Customer Reviews

Brother LC61BK Ink Cartridge - Black (2 Pack)

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Bought this to replace the "Starter" cartridge that came with my Brother MFC-490CW. Little did I know, this is a 2 pack of STARTER cartridges, which basically means you only get around 500 pages, instead of the 1500 you would get with a STANDARD cartridge! You can get the standard Brother brand in a 2 pack from Amazon, for the same price, here:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001DCZXVU/ref=asc_df_B001DCZXVU1260403?smid=A3O02PBTUXUFO0&tag=dealtmp6735-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395105&creativeASIN=B001DCZXVU

The product works, but the non-disclosure of this information makes it unacceptable!

I am supporting what a previous reviewer noted - these are only starter cartridges, not full ones (it says so on the packaging that the cartridges come in). Again, while it doesn't bother me that they are starter cartridges, I would have liked to know that that is what I was paying for - the non-disclosure to the customer in the product listing is unacceptable. The full cartridges appear to be the same model number, as is the listing posted by the other reviewer, so how am I supposed to know that 400 pages = a starter cartridge?
Other than that, the first one inserted into my printer appears to be working fine. And the shipping to Canada was very reasonably-priced, and very fast (about 1 week!). So thank you for that.

Be sure to review the Seller Notes before buying. Amazon makes them hard to find but they are out there. TonerPals does not include retail box so expiration date cannot be checked. On this item TonerPals Seller note: "Genuine New Sealed OEM Brother LC61BK Black Starter Ink Cartridge from Brother. 2-Pack." Starter cartridges may not yield as much as standard cartridges. Maybe half as much.

BEWARE!!!

I only have second-hand reports as to the good quality of this ink, but I have first-hand experience that suggests the distributor here is storing them in a truly horrible manner. Right when I opened the package I saw that one cartridge had leaked inside its shrink-wrap. So I called Amazon, and after a bit of a go-around with a newbie agent, another agent refunded my money. I then proceeded to use the second cartridge. It lasted all of fifty pages and then the black, ONLY the black, faded out over a couple of pages and then disappeared altogether. Ink levels show it as full, but four cleanings produced nothing but blackless printing. From my technical background, I surmise that these cartridges were stored in a metal shed in the desert of Arizona (where the distributor is located), in the ATTIC of that shed where they reached temperatures approaching or surpassing the boiling point. Caused one cartridge to blow up and the other one's ink to cook to a goo that has jammed up the works. If that stuff gummed up the printer, the company will be billed for repairs as well.

BEWARE!!!

First ink cartridge I got was a bogey. Nothing printed, not even on both cartridges. Had to get a replacement from Amazon (btw Amazon, you're awesome). Don't forget to clean the printer after you've installed your cartridges, sometimes nothing will print until you clean it a few times. (Yes, I did do it for my first package)

Nothing really much to say about it. It's ink cartridges. For your Brother Printer. It's an OK price for ~$15 a pack, it's not a horrible price, but it's not that great either. One thing you should note, is that the cartridges hold much more ink that the printer says it does.

The way the ink is read, is through the little window that you can see by pulling the front forward. When the ink says it's out, tilt it and see if there's any. If there is, all you have to do is cover the window up (I did it with electrical tape) and the printer will see it as "full" (it's not full of course). Just keep printing until you run out of ink, and then swap it :)

I guess we learned our lesson! The price was too good to be true for the black cartridges as they are only starters! Not worth the money and don't feel seller should be allowed to continue selling this product without full disclosure!

I purchased 2 Brother LC61BK (black) ink cartridges from Vivamart which I believed to be STANDARD yield cartridges, instead they shipped me STARTER CARTRIDGES!! I spoke with a representative from Brother to confirm yield stats on the cartridges and he said that the STANDARD ink cartridge has a 450 page per cartridge yield. He said that a STARTER cartridge is only HALF-FULL and therefore, has half the life (or less) of a STANDARD cartridge. If you read the Technical Details section for this item you will see that Vivamart posted their product under the item description for a STANDARD YIELD CARTRIDGE (450 pages) - and yet never fully disclosed that the item they were selling was not as advertised and that it only had a 200 page yield per cartridge, maybe.

Another thing, I have no idea if these cartridges are expired or not, as there was no expiration date stamped anywhere on the item. Also, they didn't come in a box, and that is typically where you will find the expiration date.

Two cartridges in one box was almost the same price as local stores sell (1) cartridge. Great value!

I ordered the black cartridges (2-pack) assuming they would resemble the picture and the Brother label that the picture has on it! FALSE ADVERTISING! They arrived and look homemade. They have some kind of cheap clear plastic housing on them to make it fit into your printer's slot. My printer didn't register the first cartridge when I put it in and when I took it back out it spilled ink all over my desk and shirt (shirt ruined). Turns out that there's no backflow valve on the dispenser to keep the ink in but rather just a cheap plastic film that is punctured by your printer when you install it. It literally flows right out of the hole if you take it out.

I put the second cartridge in foolishly hoping it would be any better. This time the printer did register that it was in but proceeded to print spotty and unreadable text. I ended up carefully taking it out after a few days of attempted use, and was still unable to avoid spilling the ink but this time I had newspaper down expecting the same result as the first.

I ended up buying a Brother name brand cartridge (this one actually IS the one in their picture) from a local retailer (which I should've done to begin with) and my printer hasn't printed right since. At first it just printed light gray lines and now weeks later it still prints like the cartridge is almost out of ink. I talked to Brother and they said there's nothing they can do when somebody uses knock-off replacement cartridges.

I contacted the seller about my printer being ruined and he offered to refund the ink if I would return the cartridges. Nice cusomer service. It will cost me $5 (package and freight) and a hassle just to return these cartridges which is almost half of what I paid for them in the first place. The seller should be replacing my printer and they won't even refund my cartridges of offer to pay the return costs. Very upset. Stay away from this seller and this product.

I received these cartridges and could not get either of them to work. They are not new or standard cartridges and the seller will only issue a partial refund with no shipping credit even though this product is defective. Will never order from them again!!!