EXPENSIVE AND POOR SERVICE.  I paid Cartridge World $56 for three generic inkjet cartridges made in China in exchange for three empties. Later that day I found TEN similar cartridges for $8 in TOTAL on Amazon, making their cartridges more than TWENTY TIMES less expensive than Cartridge World's in this case. The Amazon cartridges would later work with only one hitch--the tape covering the nozzles wouldn't peal off and had to be pierced with a pen.  Simple enough. I called Cartridge World that day requesting  a refund and was told all merchandise, opened or not, could only be exchanged for office supplies.   I expressed an interest in several reams of paper and was assured that would be fine. Returning the next day, the clerk said they only had two reams of paper at $9 dollars apiece--twice what their competitors charge and no other office supplies aside from cartridges.  The manager was consulted by phone and said I would have to return another day for more paper.  I insisted  this was unsatisfactory and that I wanted a refund on the total minus the two reams of paper they had in stock.  Again the  intransigent manager was consulted and finally agreed to my request. I'll never do business here again! Go to Amazon!  They care about their customers.  This place doesn't. Originally reviewed 1/17. Updated for clarity and paragraphing 3/22. -Shaun J. read more

It must be a pain in the ass for these guys to make money. So many different printers, the friggin' cartridges have expiration chips in them, and sometimes it's the same price to buy a new cartridge. The ink industry is making a killing off of us, charging more than the price of gold per ounce of ink. I think of going here as my little form of protest as well as environmental protest. Going here is like selling your car and riding a bike: It sucks, especially on rainy days, but you feel better about your impact on the world and feel a little superior. Do I envy people who buy new cartridges all the time? No, but I can see where people would. Honestly, with the cost of rent in this area, how the heck do they stay in business? That place always looks empty. read more

Another 1-star review for a horrible product. The last re-filled cartridge crapped out after less than 50 pages on ~draft~ mode to save ink! They are very nice in the store, but the cartridges are not so nice. read more

Minus one star because they once sold me a cartridge that produced streaked prints, no matter what type of maintenance I did on it. That said, they happily gave me a replacement (which worked perfectly) when I walked in with the bad test prints and the faulty cartridge. I've bought cartridges here for my beloved Canon MX860 three or four times with none of the service problems noted by others. In fact, there's a Cartridge World closer to where I live, but I come down to this one specifically *because* of the service, which I've found to be friendlier than the one in Berkeley. read more

Customer service was decent, but the black ink cartridge for my Epson Stylus C88 needs a maintenance "cleaning" almost every time I use it. It also ran out of ink surprisingly fast. I'll give them one more chance, but I'll definitely be keeping my receipt. read more

On my never-ending search for affordable ink for my Epson Photo Sylus 1280, I decided to try Cartridge World. In the good old days, I used to buy third-party cartridges for $5 and they were excellent. But then Epson filed a lawsuit and...never mind. If the printer didn't produce such great results, it would have been a boat anchor a long time ago. Anyway, off I went to Cartridge World. I didn't have an OEM cartridge for them to refill, so I paid an extra couple of bucks, but it was still a good deal, much less than buying a new cartridge. All was well for a couple of weeks. Then, with the print monitor indicating that my cartridge was still more than half-full, it stopped printing magenta. I wasted a bunch of ink on nozzle cleaning, then figure the cartridge was defective, and off I went to Cartridge World. Where the guy informed me that the reason it wouldn't print magenta was because I was out of magenta ink. This was interesting--I've been using this printer for 5 years, and I have never run out of 1 color so quickly. Oh, well, so I had the cartridge refilled. Same thing. After a week or two, and only 20 8x10 prints, same thing happened, only this time, I ran out of yellow. So it's not such a great deal after all, if I only get 20 prints out of a cartridge. I bit the bullet and bought a brand-new OEM color cartridge. So far, it has printed 57 8x10 prints. The ink monitor is telling me I am almost out of ink, but it's still printing all of the colors. And now, the same thing has happened with the cartridge I bought for my HP Deskjet 810. I have run out of yellow. I've only printed 100 pages, mostly text, since I installed that cartridge. So I've had enough of Cartridge World. Now I am trying out remanufactured cartridges from Laser Monks. read more

I went to Cartridge World in Phoenix,Az to get refills for my new Lex Mark printer. The printer would not print with the ink they sold me so I called the store and they said to bring the printer in so they could see what the problem may be. They also could not get the printer to print with their ink cartridges. So the employee called his manager and she said it had to be my printer and wanted me to leave it there for her to check it out. I"m sorry but there is not sign saying they do repair work! So I refused and just wanted a refund and I also told her it is a new printer! She would not give me a refund and does not return my phone calls. In the mean while I have purchased ink from Office Max and my printer works fine! If I could give this store a 0 rating I would for shady salesmanship and lousy customer service! read more

AVOID! When I bought the cartridge the owner was in a joking mood, and laughed about how she hates getting dirty and never wanted to be in the cartridge business. When I came back to return the DEFECTIVE cartridge, her laugh and smile were gone, and she insisted on giving me a replacement, rather than a refund. The replacement didn't work, either. I called to complain and she hung up on me! Terrible product, terrible attitude, terrible service...avoid this place like ebola! read more

DO NOT GO HERE. I purchased 3 refill cartridges here - two of which did not work in my printer. No amount of printer head cleaning would suffice. The printer basically said they were bad cartridges. So I took them back to the store and the owner REFUSED to give me a refund and REFUSED to give me replacement cartridges. I would have been happy with replacements but she would not budge. She wanted to charge me for new refills all over again. Again, DO NOT GO HERE. read more

I went here today with a description of the ink jet cartridge I was looking for. The clerk told me that they do not have that cartridge in stock (after looking), but that I could bring in the old cartridge to have it refilled. I returned and the cartridge was refilled within about 5 minutes. I'm giving the place 4 stars since they didn't have my fairly common cartridge in stock. However, refilling the cartridge was a GREAT deal (it cost less than $12), so I should have brought the old one in in the first place. read more

I recently ran out of ink in both my cartridges for my printer. None of my three back-up cartridges worked either. I decided to get the two refilled. With little hope of getting an answer about the three back-ups, I headed to Cartridge World on College Ave. in Oakland. Not only did Mirna Wong, the owner, test all the cartridges, she refilled the three back-ups for free. (I paid to have the two empties refilled.) Mirna was pleasant and patient about it, too. Customer service doesn't get any better than that! Stephanie read more

I bought several printer cartridges here, for Canon and HP inkjets; prices were okay. ALL of them stopped working after a few weeks - two different printers gave error messages, and would not print at all. My wife took them back in, and brought the credit card statement showing the purchase; they admitted that the cartridges were defective, but would not give a refund or even credit the credit card, but would only replace the cartridges (supposedly because we had no receipt). Why would I want more cartridges that crap out in the middle of an important printing job? Bad product, bad service. read more

This review is actually for the Cartridge World in SF, near Montgomery & Bush. The staff was pleasant but their product is crap. Out of 4 cartridges, 2 of them refused to work at all. Spend the extra money & buy real Epson cartridges, because this place is just a waste of your time and energy. read more

For convenience, YES, but for price NO, NO, NO. I got a telephone quote of $49 (presumably plus tax) to refill a TN450 Brother cartridge. I found a compatible on Amazon.com, two for $27.58 with tax, and of course could have then the next day for a small extra fee. With free shipping, it took 3 days. Label says "100% satisfaction guarantee". Seems to work perfectly: "Brother TN450 High Yield Compatible Replacement Toner Cartridge by PDS " read more

Convenience is a big plus. When I run out of ink, I just drive down there and can get a refilled cartridge. Can't do that with Amazon.

One of my eco-conscious rules for the new year is to save money and the world by refilling my inkjet containers for my dinosaur Epson (as old as a 3rd grader and still working awesome!). The problem is that most chains refuse to refill any cartridge other than HP (like Walgreens), or recycle old Epson cartridges (like Staples). I am so happy that I found Cartridge World. The guy refilled my cartridge in 5 minutes and it was $10 cheaper than buying a new one. I can't wait to go back! read more

No complaints. They have been able to fill my order every time I requested. Prices aren't that bad

Excellent idea which in theory should be easy, quick and painless. In practice, service is bad and customers get different answers based on whether the person on duty feels like getting up or not. Originally when I found out CW in general existed, I called the main number to find out how it works. I was quotes some excellent prices for refills (I needed BW and a CL for PIXMA, and a laser refill for another printer) . So I went into this local. I was told refills weren't necc bc they had pre filled ones of my brand. I was like "Great"! ... Until I was quoted $15, $20 and $40 more than originally told for each cartridge. Ok whatever, so I just purchased the 2 pre filled cheaper ones. Fast forward to when I need more- I go back in and try to order the same two and the clerk says "oh we cant sell those to you without the original empty cartridges in hand" wtf? Um, no one asked for these before when I purchased. I left a little confused, told my pal about it and he started laughing bc apparently he went in for refills on the same Pixma like a week before and the counter girl told him "we dont carry those and I don't even know where in the world you can even purchase them" with a huge attitude. He said longs and walked out. NOTE: We actually decided we are going to send like 4 other people in with these same cartridges and see what the varied answers will be for each person, then contact someone in charge. While its great to save both the environment and some $$ at the same time, the headache sure doesn't encourage one to go to this particular store. Another issue I have is that once they are installed the printer doesn't recognize them, so you never know when your gonna run out of ink. Again, I could live with this IF staff here would stop changing answers and attitude like its their underwear. As for me and my printer needs, I will try a new store and hopefully service will come from someone who is thankful to be employed in this economy as well as with a smile. read more

I got my refill here but I accdently purchased it for the incorrect printer. The people were nice refunded my money. Thank you..It took like 3 days because they had to check the drum was used. read more

I purchased 2 replacement cartridges for my black ink. I took them home. I was busy and didn't load them into the printer for almost a month. Then I kept getting communication errors, something about the ink. I couldn't get them to work, so I took them back to the store, along with the receipt. I explained the issue. She asked how long ago I had purchased them. I acknowledged that it had been almost a month, but that I had just put them in the printer and had never gotten them to print. Then she says, "the reason I ask is these are empty". I explained again that those were exactly the ones I had bought, and if they were empty now, they must have been when I bought them because I never got a chance to use them. They said they couldn't do anything because it had been so long and there was no reason to believe I had actually purchased them empty. I understood where they were coming from and that it looked fishy, so I left. But I came home, and realized, "wtf, they sold me empty cartridges, why am I feeling like I did something wrong?!". So I went back in. Still they wouldn't accept responsibility. I understand where they are coming from, but nonetheless, they are still a crappy business and a rip off in my book because I paid $28 and ended up wasting that money, and still having to deal with my empties. Also, compared to the online prices for similar generics, these cartridges were more than double the price. read more

Not sure about how long these will last, but I have to say it was refreshing to talk to someone who was really helpful. She steered me to the double black cartridge, which is much cheaper. Price for my Epson cyan cartridge was 10.49, compared to 13.49 at Office Max or 12.99 at Office Depot. They were in stock - no waiting. And there is a frequent shopper dealie that after so many purchases gets you a free cartridge. Now I hope the ink lasts! read more

DO NOT BOTHER GOING TO Cartridge World for your printer needs. I purchased a HP cartridge yesterday. Popped it in my printer and discovered that the printer couldn't see the cartridge. When I returned back to the store, the woman said that their cartridges work for MOST people. Really?!!! Should a store be selling anything that only works for MOST customers and not all their customers. That is ridiculous. Not only that, when I mentioned the poor reviews on yelp, the women said she wasn't surprised. Wow. How is the store still open? So, I found a little place on Webster and 13th in chinatown. It was way cheaper $9 instead of $18 and the cartridge works just fine read more

Convenient, reliable. I go there regularly to get replacement ink for my Canon printer.

Service is fast and friendly; I get to shop in my neighborhood (as opposed to driving down to Best Buy); prices are good and the cartridges have all worked fine. What else can I say? Good deal. read more

I am so happy i found cartridge world in my neighborhood. Not only I'm saving money but they have great service.

The only reason to go here is to recycle your cartridges and support local business... otherwise, the refurbished cartridge costs exactly the same one as a new one (at least the for the Canon cartridges I use) - I am all for supporting local businesses, but it becomes a challenge when the cartridges themselves cost just as much as new ones which are much better quality, and I have to spend the time to drive there and back.. which, is not doing much for my carbon footprint either. :( however, the people in the store are very friendly and nice. read more

Moral: Buy real cartridges from the manufacturer. Do not waste your time and money here. 100% guarantee is worthless. Story: Trying to be green, we decided to use Cartridge World for our ink on our Epson Stylus R280. As many people have stated, the ink cartridges and the customer service are horrible. 2 of the 6 color cartridges would not deliver ink properly, so photographs were streaky. When we tried to run the printer's head cleaner a few times, it ended up just consuming the ink of several cartridges. When we tried to go back to the store for refund, we were told that the cartridges were empty and there would not be any money back for them. The entire reason for this was the defective cartridges which required us to run the head cleaner, so we should have been given a full refund. We only got $ back for the 2 cartridges that did not deliver ink and therefore didn't empty out. Their 100% guarantee is completely worthless. I then bought the real Epson cartridges and now my printer won't recognize them at all and claims they are all empty. Severe hassle-- now my printer is probably toast in addition to money and time wasted on cartridges. read more

Using refilled cartridges brings risk of technical issues due to the fact that the printer manufacturers intentionally make it difficult to use non-branded cartridges. This is not the fault of Cartridge World. I had a technical issue getting my Canon PIxma 310 to print with refilled cartridges purchased here, so I brought my printer in, and the friendly staffer troubleshot and solved the issue while I waited, and provided me with the weblink for how to do it myself if it happens again. Turns out the specific search string to use to find the technical solution on the web is not intuitive. No charge. Took about 15 minutes. read more

Efficient service and super nice owners! I've been coming here since the opened to get my black and color cartridges filled. I'm always happy with the quality, service and recyclability of the product. The neighborhood is great for doing other errands and shopping local. Definitely recommend. read more

Very poor customer service. I brought in a defective cartridge and was told by the clerk that she had to get permission to replace it. I have other things to do with my time than go back and forth to this store and I'm afraid I'll have to buy cartridges full retail from now on. read more

I have nothing but good to report about the College Ave in Oakland, CA., Cartridge World Store. I have been using them for the last 10 years and the service is very efficient and I really appreciate that they are recycling the cartridges. I can walk in give them my old cartridges and walk out with new ones in 3 minutes tops. The one and only time a cartidge was faulty they replaced it at no cost and they have abcard that allows you money off after purchasing 10 cartidges. I recommecnd them highly. read more