This web page details our opinions of and experiences with: OLYMPUS Imaging America OLYMPUS SUCKS This is a miserable, backwoods Corporation that will COST YOU MONEY This page documents our experiences with "Olympus". The following complaint to the Washington Attorney General is self-explanatory; A copy was included in the box when the printer was returned for repair, and also sent by mail to the address below   Attorney General 900 4th Ave. Suite 2000 Seattle, Wa., 98164-1012 We need to bring to your attention a consumer problem with: Olympus Imaging America 10805 Holder Street Suite #170 Cypress, CA., 90630-5145 The problem includes ALL Olympus P-440 dye-sub printers, and perhaps all P-400 models as well. The problem is that apparently every Olympus P-440 dye-sub printer will eventually “blow” a print-head and begin printing a white streak through the middle of every sheet. The print-head on this type of dye-sub printer is dissimilar to any inkjet-type product. Olympus won’t even tell us the cost of the print-head itself (only to say we couldn’t afford it). Nor will they sell us this part. However, Olympus has been offering a “complete repair” of this item in the U.S. for about $154 (we’ve seen charges of $312 in Canada). This seems to include replacement of the errant print-head. These printers first retailed for about $500, now about $300, and we hear Olympus is trying to unload their remaining stocks as quickly as possible. We bought one for the manufacture of one specific product in our business. We then built an entire product line based upon the capabilities of that printer. No other printer will work. Sending the printer in for repair, which we’ve just done on 12-22, will not “cure” this problem. It will only allow the owner of the printer to squeeze a few more prints out of the unit before it fails again. We know of NO cases in the US in which this print-head exceeded 350 prints before failing. All serious businesses who built products or product lines around this printer have been forced to buy at least two or three of these units, and to keep rotating them through the Olympus repair centers as they go out. Many angry customers are reporting that when they receive the “repaired” printer back from Olympus, it may produce as few as ten more prints before the print-head goes out again. This printer was an investment for all of these businesses. We all expected “reasonable” life out of a $500 printer. That would mean a trouble-free lifespan of at least 50,000 prints. Any $500 inkjet printer is capable of this – in fact we have other printers in our shop which allow for that capacity every month. None of us ever factored in the additional cost of $154 per every 300 (or every 10) prints. This is an outrageous situation, and Olympus offers no solution whatsoever except to buy several units and to continually rotate them through the Olympus service center at $154 per pop. Honestly, we feel Olympus should buy back every faulty printer, as well as all the proprietary stock that businesses have purchased for this machine. This printer is not a viable product, and apparently never will be. On 12-22-06 Olympus told us directly that the design of the print-head has never changed, and never will be changed. We are unwilling to buy more units that are guaranteed to fail, and yet neither can we support our product using a printer that must spend a month in the shop every 300 prints (every couple of months). This unit is junk, and Olympus must rectify this with a logical conclusion. They are making no attempt to do so. You may wish to bring this to the attention of the California and New York attorney generals’ offices. If Olympus refuses to voluntarily rectify this problem, we feel they should be forced to do so. Too many businesses have been taken by this. None of us can afford it. [signature]                                       12-22-06   The Attorney General received a reply from Olympus stating that NO complaint was received by Olympus regarding this problem, and that almost no printers suffered from this problem. Olympus has lied. We ran about 70 pages through our P-440 after receiving it back from Olympus, then the new print-head went out again. The printer was thrown in the dumpster tonight. With prejudice. And we will attempt to obtain a partial refund on our paper and ribbon stocks. Needless to say, Olympus will never get another dollar from us for any product. Not ever. This is an incompetent, irresponsible, dishonest, despicable company. TrixiePixieGraphics