Do not buy a Cybook

[nicewahoo]

I bought a Cybook ten months ago to use it during my trips. I am a dive instructor working right now in Mexico, where I will be based for the next few months, but I will be moving soon again when the season is over here, so to have an e-book made sense, since I am an avid reader not willing to carry hugue amounts of books along with my already heavy working gear.

Last summer while I was working in the Canary Islands my cybook broke down and I was not able to switch it on again so I sent it to Paris to repair, booken, the company that makes them, is based there. My experience with the Booken Support Team was extremely frustrating. First I found out, after calling them many times because they were not answering my messages, that they were unable to fix my Cybook so they ended replacing it for another unit after one month, again, of numerous unanswered emails and international calls to their office in Paris trying to find out what was going on with it.

I received the new unit just one day before leaving to Mexico. I used a few times, mainly in airports and during flights. Since the beginning the display was not right. When I turned the pages I could still see the text in the previous one. This problem was getting worse as I continued using it because it also started to show fractures and blank spaces instead text.Definitely, the unit they sent me is faulty and I told them so in an email along with some pics of the ebook. They answered telling me that the backplane of the display is seemingly broken and this could be due to a shock or a pressure. Broken parts are not covered by the warranty and proposed a display replacement. This operation costs 120€ (parts and VAT included) + shipping. I always carry my unit in a hard case and the problem was progressive not instant. I told them the only thing I was willing to pay was the forwarding shipping costs...two weeks later I have not received an answer yet. Clearly the have not complied with the The Warranty Agreement wich states that they should be able to repair my unit or replace it with a new (functioning properly!!) one. They are avoiding, once again, their responsability with me as a customer. I do not know if I am the first one in experiencing such poor customer care from them, but if you are thinking about buying an e-book and do not want to feel as frustrated as me I highly recommend you not to buy a Cybook.

[Krystian Galaj]

The habit of not answering emails for months is typical at Bookeen, as fas as I know. I also wouldn't recommend buying any of their devices if you count on any support from their side. Unless you live in France and speak French, in which case they're apparently almost human.

[EowynCarter]

Guess what , Sony, or amazon , or iRex or anyone would have made the same answer. Be careful with your stuff, and you'll avoid paying for repairs.
I was annoyed I had to pay for replacement, but I knew I could only blame myself for that.
E-reader screens are fragile, i've learned that lesson to my own expense.

If you think your reader is indeed defective, might be given what you're describing, explain yourself to bookeen, they're the ones how can do something for you, not us.

[aceflor]

EowynCarter, I really don't get you. Your information is simply wrong, and you are so extremely biased regarding Bookeen, that I really can't believe anymore that you do not work for them in a way or another. If you indeed do not work for them, what exactly is in there for you, that you keep praising them and denigrating any other brand? And was

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

Be careful with your stuff, and you'll avoid paying for repairs.

as well as

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

If you think your reader is indeed defective, might be given what you're describing, explain yourself to bookeen, they're the ones how can do something for you, not us.

really necessary when posting an answer to a newcomer?


I have Sony readers as well as Kindles and one Bookeen Opus.
Sony and Amazon answered every single mail I wrote them. It took one or two mails maybe to get the answer I needed, but they answered.
Bookeen answered promptly in August when I needed them the first time, but I have not received any other answer to my other mails since then. I am french, btw, so it is not a language problem. They seem to have huge problems at the time being, and as nice as they can be (when they want / can), I don't believe in their future anymore.

Nicewahoo: welcome to mobileread btw , don't let your first impression ruin the whole ereader experience, those gadgets are great and as you pinpointed, extremely practical when travelling a lot.

[Deneb]

Thank you Aceflor for putting words on what I was feeling. I agree with all your points
Don't worry Nicewahoo, Eowincarter tends to bite a little when you complain about Bookeen too much to her taste, and as Aceflor said I don't understand why her opinion is so partial either.

Unfortunatly, Bookeen support tends to ignore what they don't like, if you look around the Cybook forum, you will find that you are not the only one frustrated with them (what understatement )

I'm not sure they speak english very well so you might want to explain your problem again, the words "progressive" and "from the start" could make a difference. I don't know if a screen can break progressively from a "shock or a pressure" but again I could be wrong. Hopefully someone in the forum can be of more help.

And I will let Aceflor finish my post since I can't find any better way to say the very same thing :

Originally Posted by aceflor

Nicewahoo: welcome to mobileread btw , don't let your first impression ruin the whole ereader experience, those gadgets are great and as you pinpointed, extremely practical when travelling a lot.

[EowynCarter]

I'm not sure they speak english very well so you might want to explain your problem again, the words "progressive" and "from the start" could make a difference.

Well, i'm pretty sure some mentioned seeing effect of pressure / shock days after the problems happened.
But, if, from the start, the screen felt weird, then... Maybe the screen was defective, or worse, got broken during transport.
Anyway, explain yourself to bookeen, send them your reader, they might see things with the reader actually in front of their eye a photo won't show.