I then search the internet and found that they were doing this intentionally to generate sales of there expensive toner boxed. Before this incident I was a big supported of this machine , but would never buy another Lexmark again because of there intentional and malicious firmware/malware. Do Not but Lexmark. If I cant find my older firmware and reactivated my printer I will buy something else instead sand destroy this once very good machine because of there malware. Additionally they installed this malware on all there firmware on all there products.