Titles not in localised Kobo website

TongueTied · 05-14-2013, 08:18 PM

How do you tell Kobo that they are missing titles from a localised website (in this case, Australia)? I've found when looking for titles, that Kobo has books in a series but might be missing one or two of the series or they have a bunch from a particular author but some they only have in other languages (in one series I wanted to read, I could get the first book in German and books 2 and 3 in English!). The Kobo Canada site however has all the titles and in English. I've sent emails to Kobo Care about some of these when I find them and I have made a post on their Get Satisfaction site but they never bother to respond (surprise, surprise) nor do they add the missing titles! Yes, Kobo Care is about as useful as ... well nothing really. So, is there a way to get feedback to Kobo that is actually looked at and maybe acted upon?

davidfor · 05-14-2013, 08:28 PM

Those are the things to do. I am surprised you haven't had a response, but from what I have seen reported it can take a few days.

They also might not be able to do anything. The books might be missing because Kobo are not allowed to sell them here. This is quite common even for books within a series. I believe it is related to which publisher owns the rights for each country.

TongueTied · 05-15-2013, 12:45 AM

I've been notifying them over the last 2 years whenever I come across a title I can't find. I take your point about the different publishers but that is really odd that a publisher would publish say books 2,3 and 4 of a series but not 1, or would publish book 1 in german and 2 and 3 in english. (Aside: I would think german books sell terribly well in Australia, but I could be wrong.) It just looks like it would be an oversight that once they know about it, they'd fix. So far, they haven't on any titles I've notified them about. This is why I wonder if I'm going about this the wrong way. It would be nice if they had a specific way for you to make a request for a title not on their site which would serve as a means for them to identify errors or omissions on the localised book listings.

GeoffR · 05-15-2013, 02:34 AM

I've had the same problem with some series missing one book, but it has always turned out to be a publisher rights issue, stupid as it seems Kobo just doesn't have permission to sell that one book in my country.

I have had some success with writing to the publisher direct (well, only one publisher, Macmillan US replied and actually made some books available and they showed up on Kobo a week later, but other publishers haven't replied).

If you don't get any action then I would just change your address to a country that has the book and buy it that way, or open another account in that country and gift the book to your home account.

In my country I can buy books 1,2,4,5 of the Fortress series by C. J. Cherryh, but the publisher has no rights to sell the 3rd book here. In her blog the author makes it clear that she is happy for readers to get around this sort of stupidity by using a VPN or other means. (VPN is not necessary for Kobo though).

taming · 05-15-2013, 07:07 AM

I recently went through that with a series and wrote to the author. She told me that she had no idea why a digital edition of that particular book was not available, but that her publisher had not released that one book.

05-14-2013, 08:18 PM	#1
TongueTied Zealot Posts: 128 Karma: 18512 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Buderim, Australia Device: Kobo Touch, Kobo Glo	Titles not in localised Kobo website How do you tell Kobo that they are missing titles from a localised website (in this case, Australia)? I've found when looking for titles, that Kobo has books in a series but might be missing one or two of the series or they have a bunch from a particular author but some they only have in other languages (in one series I wanted to read, I could get the first book in German and books 2 and 3 in English!). The Kobo Canada site however has all the titles and in English. I've sent emails to Kobo Care about some of these when I find them and I have made a post on their Get Satisfaction site but they never bother to respond (surprise, surprise) nor do they add the missing titles! Yes, Kobo Care is about as useful as ... well nothing really. So, is there a way to get feedback to Kobo that is actually looked at and maybe acted upon?

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05-14-2013, 08:28 PM	#2
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,907 Karma: 47303748 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	Those are the things to do. I am surprised you haven't had a response, but from what I have seen reported it can take a few days. They also might not be able to do anything. The books might be missing because Kobo are not allowed to sell them here. This is quite common even for books within a series. I believe it is related to which publisher owns the rights for each country.

05-15-2013, 12:45 AM	#3
TongueTied Zealot Posts: 128 Karma: 18512 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Buderim, Australia Device: Kobo Touch, Kobo Glo	I've been notifying them over the last 2 years whenever I come across a title I can't find. I take your point about the different publishers but that is really odd that a publisher would publish say books 2,3 and 4 of a series but not 1, or would publish book 1 in german and 2 and 3 in english. (Aside: I would think german books sell terribly well in Australia, but I could be wrong.) It just looks like it would be an oversight that once they know about it, they'd fix. So far, they haven't on any titles I've notified them about. This is why I wonder if I'm going about this the wrong way. It would be nice if they had a specific way for you to make a request for a title not on their site which would serve as a means for them to identify errors or omissions on the localised book listings.

05-15-2013, 02:34 AM	#4
GeoffR Wizard Posts: 3,821 Karma: 19162882 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Te Riu-a-Māui Device: Kobo Glo	I've had the same problem with some series missing one book, but it has always turned out to be a publisher rights issue, stupid as it seems Kobo just doesn't have permission to sell that one book in my country. I have had some success with writing to the publisher direct (well, only one publisher, Macmillan US replied and actually made some books available and they showed up on Kobo a week later, but other publishers haven't replied). If you don't get any action then I would just change your address to a country that has the book and buy it that way, or open another account in that country and gift the book to your home account. In my country I can buy books 1,2,4,5 of the Fortress series by C. J. Cherryh, but the publisher has no rights to sell the 3rd book here. In her blog the author makes it clear that she is happy for readers to get around this sort of stupidity by using a VPN or other means. (VPN is not necessary for Kobo though).

05-15-2013, 07:07 AM	#5
taming Trying for calm & polite Posts: 4,012 Karma: 9455193 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mostly in Canada Device: kobo original, WiFI, Touch, Glo, and Aura	I recently went through that with a series and wrote to the author. She told me that she had no idea why a digital edition of that particular book was not available, but that her publisher had not released that one book.

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