Done with Kobo

[cmaxwell]

My Glo stopped being recognized by my computers last week. I tried different computers/different usb ports/different cables/different resets with no success.

Being reasonably certain it was a hardware issue I kicked off a ticket with the Kobo support team.

What a joke that was... they completely disregarded the information that I provided them when I initiated the ticket and they gave me instructions to perform resets that I have already performed and asked me for the same information a couple times (desktop software version, reader firmware version, purchase date).

I doubt Amazons customer service is much better but after a week of trying to get any resolution from the Kobo team I have decided that I am done with Kobo and placed an order for a Paperwhite 2.

[mahal48]

My experience of Kobo support team is always a factory reset, no matter what information you supply them, even if, you have already told them that you have done a factory reset. They do not listen or read what you tell them. Example being the old duplicate shelf problem. Don't bother with so called Kobo support. Support from members on this site is far superior to Kobo.

[cmaxwell]

Originally Posted by mahal48

My experience of Kobo support team is always a factory reset, no matter what information you supply them, even if, you have already told them that you have done a factory reset. They do not listen or read what you tell them. Example being the old duplicate shelf problem. Don't bother with so called Kobo support. Support from members on this site is far superior to Kobo.

Yeah...I think my problem might be firmware related (not really sure) but since I can't connect to the computer I can't downgrade my firmware I will never know.

Might be a short or something on the USB port...although the reader recognizes that it has been plugged into to the computer and asks me to connect so I doubt that is the problem.

Probably could try to open the device and add he firmware to the internal sdcard but I think I would just end up breaking it in doing so.

I am pretty sick of all the little bugs so this was just kind of the tipping point for me.

[PeterT]

In all fairness to Kobo support, its the same as the majority of vendors out there. The initial responses are always the same and expect you to follow a series of steps / procedures regardless of whether or not you have already done them.

Its no different from the ISPs who used to want you to remove your router from the environment and connect your PC directly to the ISPs modem.

[paola]

Don't know about the Glo, but as a total non techie I have opened my Mini without trouble (well, a lot of heartache) without problems, in case you want to extract the card and look at it.

But before going there, apart from the fact that the computers do not recognise your Glo, does the ereader function normally? Can you sync on it, or connect to the internet?

[taming]

I had a similar problem last week with my Aura HD. I checked and found that I had updates from Windows that were ready to install, but not installed yet. This has interfered with things like my USB connections in the past. I installed the Windows 8 updates, and I was fine. This never happened on Windows 7, but has happened 3 or 4 times since I got Windows 8. You may be facing something else entirely, but I thought I would mention it.

[CaffeBreak]

I've found that Kindle support isn't much better. If resetting doesn't work they generally don't know what else to do other than talk about replacing it if it's still in warranty. The Paperwhite 2 isn't without problems. A lot of people are having screen freezing and rebooting issues and Amazon can't seem to fix it. I've got three Kobo's and I've had no problems with any of them. Can't say the same for my Kindle 3, Touch or PW2.

[TechniSol]

Let's face it folks most customer service is conducted from a flowchart, a tabbed three ring notebook back in the old days, HTML today... More often than not by someone with minimal or no technical skills, often a college student working part time.

I will give points to the Kobo chat personnel. I had an issue and when they started the script I informed them I had already done procedures A-F ad infinitum and they were smart enough to realize doing them again would not help and skipped to the "OK, we're going to send you a checklist and require some photos, once we get the answers and Photos we'll exchange it" stage.

I really do think the live chat is the best way to deal with Kobo, but you have to be prepared to realize that when you have a problem not covered by the script your only resort is likely to be an exchange. That said, the exchange unit I received was indistinguishable from a brand new unit, I suspect it was, except it came in a plainer white box. They even cross shipped to minimize shipping time! It still took about a week to get to NY state from Toronto, but in fairness it was a holiday weekend and the package seemed to sit in a Toronto sorting center for several days...

[Canuck_in_Japan]

I had a pretty good experience with Kobo recently where I tried to buy a book using a US address and instead of giving me the discounted price that I was supposed to get it charged me full price and then on top of that I couldn't switch my address back to my normal Japanese one. It took more than one email but they got me all sorted out and credited my account for the book that I said I wasn't interested in paying full price for. The CS person's name was Kadian W if I recall correctly.

[Joeldmtl]

If you find that you can connect your PC to Kobo.com and that your e-reader can be charged from you PC, your e-reader may be being blocked by your firewall.

[PeterT]

No Joel; I think you will find that the charging from the PC is done at the hardware level. The issue being experienced is related to the USB SOFTWARE drivers not being installed correctly on his machine.

I do know that recently davidfor had posted some tips on removing USB drivers from the PC and using a USB diagnostic tool on the PC but I can't remember what thread that was in.

[davidfor]

The tool was USBDeview. With it you can check what is connected and see the drivers installed for each of the devices.

Is the Glo seeing the PC when connected? i.e. Does it prompt to connect? Does the battery charge?

Have you tried a factory reset? You stated that Kobo said to do this, and because of the tone and the "different resets" statements, I read that to mean you had already tried and it didn't help. But, rereading it, I am not sure that you have done one.

[leftright]

before you jump ship, browse the forums of other readers.

My experience is that ALL readers have issues, there isn't one out there which is perfect.

It's a case of pick your poison from a shelf of poisons and glug it.

[cmaxwell]

Originally Posted by paola

Don't know about the Glo, but as a total non techie I have opened my Mini without trouble (well, a lot of heartache) without problems, in case you want to extract the card and look at it.

But before going there, apart from the fact that the computers do not recognise your Glo, does the ereader function normally? Can you sync on it, or connect to the internet?

Yup works fine. Aside from the fact that it isn't recognized on any computer (MacOS or Windows).

Just isn't recognized so I can't sideload stuff without a external sd card and you can't sideload kepubs with an external sdcard so I don't get any of the kepub features (hours left, actual page counts that mean something, etc.).

[cmaxwell]

Originally Posted by PeterT

In all fairness to Kobo support, its the same as the majority of vendors out there. The initial responses are always the same and expect you to follow a series of steps / procedures regardless of whether or not you have already done them.

Its no different from the ISPs who used to want you to remove your router from the environment and connect your PC directly to the ISPs modem.

My problem isn't that they are asking these kinds of questions. I get it...majority of people wouldn't know how to troubleshoot the problem themselves. My problems is that it has been open for a week and they are still providing that level of support/asking those kind of questions.