Alternative ink cartridges

[Dylanparis]

Hi forum, our XP-6100 shows that de ink cartridges are only half full, but we just replaced them. We use non-Epson ink cartridges, because they are a lot cheaper. And they are just as good, we believe.
For instance: In our car we use Shell, Esso, Tango and more brands of petrol without any problem.
This ought to be ok with ink for our printers too.
My question: is Epson acting against rules of law, when pestering us with these warning messages about possible damage and providing wrong info about current ink levels?
Some people think that printers are sold very cheap and that profit is supposed to come fron the ink sales. Could this be true?

 

[VA1DER]

Some people think that printers are sold very cheap and that profit is supposed to come fron the ink sales. Could this be true?

Yes, this is 100% true. It's the same reasoning as Glade room air fresheners, or Swiffer mops, or any of the thousand other products where they want to lock you in to their proprietary consumables.

is Epson acting against rules of law

There are some consumer-protection laws that address this in some jurisdictions, but there is nothing consistent. for the most part it's not illegal to warn you or pester you. If it were illegal to pester you, Google and Microsoft would be out of business. After all, Epson has no control over third party ink, so it is possible that the wrong ink could harm your printer. That is totally true. Warning you about this isn't illegal.

HP is worse than Epson is, but Epson is bad too.