Brother Reviews 

Brother designs self destruction in their printers if you use a third party toner supplier, its all over the internet and idiot me didn't check that. Now I have the problem that seems so common "Open the cover and install toner cartridge". Doesn't say which one - that's deliberate, but why? I used third party toners because Brother toners are more than half the cost of a new printer.

So this printer is going to the tip and I will NEVER EVER waste another penny on anything from this trashy company.

Its not even like their software is any good, that will annoy you just as much as the ridiculously expensive toner refills you are now forced to buy.

There should be a law against sh!t companies disabling products this way.

Printer is necessarily over complicated, requires constant attention, customer service have bad attitude and the ink is a total rip off.

World give this 0 stars if I could. Just paid for new ink cartridge and money was taken out my account no goods received. No help from customer services

We made the mistake of purchasing a Brother printer with an Ecopro ink subscription bundled into the purchase price. The printer is great, but the ink supply company have had difficulty activating the subscription. No fault our end as has been verified by our bank who confirm that Ecopro has never submitted an invoice to our account. They have been repeatedly blaming us for failures on our credit card which never took place. Brother have acknowledged this in support emails, but failed to intervene and the ink supply company has now used the internet connectivity to cut off the usability of our printer. So despite having Brother on our side, and a ticket number for customer support, and a support officer who seems to be kindly, courteous, concerned and competent, we are now without a printer we can use. The printer is good as new and we have plenty of ink, but we are being forced to buy another printer from a different supplier just to get out of the clutches of Ecopro. We love our Brother printer, but would advise anyone NOT to purchase from Brother if it means entering into any kind of subscription arrangement with this terrible associated company.

The hardware (MFC-L2860DWE) looks OK and I installed the app and drivers without any problems. (I hardwired the printer to the modem and followed simple steps on Brother's website.)

The one minor ergonomic design flaw in the printer, is where the lid to the scanner bed is located (directly above and in the same side of the printer), in relation to a lid to open the printer to get inside. I am still new to this printer, but when trying to open the scanner, I every time open the printer instead. The scanner lid is recessed compared to the protruding ‘handle’ for opening the printer, when you reach, you get it.

My main issue with this printer/scanner (the reason for this 1 star review), is the (in my opinion a fixable bug) in the Brother iPrintScan app. It is cutting 3 to 4 mm off the edges when scanning or printing an A4 page. Brother does not make this known "feature" clear in their advertising. (We have a very old lazer printer/scanner by a different brand, it does scan and print right up to the edge of an A4 page.)

I have just been told by Brother's technical support after many times having to contact them to try to get this problem sorted, first that it is a known fault with Windows causing it, then that it is a known and documented feature according to "accepted design specifications", that the printer CAN NOT scan (or print) up to the edge of an A4 page. The hardware according to Brother, cannot see/print between around 3 to 4 mm of the edge of an A4 page.

I told the guy I spoke to that what he was saying and Brother’s documentation, is 100% factually wrong and I explained why. He was not interested.

When I use Brother’s iPrintScan app on Windows 10, roughly 3 mm is CHOPPED OFF EACH SIDE of an A4 page. When I use the Paint app on the same computer, MORE THAN the whole page is scanned in, apart from 3 mm off the top of the page. However, the page size is set to legal in the Paint app and I am not able to change it to A4. When I use the 'Document Scanner' app on a Linux computer, 100% of the A4 page is scanned in, spot on !!!

Based on my own tests, there is an error in the CALIBRATION SETTINGS of Brother’s iPrintScan app, it is not a Windows fault or “accepted hardware specification”. I have proven beyond doubt that the printer/scanner hardware, does see the whole A4 page.

Brother should thank me for pointing out to them where their bug is, not fob it off by reading from a script (go in a loop) when speaking to customers. This is a fixable bug !

Case number: 7002134881.

I have a perfectly good basic laser printer for b/w printing - a Brother DCP-L2500D, a workhorse. We print very little so the printer has only used one cartridge since we purchased it. Anyway, it does what it says on the tin.
Or it does until Brother fails to provide a driver for Chromebook. And unfortunately their own Customer Service Agents don't appear to know.
When I contacted them, I was advised that there was a problem with my brand new generic cartridge priced €65.00 (only bought as nobody in our area stocked Brother cartridges). So as the printer had worked perfectly on its first original cartridge, off we went to the find a Brother cartridge - cost €80.00 - at our nearest stockist 30 kms away.
Only after it was unpacked and installed and the second Customer Service agent could not explain why the printer, AGAIN, could be seen by the computer but could not be reached for printing, was the technical team brought in.
The problem is simple, no driver for Chromebook for the Brother DCP-L2500D! Thank you and goodbye.
So I'm now in possession of two brand new cartridges, one generic, one branded, a printer in perfect condition but unusable with my laptop, and all of no use to me. AND I'm out of pocket by €145.00!
Built in obsolescence if ever I saw it. I am absolutely disgusted at the waste of money, time and patience for the sake of a printer driver.

Update: Brother agreed to send out a set of value non subscription inks. They arrived today, 1500 Colour A4 & 3000 Black A4 prints. I still would not recommend EcoPro, it works out very expensive and if you go over your subscription number of A4 prints, they really sting you.

The App is not easy to use and there are few instructions. I'd never used an ink subscription before, so signed up for the standard use. The first invoice I was charged for over use, I changed the subscription to what I'd used the first month. I asked them to kindly refund me the difference as it was my 'first offense' and I didn't know what I was doing. I got a generic reply from a robot telling me 'No' basically. So I emailed back to cancel the subscription. the acknowledgment said that the subscription had been cancelled but that I could still use it until the next invoice run in 2 weeks time. However, they blocked the ink cartridges! I managed to find a phone number and called them, the advisor said yes he could see that the ink should not be blocked and that he'd arrange to get it unblocked. How is it that they can manage to block the ink in less than 12 hours but they cannot manage to unblock in what is now 36 hours!!??
So, I have work to do and I can't print until my new printer cartridges arrive. I'm furious! The next fight I expect, will be that they'll invoice me in 2 weeks time for the plan that I have not been able to use!!
I wish I'd looked at these reviews before I signed up for EcoPro!

I rarely write reviews, but my experience with the Brother HL-L3220CWE printer and, more importantly, the Brother EcoPro subscription service compels me to warn others.

I initially purchased the printer in July 2024 and signed up for the EcoPro 3-month trial. The concept sounded great automated toner delivery based on usage. Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the most frustrating decisions I’ve made as a consumer.
After the trial, I chose to cancel and purchase toner independently. I paid what I owed and later re-subscribed to EcoPro, thinking it might be more convenient long-term. Big mistake. Brother sent me a new set of toners only for the printer to refuse them, displaying the error message: "Install non-subscription toners."

This triggered an exhausting, anxiety-inducing back-and-forth with Brother's customer support. Their phone service is utterly ineffective agents don’t resolve the issue directly. Instead, they send an internal email to the EcoPro department, which apparently operates in a separate universe with zero urgency. You're expected to wait at least a day for a response (if you're lucky), and in the meantime, you're left without a working printer and no timeline for resolution.

The lack of coordination, the bureaucratic bottleneck, and the painfully slow response times are unacceptable. In today’s world of seamless subscriptions and instant support, Brother’s process feels not only outdated but outright negligent. I’ve spent weeks chasing answers to a problem that should have been resolved in a single call.
I am left stressed, disappointed, and frankly regret ever purchasing a Brother product. This has been a first and last experience for me. I cannot, in good conscience, recommend Brother especially not the EcoPro service to anyone. Save yourself the frustration. There are far more reliable and customer-centric brands out there.

The printer makes fantastic prints. Very reliably. So why one star. Because the toner cartridges are a total rip off. I will never buy Brother again.
I am a very light user perhaps 2 or 3 pages a week but sometimes, perhaps a couple of times per year, 30 or 40 pages. After less than a ream of paper has passed through printing mostly black text I had to replace the black cartridge. Although disappointed I replaced the black cartridge. Very shortly after the printer proclaimed all the colour cartridges needed replacing after very, very little colour printing. It's obvious the company is soaking the customer for every penny (or pounds actually) on overpriced cartridges.

I can only comment on my own experience. I recently had a bloody awful experience dealing and ordering from HP direct with them and never again. Atrocious does not cover how bad they were regarding a new purchase. Anyway, I ordered a Brother from Viking instead, it arrived the very next day, courier very helpful, I plugged it in, followed the instructions and hey presto lovely new working printer. I downloaded the app to make connecting the wifi easier and registered it with Brother plus also entering a cash back claim with them. It did however state if I don’t receive email confirmation to contact them so I have just phoned them and a lovely lady was really helpful, checked my registration and claim and has confirmed it all by email so all I can say in these early stages is well done and Thankyou Brother, all is good so far

Terrible atrocious customer service. Trying to get new cartridges to work and contacted the customer support it all they do is email back for a couple of days saying that the eco pro team have the ticket.
Now I am just being ignored completely and it’s now the weekend.
I am now left with no printing facility and it is affecting my self employed business activities and now losing revenue.
Absolutely a shambles of a company.

The printer itself is great, but I find the iprint and scan app/software so clunky that I ended up deleting it and using the default Microsoft printer driver. It seems to need constant updating, sometimes doesn't update correctly, and from time to time, randomly disables two sided printing! Fortunately, the people who staff the Brother helpdesk chat tool are really good. I have a DCP-L2530DW printer scanner.

I was unable to get my new Brother MFC-L5710DW mono laser printer to email a scan to my own email - I kept getting the same error message - so I rang Brother's helpline.
A lady named Evelyn promptly answered the phone and provided really excellent customer support. She was very knowledgeable about my printer and walked me through the printer screen options to get the job done and also helped me create a shortcut key on the printer.
She also sent a link for the latest software for my MacBook Pro, which downloaded perfectly.
I was very impressed with her calm manner, her effective listening skills and her quiet sense of humour. Well done and thank you, dear lady.

I honestly don't know why there are so many poor reviews on Trustpilot - all I can say is that my experiences continue to be very good indeed, especially today.

MFC-J6957DW
What pile of rubbish !

Won't be buying Brother again a in hurry.
If you want to scan, you have to via the PC.
Duplicate copying - Perfect if you want all your pages mixed.
The machine is garabage, would contact the makers.
That is impossible, if they wanted to offer support them would, instead hide behind a crap website.

Don't BUY BROTHER

I have a business machine. I want to print B&W documents, but the machine won't print because I need a magenta toner.

You are making a mistake if you choose to rely on one of these machines.

If I could give zero stars I would. Appalling customer service. Got new printer (MFC-J4340DW) this morning, it is 15:00 and after almost two hours online with their hugely slow and unknowledgeable agents, one of whom just ended the chat presumably because they had no idea, and still cannot setup drivers etc properly. I downloaded their software from Brother UK website, my laptop is a virtually brand new Surface laptop using Windows 11, and it just gives errors when installing the scanner and printer driver software. They have no solution and the agent towards the end had no answer for the problem simply saying 'all printer companies battle with Windows compatibility issues', as though that makes me feel better for wasting my money and day. Very very poor experience and frankly amazed that a company can sell a printer without working drivers. WTF Brother UK!!!

Bought a Brother HL1212W - worked ok for 12 months and very light use - 8 or 9 sheets of A4 per week. Then the orange light came on and started to flash three times in a cycle. Followed Brother's own fault finding advice with no luck. And that was it. The printer refuses to print and the orange light is still flashing. Nothing more from Brother. I would strongly recommend not buying form this company - not-fit-for-purpose products and incompetent customer service.

Very temperamental printer; every now and then it appears to have a random issue, or it won't accept a cartridge, etc.

Suppor does help eventually, but is slow, and these regular random issues are not to be expected from such a established printer company.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars
On Monday morning my PC told me I was running out of toner. I immediately ordered a replacement cartridge from Brother. On Tuesday and Wednesday I heard nothing from DPD other than the parcel had got to a Southall depot. On Thursday I managed to get through on the phone (thanks Google!) and was told that it had been delivered to a small Post Office in Hammersmith but offered no explanation as to what had gone wrong. On Friday I collected the parcel from the little one counter Post Office (and queued behind someone who was getting some USD for his next trip with complications).
Back at home I could see that Brother had put my correct address on the label. I live in a block of flats but there is a 24-hour concierge who tells me that DPD makes deliveries there all the time.
DPD is taking a customer service tip from Donald Trump - don't explain & don't apologise!
So I will think twice about ordering from Brother the next time if they still use DPD.
The final insult was that I sent an email to contact at brother/eu asking them to chase the delivery up and I heard absolutely nothing.

I have just been charged randomly £83.70 without any explanation! They said it was because I “went over my 100 page limit” but that does not justify that big amount! I joined this to get automatic replacement ink not to be extorted by a printer company! That cannot even break down why they charged that amount. I cancelled via email and they hijacked my ability to print because it’s a “subscription cartridge!” Wtf! I PAID over and above for that! They also told me I don’t qualify for a refund! How dare they!!! AVOID AT ALL COST! Massive rip off