Slashdot Mirror
Disappearing Ink on Thermal Paper?
dpippenger asks: "A few days ago my rear projection TV made a soft clicking noise and the color balance suddenly went a bit blue. The set was only about 3 months old and I neglected to get the in store warranty. I decided to try and cash in on the 1 year manufacturers warranty which only required an original sales receipt as documentation. I quickly opened up my file cabinet and retrieved the receipt in question. I was fairly upset to find the sales receipt was printed on a slippery thermal paper (pretty common these days) and after only 3 months was noticeably degraded. The paper was discolored slightly and important blocks of text like the model number were just gone. After some conversation at the TV repair shop they finally accepted it as proof of warranty. The problem is this receipt is my only evidence of warranty for an entire year. I have to wonder what the receipt will look like in another 9 months and if it will be unacceptable as proof of purchase next time I need repairs. Have any other readers had a similar experience or have tips on preserving these thermal receipts?"
I always photocopy receipts so that I have another copy. I then take the original and staple it to the photocopy and file it away with the manuals and warranry information.
Prevent email address forgery. Publish SPF records for y
I bought a Replay a few months ago with a $50 rebate. I placed the receipt and form on my desk at the office so when I could find a minute I'd fill it out. When I finally got around to it, I noticed something very bizarre about the receipt. There was no text on it! Puzzled, I moved the stack of papers and discovered a half eaten cookie I thought I was going to finsih the week before.
Dammit! The oil from the cookie soaked through the receipt making it, I shit you not, transparent. Remember that episode of the Simpsons where they were at Krusty Burger and somebody rubbed the to-go bag on the wall making it transparent, and then a bird flew into it? It was just like that! Well okay a bird didn't fly into it, but I guarantee you a bird was flying when I realized I couldn't get my rebate.
Yep, that cookie cost me $50. Didn't even finish the damn thing.
"Derp de derp."
Yes, I had similar issues with one store which I wouldnt name here. But in other case, circuit city was able to retrieve my information from their system.
Also, in a related case where it seemed quite deliberate, the manufacturer of Western Digital hard drives had some models with like $80 mail in rebate. To get the rebate, I was supposed to cut the bar-code from the box and mail it with my receipt form. I usually make a copy of the bar-code cut-out before I mail it for the rebate. But Western Digital was smart about it. The bar-code portion was shiny metallic look so that when you try to make a photo-copy, it comes out as black due to reflection which means that you are prevented from making a photocopy. I tried many photo copy machines but no luck. I finally was able to scan it and print it which wasnt as good as the original because metallic reflection. And then I mailed it to them but never got the rebate back. I called them about 8 times over a period of 4 months and they told me that they never received it.
So it might seem that seller's are not at fault but sometimes they use these tricks from thermal paper to using bar-code on reflective background to their advantage !!
Just my $0.02
Make a photocopy of the receipt. Register the item (I hate the latter, as it's a pain, and can lead to junk mail, but that's easier to deal with than a recalcitrant repair shop).
I've purchased most home electronics at big box stores, like Circuit City and Best Buy. Say what you will, but there was one time I needed proof from Circuit City that I bought the item, so that I could get some warranty work (I would have let them take it, but was then living several hours away from a Circuit City). They printed out the receipt, and mailed me a new copy. I've heard tell of other people presenting a driver's license with an address matching the one in their computer, and getting a printout of the same thing.
See, complying with all of the stuff that gets michael and the YRO gang up in arms can have benefits.
To be 100% on point: I have no idea how to preserve that sorta thing. Store it in the freezer instead of a filing cabinet? Or put the cabinet in a sealed container of Nitrogen or CO2 or some other fairly inert gas?
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
Demand a non-thermal reciept for anything your going to keep longer than a week. Remember the law (at least here) says that you have to keep your reciepts (that you claim on tax) for at least 7 YEARS. This means that the Tax Office can after 7 years demand to see what you have claimed and they would be mighty pissed off if all the reciepts were blank.
I've had this problem more than once, and with a bit of luck and some intuition found a method to restore the thermal "image".
By gently heating the receipt at a distance with a hair dryer, I have been able to cause the original images to reappear. Note that too much heat will cause the entire receipt to darken, so you may want to test temperatures/distances on a blank area, such as the corner of the receipt.
Generally, a hair dryer on medium heat at a distance of 12" or so, waved slowly back and forth, can restore the original thermal image in under a minute. Your mileage may vary.