Epson printers are electronic theieves

He could have had a little respect though Art, he could have waited
til I went out the shop and then kicked 'holy hell' out of it, I
suspect he was showing his frustration with them as well as showing
me what he thought.

Why would they have respect for it? I would think it's part of their
contract. They get paid .5 to 1.5hrs of labor or some such to look at
printers and if they are beyond repair they smash them. This way there
is no chance of someone trying to pull a fast one... claiming a printer
is dead and fishing it out of the trash. I'd be more shocked if they
actually took the time to claim the parts if it was a case of head
failure.