That's total crap. This is the general strategy of these cheap printers though.... give 'em away and force you to buy ink. I heard there was a recent scandal with Epson that they mistakenly read cartridges as empty that weren't, and people were upset. I think there was a settlement... (you might want to look into this). You could probably also try some sketchy tactics to make the cartridges seem full, but I wouldn't do more than giving it a good shake (you don't want to make a huge mess, or screw your printer).