Bad customer service experience with Kobo

[pete_1967]

I've only ever (knock on wood) have needed "proper" customer service twice in my life so far. First time was with Amazon and almost a year old product that broke down. I initially contacted the manufacturer who told me they were not able to collect it and therefore asked me to contact Amazon from where I had ordered it. Filled the Amazon form, less than 2 hours later got reply from them advising me that a delivery company would contact me by end of next working day to arrange collection (thing weighted over 40 kilos), Company didn't call so I sent an email to Amazon customer services. Got reply to that in less than 30 minutes where they apologised for failure and told me that the delivery company would call me within three hours. And they did, less than an hour later.

Because I had changed my phone number between the purchase and item return, Amazon told me they can't send me a replacement, instead they will refund me on my credit card, the refund would be on my card account within 30 (or 21 can't remember) days. 3 days later my card was refunded. Not a penny deducted for collection or anything. Needless to say I was impressed.

However, if I've ever seen service going beyond the call of duty was with HP. I've got old, HP510 laptop, which was, when I bought it, already end-of-life model at rock bottom price. I have forgotten the BIOS password so couldn't reset it because I intended to sell the laptop. Tried all possible instructions and nothing helped so I though to send an email to HP support as a last resort.

Here's the story what happened then:
My original support request replies to HP:

Quote: HP 510 Notebook PC Email Support <<#3924880#>>
From : "HP Support" <NA_ACTIVE_MAIL@hp.com>
To : me
Received: 09:40

Thank you for contacting Hewlett-Packard.



This is in response to your e-mail regarding the HP 510 Notebook PC.



Hello Me,

Thank you for contacting HP e-Solutions.

This is in response to your e-mail regarding HP 510 Notebook PC with respect to Incident ID xxxxxxx.

As per the e-mail description, I understand that you are facing few technical issues with the unit.

I would have been more than happy to have resolved your issue with the unit. However please be informed that this is a technical support team for United States that you have contacted. We do not have an option to provide technical support for the units outside the US. If there is a scenario where in the unit needs to be serviced or any part needs to be replaced then you will have to contact the HP United Kingdom support team. You can use the below contact options to get in touch with the United Kingdom support team:

Live chat with HP support specialist:

http://h50203.www5.hp.com/HPISWeb/Cu...m=null&ctype=n

Submit & Manage a support case:

http://www13.itrc.hp.com/service/mcm...89745+28353475

Once you contact the HP United Kingdom support team using the same I am sure they will provide you with the required information.

Note: Kindly do not use the Email support option as there is no email support option for the United Kingdom region. That’s the reason all the email cases logged in the United Kingdom region are being routed to the United States support team.

Please feel free to email us back. Once again, thank you for contacting HP e-Solutions; have a great day.

Regards,
Sandeep Kumar Vegesna
Technical Support Engineer, HP e-Solutions.
Do help share feedback with my Manager by mailing us at: _mailto: feedback_pt@hp.com

Sincerely,

HP Email Support

I then created support account login and send the same request. Reply to that:

<CASE:4612904985>
From : "HPSupport_Global" <wfm@g5u0677c.atlanta.hp.com>
To :
Received: 12:12

FR: rajesh_kumar2

************************************************** ************************
*** The following is information about a case at Hewlett Packard.
*** To respond to this message, please hit reply.
*** !!!!!! Don't change anything on the subject line !!!!!!!
***
*** You may also access your case directly at the following url:
*** - Use this portal if you have an HP support contract or HP Care Pack:
*** http://www.itrc.hp.com/service/mcmIt...?callID=xxxxxx
*** - Use this portal for support under warranty or out of warranty:
*** http://www.itrc.hp.com/service/mcmBs...o?callID=xxxxx
************************************************** ************************
Dear xxxxx,

Thank you for contacting HP e-Solutions.

This e mail is in reference to the case number: xxxxxx.

I understand from the case notes that you are experiencing issue with BIOS password on HP 510 Notebook PC.

I would like to inform you that according to the Serial Number: CND71125QV and Product Number: RU964AA, the warranty has expired as of on 18 Apr 2008.

However, we will do our best to resolve the issue. Please perform these steps and get back to us with the results so that we would assist you promptly:

In the latest HP notebooks we have an option to login in BIOS either using Administrator user or Limited user. Also, we can manage users in BIOS.

If the BIOS administrator password is not set, and HP ProtectTools security is enabled in Security Manager, then you may not be able to enter the Computer Setup utility (BIOS) at startup as a BIOS administrator. You will only be allowed to enter the setup as a ProtectTools user with limited access.

To know how to reset BIOS Administrator Password, please use the HP article (HP Notebook PCs - May Be Unable to Unable to Enter F10 System Setup as BIOS Admin if HP ProtectTools is enabled):

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport...dTypeId=321957

To know how to login to BIOS with Admin access, use the following steps:

1. Power on or restart the notebook PC.
2. Press F10 when the HP logo displays.
3. Select Security from the menu in the left column.
4. Click Setup BIOS Administrator Password .
5. Type an administrator BIOS password with a minimum of eight characters.
6. Click User Management .
7. Click Create New BIOS User account .
8. Read the on-screen instructions and then click OK .
9. Type a user ID and then select the user privilege level.
NOTE: The user password defaults to the user ID set in Step 9.
NOTE: The user password can changed by clicking Reset Password.
10. Select System Configuration from the menu in the left column.
11. Click Set Security Level and then select Change/View/Hide for each component listed.
12. Press F10 and then click Yes to confirm saving the changes to the BIOS.
13. The notebook PC will now prompt for a password each time the notebook is booted.Also, let us know if you have attempted any troubleshooting steps on this unit.

Please do not reply to this email. Kindly update this case using the Support Case Manager (SCM) web link:

For ITRC use: http://www2.itrc.hp.com/service/mcm/homepageRequest.do

For Business support Centre use: http://www.hp.com/bizsupport

You may also call HP Support at 0845 161 0050 for status updates.

This case will remain open for the next 3 business days only.

Thank you again for contacting HP e-Solutions.

Regards,

Rajesh Kumar
Technical Support Engineer - HP e-Solutions
Mon-Fri, 08:00-18:00 (GMT)

All pretty bog standard EXCEPT what happened next:
About two hours later my mobile rang. I answered and there was a call from HP support (actually same guy who replied above) asking if the fix worked. I told him I haven't tried it yet because I don't have laptop on me, but will do so in the evening and let him know the result. He asks me, that in case of above doesn't solve the problem, would I be able to arrange remote connection for them to log on to the laptop and try to solve the problem for me!

As promised, I was asked next day what time it would be convenient for me to take a call from them and let them to logon to the system. I missed the first call (it was bit late and I was busy at work) but I got left message that they tried to call and will call again. About 30 minutes later he called again and I got instructions on how to logon to HP's site where they make remote connection.

Got through the formalities and remote logon script installed and handed the machine over to their technician. He pretty much did everything he could to get the BIOS reset but unfortunately none worked, how ever, he told me one last possible solution regarding resetting the BIOS (standard remove CMOS battery and turn machine on don't work). He even asked if he can call me back in half an hour or so to check whether the last solution worked but because removing CMOS battery on this laptop literally mean it has to be taken a part, I had to say 'no' (I'm at work).

Remember: Now this laptop was cheap (cost me £370 at the time - July 2007), was at the time almost two years out of warranty and I am not a business customer, not even a small one, and they're going to this kind of trouble to help me out when they could have as well leave it to above email.

I then closed the support ticket but that wasn't the end of it. On Monday April 12th I got a call from their support, they want to give one more go to try to reset the BIOS. So it'll be another try on Wednesday. On Wednesday we went through the remote logon again and they tried few more tricks, unfortunately none worked. Even then they didn't give up, they told me the last resort solution to try if I wanted. Unfortunately that failed as well.

Although the password reset wasn't solved, it really wasn't the end of the world, but the service they provided was just astonishing.

I had to send feedback to HP with description what they did and remembering to mention names of those support people who helped me thanking them for such an amazing service, that went to to CEO and President Mark Hurd of HP. Of course you can't expect personal reply from him, he probably doesn't even read them but I did get thank you reply signed "CEO Customer Relations" that wasn't scripted so it seems that they keep that "personal touch" up throughout the organisation.

Needless to say, any time there are two equal products, one HP and another some other make, I buy HP - at least until I get bad service from them

[voracious71]

Originally Posted by Asawi

LOL! I had never even seen a Kobo in real life until 15 minutes ago!

Yeah, you're not missing much..

Really, it was almost comedic how godawful it was to deal with Kobo. I had a couple of friends that were in the market for an ereader and neither of them went with a Kobo, probably because they heard about the experience I had. One went with a Kindle 3, the other went with a classic Nook.

[voracious71]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

So what explains the fact that a quick check of the first page of people who don't think the OP should be given a gift card she didn't pay for shows only one person who has a Kobo at all, and even that person also has a Kindle? In fact, in five pages of this thread, there are only two people who own Kobo ereaders? (yeah, I checked)

We have people here with just about everything you can read an ebook on (21 types of devices, of which 20 are not Kobos). We have people from all over the world (7 countries that I count). We have people who've been here for years and people who just joined. We have people who buy DRM-locked ebooks without a second thought and people who rail against them (um, like me). By my count we have 26 separate posters who share (roughly) an opinion, something that rarely happens in MobileRead, and that opinion is "no, accidentally double-clicking the "buy" button does not entitle the OP to a free $50 from Kobo."

I don't doubt that their customer service sucks. But that still doesn't entitle the OP to a free gift card -- specifically, one she canceled payment on. And it still seems very strange that the OP's mother would insist on it. (mine, being a very polite person, would have said "oh, you spent too much!" on the original, even if it was for $10, and been scandalized if I'd demanded a free one too)

I wasn't saying that she's entitled to a free gift card, only that I too experienced the suckage that is Kobo..

My mother would have understood as well about the canceled gift card.

[Worldwalker]

Originally Posted by taustin

When did your experience happen? Cuz the links I mentioned above have been there for as long as I've dealt with Dell, which has been quite a few years.

It's been a fair number of years. Long enough ago that by the time a helpful user found the web page where I had documented (and snarked) the email exchange with Dell and sent me the file I needed, the monitor had failed (ripple, if I recall correctly). The monitor I got to replace it has also failed (the magic smoke came out) within the past year. And the company I bought it from was bought by another company, which subsequently closed it, and that was a couple of years back. That would put it somewhere between five and nine years ago. I spent a couple of hours trying every possible route to find what I needed, before my first call, long before my first email. Their website today looks like what I would expect of a computer manufacturer; back then, it didn't. Perhaps it was the amount of time they spent answering my phone calls and my emails in strange and ultimately negative ways ... multiplied by thousands more like me ... that led them to the conclusion that maybe the other computer companies were doing something right.

I think the very fact that I haven't even looked at Dell's website for all these years is a perfect example of how wrong they got it when it came to dealing with one lil' customer who just wanted one lil' file. The futile website searching, the frustrating phone calls, and especially the moronic replies to multiple emails, led to me being so ticked at Dell that I've never known if or when they fixed any of the problems because I never went back to look ... until now, actually. And even though I can acknowledge that they may have learned a lesson, they're still not getting my money. There are plenty of places eager to sell me hardware, and most of them don't drive me to red-faced fury when I interact with them. Lack of fury is a big selling point.

Edit:

I dug around on some backups, and the incident in question happened in 2002. Yeah, Dell managed to tick me off so badly that I've remained ticked for 9 years.

Here's part of the final email from Dell:

While you have a valid point of having purchased a Dell monitor, this
was not purchased from Dell but a third party. We do provide best of support and service to anyone who directly purchases from us. A Dell monitor purchased from Dell has three years warranty. The files you wish to download are part of this same service coverage. Therefore, the site doesn't allow such files to be downloaded directly without account identification number.

While we do appreciate your comments, we must respectfully decline your request.

Obviously, they've since realized that this sort of thing -- allowing driver downloads only to people who buy directly from Dell, and only during the warranty period -- was not making people want to buy from Dell; quite the opposite, in fact. But because they did it when I needed that wretched little file, they got me mad enough to stay mad for the better part of a decade.

That's just stupidity, though. The bad customer service comes from the multiple times (in four separate emails) in which they did not read my email, did not respond to what I was actually saying, and in one of the more memorable ones, said "Support for all third-party software and peripherals is provided by the original manufacturer of the product." (mind you, this was after several emails, including the one that was in reply to, in which we had been discussing specifically a Dell monitor) The entire exchange was like that, ranging from the ridiculous to the surreal.

They might have cleaned up their act. I'll never know, because that monitor was the last piece of hardware I will ever own with a Dell logo on it. And they can thank their assorted cut-rate offshore customer disservice personnel for that.

[Miss Understood]

You know I've been reading this thread and I have to say that the slurs agains the OP's mother are really distasteful. Is it so hard for people to imagine that the OP's mother could be a wonderful person but that the OP would possibly be embarrased by the whole situation? Say what you will about the OP but leave her mother's character out of it please.

[Miss Understood]

Originally Posted by unicorn1

I even had my dad call and ask me why I took one of my mom's gifts back, how embarassing!!! Of course I said it was a mistake and re-sent it. Unbelievable.

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

And then the mother apparently demanded both the real birthday gift and the accidental one, not being satisfied with what her daughter originally tried to give her. Seriously, do you know anyone who would do that? Then there's the whole response to my "word after greedy" thing. I dunno, Elf. Something here makes me itch.

Worldwalker, please read the above quote from unicorn1. Where does it say that her mother demanded the real birthday gift and the accidental one or that she was unsatisfied with her gift? It says her father called to ask why she took one of her mom's gifts back. It's possible her father was just confused and looking for clarification.

[Worldwalker]

Originally Posted by Miss Understood

Worldwalker, please read the above quote from unicorn1.

Please don't assume that I'm posting without having read any of the previous posts. That's unnecessarily insulting, and doesn't lead to a more productive discussion.

As for where it said that her mother was dissatisfied with not being given two gift cards:

First of all, as you pointed out, her father called her to ask why this had happened. Her father called her. So the spurious card had become a subject of discussion between the two parents, and apparently a sufficiently contentious point that the mother couldn't just email her daughter and ask "hey, what's with the gift cards?" -- a phone call from her husband became necessary.

Second, the amount that the OP was planning to spend was an issue. I've still not entirely understood this. If someone gives me a $50 book, I might not know exactly how much they spent -- they might have bought it at a premium at a rare book store or cheaply at Costco -- but if they give me a $50 gift card, there's really no room for ambiguity about exactly how much they paid for that card. She says later that she bought another $50 gift card for her mother. Remember that she had only intended to spend $50, not $100. There was a problem, an accidental duplicate was sent and then canceled. With my mother, that would have ended it (except for the obligatory "oh, that's too much, you shouldn't have" that attends any gift worth more than a dollar). With every mother I know, that would have ended it. People who like their mothers -- and there's no reason to believe the OP doesn't -- generally spend as much as they can afford, or as much as their gift-giving budget will allow, on special-occasion gifts for said mothers. Therefore, it's reasonable to assume the original $50 is at or close to the limit of available funding for birthday gifts for her mother. It's as much as the OP was planning to spend. Yet she ended up spending twice that. If spending $100 on a birthday gift for her mother was trivial, she'd have done it the first time (who gives their mother only half what they can afford to give her?). As a result of the interaction with her parents regarding the spurious gift card, and the fact that "it was a glitch, they accidentally sent it twice, just delete the second one" wasn't sufficient, she spent twice what she intended. Why wouldn't the original $50 be sufficient? Why wasn't it the thought that counted? Why did she have to spend twice what she had budgeted on gift cards? Her basic personality was demonstrated by her initial demands for a free gift card from Kobo, her selection of the most expensive book she could find to "stick it to them", and her coming here to try to recruit an online army to complain to Kobo and demand her free gift card. That doesn't impress me as someone motivated by pure generosity (and why would a generous person have only bought her mother half what she could have afforded to give her anyway?). Therefore, between the giver and the recipient, since it isn't from the giver, the motivation must come from the recipient. That is, the original $50 wasn't sufficient for her mother, making the purchase of the second card necessary.

Hence my assumption that it was her mother who wanted two gift cards for her birthday, rather than being satisfied with one, or none, or just a nice card.

For the tl;dr crowd: if she could have afforded $100 in the first place, she would have. Because she didn't, it stands to reason that someone other than her induced her to do so. That would seem to be her mother.

[Poppaea]

Originally Posted by unicorn1

I guess what made it worse was the fact that I wouldn't have been as upset if they hadn't of taken one back after I specifically said that wasn't an option. If they wouldn't have done this then my mom would have been none the wiser but instead it just opened up a whole thing with my dad asking why I took one back you know? So this pretty much let them know that I had only intended on spending $50.

You can say what you want, Miss Understood, but it is like Worldwalker and almost everybody else here said.

Gift cards have their value clearly written all over them. Period. Even if it were not stated on the card, it would have bought her no more than 50$ worth. Her mother would have known anyway she spent 50$ on her. So why is the second card so much of a problem?

So this was a problem for the whole family. It was discussed (obviously between the parents and) between father and daughter. None of us has a family where this would have been a problem, as everyone here stated also very clearly.

And I should add, I guess the strange behaviour of the parents is why she is so greedy to try to press a 50$ gift card as an "apology" from Kobo. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

I don't know why any of these observations is rude as the facts were provided by Unicorn happily as long as she thought we'd cry out on her behalf and attack Kobo. Which just didn't happen.

If you have any emotions to spare, Miss Understood, you should have pity with Unicorn. The life of a grown up led in greed and fear of her parents can not be a happy life.

[Miss Understood]

Perhaps my objections come from the fact that I tend to think well of everyone. I don't assume anything about anyone, especially someone I have not had any kind of contact with whatsoever. The OP posted here, not her mother, and no one really knows what kind of relationship she has with her mother. People do not always become jerks because of their parents, sometimes people have wonderful parents but the child is. . .not so much. I just think it's unfair to malign the OP's mother when we have seen no posts from her saying that the initial $50 gift card was not enough. I think the OP was oversensitive about the idea that through a glitch, either her own fault or the fault of the Kobo system, her mother started out with 2 $50 gift cards and then one was taken away. As a mother myself, I'd rather my kids didn't spend any money on me so if something like that happened I'd probably be upset about the excessive amount of money spent on the 2 gift cards.

As for my own opinion about the poster's situation, no, I don't think Kobo owes her anything. She should have checked to see if the initial order actually went through before initiating another one. I think Kobo went above and beyond by offering her a free book and I think spending $38 on a gift set was excessive.

My issue was with the characterization of the OP's mother who isn't even here to defend herself.

[Mortis]

I think the difference between the 2 amounts should be between the OP and her Mother, period, even though the OP brought it into the discussion, which I am sure the OP is now regretting, or not. Forget all about the Mother, thats not the issue.

To me and to a lot of other posters, it looks like the OP wanted something for nothing, we could all be wrong, but generally when this many people have the same view of what someone said, it usually means thats what they said.

[Miss Understood]

Originally Posted by Mortis

I think the difference between the 2 amounts should be between the OP and her Mother, period, even though the OP brought it into the discussion, which I am sure the OP is now regretting, or not. Forget all about the Mother, thats not the issue.

To me and to a lot of other posters, it looks like the OP wanted something for nothing, we could all be wrong, but generally when this many people have the same view of what someone said, it usually means thats what they said.

I agree, the OP did want something for nothing. I will drop the issue of what people have said about her mother.

[Mortis]

Originally Posted by Miss Understood

I agree, the OP did want something for nothing. I will drop the issue of what people have said about her mother.

My comment about her mother wasn't directed at anyone, I just thought we got off topic.

The OP shouldn't have brought up her mother, but she did, so people got side tracked a little

[Xanthe]

The OP brought her mother into the discussion and made her fair game for the rest of us to try to dissect motivations behind the tale. None here should feel that they've stepped beyond bounds by including her when they tried to make sense of the situation.

The majority of us here apparently have/had mothers who would have followed the "why did you have to waste your money buying me a present" school of thought. Running into mention of a mother for whom that does not seem to hold true is a strange and unique thing for most of us - something that is virtually incomprehensible and worthy of discussion.

[Pushka]

My mother tells me not to worry about birthday presents as she has everything she needs. I am telling my adult children the same thing. Sounds trite but it used to be that it was the thought that counts. And now we read the father was involved. Somehow I don't think kobo's customer service is the real issue here.

[adamselene]

I'm not stating an opinion on the OP here. But I will say that this “double click” theory is crap. If the Kobo web site is so poorly implemented that clicking on a button twice actually causes two purchases, they should take it offline until it's fixed. And maybe beat the help more. There's no excuse.