Vent: That $400 'all-in-one' printer I bought in Bali was a total scam

Bought this printer from a shop in Canggu last August because I needed to print contracts on the road. Guy said it would work for months off grid no problem. After 2 weeks the ink dried up and the scanner just stopped turning on. I tried fixing it myself and made it worse. Has anyone else gotten burned buying tech in tourist areas overseas?

3 comments

3 Comments

hall.joel1mo ago

Sucks getting ripped off like that. Hate when they lie like that.

markh851mo ago

Man, reminds me of the time I bought a "certified pre-owned" laptop from this shop downtown. They swore up and down it was barely used. Got home, fired it up, and the hard drive was clicking like a dying bug. Took it back and they acted like I was the one breaking it, told me it was my fault for moving it too much. Ended up just eating the loss and learning a hard lesson about trusting people with slick sales talk. You ever get something like that where the warranty just turned into a joke?

vera_johnson91mo ago

Wait, the ink dried up after only 2 weeks? That's insane... I've bought cheap printers before but at least they lasted a few months even with heavy use. These guys in tourist spots know they'll never see you again so they just sell you garbage and call it a day. My brother got a phone charger from a street vendor in Bangkok and it literally melted the first time he plugged it in, smoke came out and everything. It's like they find the cheapest stuff they can and just slap a new label on it. That printer was probably meant to be a paperweight from day one honestly.