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Brother Refresh EZ Print Subscription Service

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Revision as of 23:58, 8 February 2025 by Watchdog (talk | contribs) (added: references, misleading or false promotion, uploaded transcripts)
Brother Refresh Service
Basic Information
Release Year 2021
Product Type Subscription-as-a-Service
In Production Yes
Official Website Brother Refresh

The Brother Industries Ltd.: Refresh Program Subscription Service is a Subscription-as-a-Service (SubS) launched in August 2021. The program claims to offer domestic and business users the advantage of an on-demand, lower-cost printing solution that provides genuine Brother consumables directly to their door, without the need for end-user consumable management.

The Brother Refresh service currently offers two programs: EZ Auto Reordering (abbreviated as EZ-ARP), where the end-user pays only to replace a depleted cartridge or EZ Print Subscription (abbreviated as EZ-PSP), where the the user pays per page printed.

Listed are the program features offered to the end user to maintain and service their machines:

EZ-ARP EZ-PSP
Auto Cartridge Ordering Yes Yes
Free Trial No Yes
Payments Pay-Per-Cartridge Pay-Per-Page
Cartridge Type Standard or XL XL or Super XL
Shipping Costs >$19.99 Free Free (plan-based)
Warranty No Limited (plan-based)
Customer Service Yes Yes
Flexible Plans No Yes
Easy Cancellation Yes Yes

Subscription Eligibility

Brother currently lists these printers available to enter the Refresh program. The printer can either be "Refresh-ready" (with Refresh EZ-Print Subscription ink and toner cartridges included) or activated post-purchase via the Brother website. Once the printer is activated and enrolled to the Refresh service, only cartridges or toner supplied by Brother can be used.

EZ Print Subscription (pay-per-page)
Printer Type Models Promoted Free Trial Cartridge Series Disclosed Cartridge Yield Disclosed
Mono Laser Printers 13 Yes Yes Unknown Unknown
Color Laser Printer 0 Yes No Unknown Unknown
Inkjet Printers 8 Yes Yes Unknown Unknown
EZ Auto Reordering (pay-per-cartridge)
Printer Type Models Promoted Free Trial Cartridge Series Disclosed Cartridge Yield Disclosed
Mono Laser Printers 141 Yes No Yes Yes
Color Laser Printer 31 Yes No Yes Yes
Inkjet Printers 0 Yes No Yes Yes
False or Misleading Promotion
  • Brother clearly advertises color plans in the EZ-Print program yet no color printers are currently eligible.
  • Brother clearly advertises discounted ink & toner in the EZ-Auto Reorder program yet no inkjet printers are currently eligible.

Subscription Claims

Brother states that the EZ-Print subscription program can save the end-user up to 50% on genuine Brother ink or toner.

References