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Old 05-21-2013, 01:52 PM   #61
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Kobo Support is a Nightmare

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Originally Posted by 93terp View Post
I too have a dead pixel on my Aura HD. I'm debating about what to do - my ordering experience with Kobo for the Aura left a bad taste in my mouth with respect to the ineptitude of their customer service. I haven't decided if I want the pain & aggravation of a return/exchange, and since I'm in the U.S. no telling how long it would take to get another one!!
Both the ordering process and the replacement process have been one long nightmare for me. It took them DAYS to provide me any shipment or order processing information. And it's been a month since my purchase, and more than 3 weeks since I requested a replacement and still don't have one. You can read my whole nightmare on this thread. The reps are rude at every turn, and they can't even get addresses right off of the forms they send you to fill out. It's been a never-to-repeat experience for me.
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Old 05-21-2013, 11:01 PM   #62
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Yes, if anyone here is lacking some stress or aggravation in their life.. Just buy a Kobo and try dealing with a return and their customer service.. That will get you out of the doldrums!
Just take your meds before contacting Kobo.. And you will be good to go..
Doug. .
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Old 05-22-2013, 02:44 AM   #63
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Yes, if anyone here is lacking some stress or aggravation in their life.. Just buy a Kobo and try dealing with a return and their customer service.. That will get you out of the doldrums!
Just take your meds before contacting Kobo.. And you will be good to go..
Doug. .
Odd. I returned a Kobo Touch and had no problems. Took all of 4 days from when I contacted customer service to having the new Touch in my hot little hands and was popping the old Touch into the box for shipping back to Kobo. I could have exchanged it locally but for the minor detail of owning it for 6 months before it decided to display only the top half of the display.

When my sister tried to have her $359 Kindle 2 serviced when the keyboard went wonky, that was a frigging nightmare. Multiple phone calls and emails over a 6 week period. Evidently she should never have moved back to Canada from the States when her contract ended and she was offered more money and better benefits here -- not to mention her kids could go to a school that did not have metal detectors at the entrances.

Of course, we live in the same country as Kobo's headquarters while dealing with Amazon meant dealing with a foreign corporation. And one I was beginning to think classified Canada as a hostile nation.

Regards,
David
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Old 05-22-2013, 04:40 AM   #64
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MrDoug View Post
Yes, if anyone here is lacking some stress or aggravation in their life.. Just buy a Kobo and try dealing with a return and their customer service.. That will get you out of the doldrums!
Just take your meds before contacting Kobo.. And you will be good to go..
Doug. .
not my experience - I popped into a store with just my Mini in a permanently frozen state (no box, no cables, nothing), said I had spoken to customer service (which was true), and got a brand new Mini in exchange, with a receipt, no question asked! I am in the UK.
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Old 05-22-2013, 11:55 AM   #65
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Originally Posted by DNSB View Post
Odd. I returned a Kobo Touch and had no problems. Took all of 4 days from when I contacted customer service to having the new Touch in my hot little hands and was popping the old Touch into the box for shipping back to Kobo. I could have exchanged it locally but for the minor detail of owning it for 6 months before it decided to display only the top half of the display.
Unfortunately for those of us in the U.S., we are at the mercy of both Kobo's abysmal Customer Service, and the combination of Canada Post and the USPS. If Kobo can even get a replacement unit sent to you with the right address on the shipping label, Canada Post and USPS both have tracking information that is not consistently reliable.

Currently there are no brick-and-mortar establishments selling the Aura HD, and since it is a "limited edition" it is unlikely that any will pick it up. You can buy one through third-party sellers on Amazon, but the origin point is still most likely outside of the U.S., which means more hinky shipping issues. I find it curious that Kobo sells their devices through Staples in Canada (and possibly in the UK), but not in the U.S.
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Old 05-22-2013, 02:24 PM   #66
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DNSB View Post
Odd. I returned a Kobo Touch and had no problems. Took all of 4 days from when I contacted customer service to having the new Touch in my hot little hands and was popping the old Touch into the box for shipping back to Kobo. I could have exchanged it locally but for the minor detail of owning it for 6 months before it decided to display only the top half of the display.

When my sister tried to have her $359 Kindle 2 serviced when the keyboard went wonky, that was a frigging nightmare. Multiple phone calls and emails over a 6 week period. Evidently she should never have moved back to Canada from the States when her contract ended and she was offered more money and better benefits here -- not to mention her kids could go to a school that did not have metal detectors at the entrances.

Of course, we live in the same country as Kobo's headquarters while dealing with Amazon meant dealing with a foreign corporation. And one I was beginning to think classified Canada as a hostile nation.

Regards,
David
Yes, sometimes it's lucky to get lucky !
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Old 05-23-2013, 10:52 AM   #67
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Update!

So I contacted the Credit Card. Then a day or so later Kobo DOES in fact contact me with return instructions and they give me a shipping address. I just have to pay for shipping it back to them, with insurance. I mail it according to the instructions and give Kobo the tracking number, and for the time being I cancel the dispute with the credit card. [But I will not hesitate to open it up again!]

I hope it all works out and I can stop worrying about this mess soon.
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Old 05-23-2013, 10:55 AM   #68
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Quote:
Originally Posted by domani7 View Post
Update!

So I contacted the Credit Card. Then a day or so later Kobo DOES in fact contact me with return instructions and they give me a shipping address. I just have to pay for shipping it back to them, with insurance. I mail it according to the instructions and give Kobo the tracking number, and for the time being I cancel the dispute with the credit card. [But I will not hesitate to open it up again!]

I hope it all works out and I can stop worrying about this mess soon.
Kobo didn't take me seriously until I informed them that I'd filed a dispute with MC. In my case, they also offered me prepaid return shipping, because I've been going back and forth with them for a month. However, they promised all of this two days ago, and I've yet to receive a tracking number or any other pertinent information, so I'm still not holding my breath.
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Old 05-23-2013, 02:21 PM   #69
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Quote:
Originally Posted by geekspertise View Post
Kobo didn't take me seriously until I informed them that I'd filed a dispute with MC. In my case, they also offered me prepaid return shipping, because I've been going back and forth with them for a month. However, they promised all of this two days ago, and I've yet to receive a tracking number or any other pertinent information, so I'm still not holding my breath.

I'm not too jealous of your prepaid shipping label because you're doing an exchange and I just want my money back. I'd rather be out for the shipping costs than the full $185 I paid.

Side note: I find that a lot of the time companies think they can get away with anything just because they put it in a contract in small print somewhere. They try to intimidate people by being all "oh but you agreed to these terms by doing business with us". Yeah but if that contract is unlawful it's not like that's going to hold up in court no matter who signed it. Your contract does not trump actual law.

And I bet some of the time it works! What if every time someone wanted to make a return they were told "we do not do returns". Many people would be "oh ok then". Not everyone's going to fight it.

And I'm not even talking about Kobo, I think this is endemic in our world today to believe that the contracts we've signed are all-powerful. I've heard of the contracts that people who appear on reality television sign, and they're insane.
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Old 05-28-2013, 08:16 AM   #70
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I think I will have to exchange my just bought Aura. The light is not even at all: it's clear almost bluish at the bottom of the screen and there is a big yellow patch on the top of the screen

Actually I don't know if my expectations are too high or if this specific Aura has a sub-par screen.

Edit: trying to add a picture, but I don't know how to put a miniature
The picture quality isn't that great, maybe it's hard to see the differences. People around me notice the shadow at the top too, but they have never seen a frontlit ereader before.
All right, so I've had my Aura exchanged last Saturday.
The uneven screen (yellow at the top, blue at the bottom) and one defective pixel were bothering me. It was taken back no question asked and the customer service person I've seen showed me more defective pixels on the very top right of the screen. It will likely be sent back as a defective unit.
The new one has a more even screen. The (nicely) yellowish part covers most of the screen. So far I didn't noticed any defective pixel, but a friend pointed some clearer pixels when the brightness is at 100% and the Aura hold a certain way (not a way allowing to read on it, though).
I like this one better
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Old 05-28-2013, 08:37 AM   #71
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Originally Posted by samhy View Post
All right, so I've had my Aura exchanged last Saturday.
The uneven screen (yellow at the top, blue at the bottom) and one defective pixel were bothering me. It was taken back no question asked and the customer service person I've seen showed me more defective pixels on the very top right of the screen. It will likely be sent back as a defective unit.
The new one has a more even screen. The (nicely) yellowish part covers most of the screen. So far I didn't noticed any defective pixel, but a friend pointed some clearer pixels when the brightness is at 100% and the Aura hold a certain way (not a way allowing to read on it, though).
I like this one better

They're not defective pixels - those occur in LCD screens, not frontlit eink screens. They're light guide defects.

Glad you have a nice Aura now.
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Old 05-28-2013, 09:04 PM   #72
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Bad Aura HD

I received my Aura HD about 3 weeks after it was ordered. It worked for about a week and then stopped working. It would not turn on. Trying to reset it by using a paperclip in the little reset hole did nothing as did trying to perform an "external factory reset" by holding the light button and the power button at the same time. After talking with Kobo tech support I requested a refund. They told me they would give me the return information within "48 Business hours". That was 6 days ago. I am still waiting for return instructions. I will never purchase another Kobo product after this experience. The Aura screen and lighting are both great but the quality of the hardware is abysmal, especially for something marketed as the best e-reader in the world. If you have one of these I hope your's holds up better than mine did or you are going to have a $169 door stop.
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Old 05-31-2013, 02:10 PM   #73
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It occurs to me that the only reason this works is I have a bigger company on my side. Kobo may claim: "by doing business with us, you agree with our policies" but then VISA may also claim: "by doing business with us, you agree with OUR policies"

So as an individual consumer I'm quite powerless but the key is to have someone big and scary on my side.

I think it's almost over. Amazingly, miraculously. At this point Kobo has confirmed that they've received the Aura and are ready and willing to give me a refund but they want to confirm that I've cancelled the dispute with my credit card. Which I have. So I should get a refund soon.

Quote:
Originally Posted by domani7 View Post
I'm not too jealous of your prepaid shipping label because you're doing an exchange and I just want my money back. I'd rather be out for the shipping costs than the full $185 I paid.

Side note: I find that a lot of the time companies think they can get away with anything just because they put it in a contract in small print somewhere. They try to intimidate people by being all "oh but you agreed to these terms by doing business with us". Yeah but if that contract is unlawful it's not like that's going to hold up in court no matter who signed it. Your contract does not trump actual law.

And I bet some of the time it works! What if every time someone wanted to make a return they were told "we do not do returns". Many people would be "oh ok then". Not everyone's going to fight it.

And I'm not even talking about Kobo, I think this is endemic in our world today to believe that the contracts we've signed are all-powerful. I've heard of the contracts that people who appear on reality television sign, and they're insane.
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Old 06-03-2013, 04:19 PM   #74
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Bought a new Kobo Aura yesterday and discovered an extremely noticeable bright spot in the centre of the screen with the light turned on--as have many buyers. Very distracting.

Returned it to the store today (fortunately, I am in Canada, but I still have to drive 45 minutes to the store). The new one is worse. Seven bright spots, although most are off to the side where they aren't particularly bothersome. There is still one in the centre, but smaller than the one on my first

However, the screen on the second is yellow at the top, blue at the bottom. The first one was an even yellow tint.

I think I'm going to call it quits and return this one tomorrow for a refund. Judging from my experience and that of others, there are serious flaws in the manufacturing process.

Last edited by toolio; 06-03-2013 at 05:58 PM.
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Old 06-03-2013, 06:56 PM   #75
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Yes, it is a manufacturing problem, but luckily not that common. A few people have reported getting two or three that had the issue. I had the same issue with the Glo I bought last year. I tested the replacement in the shop as part of the exchange. And I would have kept testing until I found a fault free one.
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