Many of us have experienced a failed print due to the school network cutting off and the pro-grade Epson printers upstairs just stopping. This problem concerns mostly Graphic Design and Photography departments, as they use the printers the most, but I know it has happened to others, too.

You can claim your money back for the ink, but the school doesn't pay for the paper -- even if you actually bought it from the downstairs shop -- directly from KABK.

This means that the school gets to keep your money even if the responsibility of maintaining a well-working network is KABK's. In four years, this amount can grow to be quite significant, especially when printing A2 and larger. There's also the matter of lost time and inefficiency, especially if printing double-sided and if the second side fails.

And even if the financial loss wasn't that big, the situation doesn't motivate the academy to improve its facilities as they're not fully aware of the problem. The awareness can only emerge from the fact that the refunds would start showing in their annual budget.

This problem has been going on for years without improvement.

I talked about this with one guy from the 'uitleen', and about how KABK should cover 100% of the costs of printing in the case of network failure. Unfortunately, they are not allowed to refund the price of your printing paper even if they'd like to.

I think the refund policy of the failed prints needs to cover 100% of the price -- including the printing paper.

I have the e-mail address of the person who is ultimately in charge of the refund policy at KABK, and I would like to approach him on this matter. Before I do, I would like to ask if anyone else would be interested.

-- Kimmo, FVT2F