"Wonderful" Kobo Customer Service

[unaj41]

EDIT: This was finally resolved - check the end of the thread ...
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Anybody's reading 'Cloud Atlas' by D.Mitchell? Cool book, but what is NOT cool about the version sold by Kobo is that there are literally hundreds of missing periods, word spaces, and commas ... several per page, along with many false line breaks ...

But what is the worst is how Kobo customer support treats its customers:

When I raised the issue with them they basically told me to F*** OFF, because it is not their fault - it is publishers fault ... they only sell it ...

I reminded them that I bought the book from them (not from the publisher) and also, if they still remember, they are in business of selling books ... you know ... BOOKS ... those 'things' that are destined to be read ... so all the flaws in the text are kind of a big deal and are hindering the basic purpose of the book: to be read!
Kobo: No avail ... we don't care .. hands off ... not our fault ...

Lovely! Anybody has a same experience? Maybe with a different book?

Conclusion - Do NOT buy Cloud Atlas ... at least not from Kobo, since the version they are 'just' selling is CRAP ....
And good luck with Kobo support - they certainly seem not to care abot the fact that eReading market is quite competitive these days and customers have many choices ...

[rashkae]

Originally Posted by unaj41

Anybody's reading 'Cloud Atlas' by D.Mitchell? Cool book, but what is NOT cool about the version sold by Kobo is that there are literally hundreds of missing periods, word spaces, and commas ... several per page, along with many false line breaks ...

But what is the worst is how Kobo customer support treats its customers:

When I raised the issue with them they basically told me to F*** OFF, because it is not their fault - it is publishers fault ... they only sell it ...

I reminded them that I bought the book from them (not from the publisher) and also, if they still remember, they are in business of selling books ... you know ... BOOKS ... those 'things' that are destined to be read ... so all the flaws in the text are kind of a big deal and are hindering the basic purpose of the book: to be read!
Kobo: No avail ... we don't care .. hands off ... not our fault ...

Lovely! Anybody has a same experience? Maybe with a different book?

Conclusion - Do NOT buy Cloud Atlas ... at least not from Kobo, since the version they are 'just' selling is CRAP ....
And good luck with Kobo support - they certainly seem not to care abot the fact that eReading market is quite competitive these days and customers have many choices ...

Have you tried downloading the epub from the website (You will need Adobe Digital Editions to Download and Open the book.) In the past, these kinds of glitches were somtimes introduced in the 'koboization'.

[beckybug3]

I have had other books whose publishers did not understand grammar basics, so I understand your frustration. It really does take away from the experience.

However I had to talk to Kobo support for over an hour yesterday, and my experience was totally different from yours. Mine is a technical issue, that we are still working on solving, but nice, friendly, courteous, and helpful are the first words I'd use to describe Cody. Please do not judge all of Kobo support by this one bad experience.

[unaj41]

Originally Posted by rashkae

Have you tried downloading the epub ... Adobe Digital Editions ... 'koboization'.

Good point, but I checked that first - same crap in ePub file ...

[unaj41]

Originally Posted by beckybug3

... Please do not judge all of Kobo support by this one bad experience.

True, however Kobo, as any other company, relies on customer happiness with their product. One unhappy customer should be one too many. And something as simple and petty as this problem should be handled quite differently in my opinion.

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by unaj41

True, however Kobo, as any other company, relies on customer happiness with their product. One unhappy customer should be one too many. And something as simple and petty as this problem should be handled quite differently in my opinion.

In my opinion too. If I were you I'd raise the same issue again and hope to get someone else handling it this time. There ARE really some helpful employees at the customer care. You should get your money back or at least Kobo credit to buy a different book, and they should let the publisher know to fix the nonsense in the book.

(And come on, Kobo makes the Kepubs, no? So it's absolute blah that they would not be responsible for the books they sell.)

[AnemicOak]

Check samples of the book at B&N and Amazon and compare with your copy. I've had a few books (8 or so?) from Kobo where the ePub's (I usually never download kePubs) were screwed up formatting wise (no italics, etc.) and the copies from elsewhere didn't have the problem. That's not to say it will make Kobo do anything, but it might give you a bit of leverage.

For me I contacted the publisher myself and they sent Kobo new copies right away. Of course it took Kobo months and months to actually make those 'fixed' copies available, but they eventually did.

[PeterT]

@Mrs_Often: While Kobo MIGHT make the kEpubs I think you will find that they are merely converted from the ePub format.

My experience has actually been very positive with Kobo and formatting issues; I've either receifved a new copy, or a full refund while the old book remains in my account.

[TongueTied]

When you raised the issue with Kobo Support, was it via email or on the phone. I have found they are very helpful on the phone but their email support is the worst I have ever come across. I read somewhere that the email support is outsourced but phone support isn't. Don't know how true that is but it could explain the shocking difference between phone and email support.

[PeterT]

Also it seems to help if you can make it past the 1st level eMail support and get onto the 2nd level....

[unaj41]

It was the 2nd tier email support which came back with this BS about not being responsible for the books they are selling (and only blaming the publisher) ... Maybe I should have tried the phone support ...
Speaking about competition - found this review on Amazon that talks about exactly the same problem ... That confirms that the product is defective, but again Kobo's "not our problem, we just charge you money ... " position is ridiculous ...

[tkavan]

Originally Posted by PeterT

@Mrs_Often: While Kobo MIGHT make the kEpubs I think you will find that they are merely converted from the ePub format.

My experience has actually been very positive with Kobo and formatting issues; I've either receifved a new copy, or a full refund while the old book remains in my account.

I've had two books with formatting problems, both involving a lack of trailing spaces after an italicized word, which means the two words run together.

In both cases Support laid the blame at the publisher's feet... "We can’t provide you with an exact date when the eBook will be corrected, as this depends entirely on the publisher, but we’ll do our best to expedite the process."

In one case, where the problem was on almost every page, Kobo gave me a credit for the cost of the book. In neither case was I given or offered a replacement book with the problem fixed.

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by PeterT

@Mrs_Often: While Kobo MIGHT make the kEpubs I think you will find that they are merely converted from the ePub format.

Of course... What I meant was, the fact that Kobo makes the kepubs (converts epubs to them to sell as kepubs), means they can't make the publishers solely responsible for what they sell. Yes, the publisher might be responsible for the contents of the book... but acting like they have entirely nothing to do with anything is just childish in my opinion. If I were Kobo, when I would receive a book from a publisher, I would check first to see if it were worthy of conversion. I would not just blindly convert an epub into a kepub and have my customers find out the quality of the book, and then not care. I would refuse the publisher's book, telling them to fix it before I'd put it up for sale...

[JD Gumby]

Originally Posted by unaj41

When I raised the issue with them they basically told me to F*** OFF, because it is not their fault - it is publishers fault ... they only sell it ...

I reminded them that I bought the book from them (not from the publisher) and also, if they still remember, they are in business of selling books ... you know ... BOOKS ... those 'things' that are destined to be read ... so all the flaws in the text are kind of a big deal and are hindering the basic purpose of the book: to be read!
Kobo: No avail ... we don't care .. hands off ... not our fault ...

Sounds like your attitude might be the biggest problem, if you were anywhere near this bad with them. Hint: treating customer service employees with a little more common courtesy and basic respect will get you a lot further. An attitude like you've shown only makes people obstinate.

[nogle]

Originally Posted by PeterT

@Mrs_Often: While Kobo MIGHT make the kEpubs I think you will find that they are merely converted from the ePub format.

My experience has actually been very positive with Kobo and formatting issues; I've either receifved a new copy, or a full refund while the old book remains in my account.

This matches my own experieince. Broken book, they confirmed the problem existed in both the kepub and epub. They credited my account and left the book.