Scarborough printer ink company fined £4,000 after trading standards investigation

Your Printer Cartridge Company Ltd, of 54 Hoxton Road, was sentenced at York Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to three misleading advertising offences on Friday April 14.

North Yorkshire Council trading standards launched an investigation after receiving complaints from small business owners who had bought printer ink from the company.

The businesses believed the printer ink was from genuine and original manufacturers, however, the cartridges had instead been re-manufactured and did not work at all or printed “very poorly”.

Cllr Greg White, the authority’s executive member for trading standards, said: “The last few years have been particularly tough for small businesses, and it is disappointing that a company based in North Yorkshire has added to those difficulties by misleading customers about its products.”

The company’s actions featured in an episode of Rip Off Britain in May last year where customers were threatened with court action for printer ink they did not order.

In one case, the administrator at a food bank was told she would receive a genuine Canon product and that it was half-price due to being old stock that had not been sold to schools or government organisations because of the Covid pandemic.

A Lincolnshire mechanic was told over the phone “all we sell are originals… we don’t do any compatibles or refills”.

An office manager was quoted a price for HP printer ink, but when he tried to use the cartridges supplied the printer displayed an error message.

The court heard that the company’s directors, Laura Cooper and Lee Kenan, have provided written undertakings to trading standards about their future business conduct.

The company was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay a £190 victim surcharge and £700 prosecution costs.

Cllr White added: “We want the county to be a place where new and existing businesses can thrive and grow, and our trading standards team will take action to protect legitimate businesses as well as consumers.”