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hippoherder · 12-06-2010, 10:06 AM

Please be careful when taking part in a sales promotion from Kobo. They sent me an email for a Cyber-Monday sale stating that I would earn a free ebook if I bought over $30 in ebooks. I could also earn discounts for spending less money. I have noticed that many of their other sales promotions are limited to a specific list of books and not their entire catalogue so I checked the sales promotion email several times looking for any restrictions. I followed the promotion link back to the Kobo website each time and looked for restrictions there as well. I did not see any restrictions to be placed on the free ebook so I spent the required $30.

When I received my email with the coupon for the free ebook it stated that I had to choose from a list of 180 ebooks, significantly less than their entire catalogue. I believe this was underhanded. Had they provided this list of books in the original promotion I could have checked to see if it included anything I wanted to read. As it is, I feel like they performed a bait and switch, promising a free ebook and then hitting me with restrictions once they had my money. I have emailed Kobo to complain about the promotion and the matter is still under consideration.

One of the primary reasons I buy from Kobo is that they offer apps for the ipad and for Android phones while Sony does not. As Sony is supposed to release these apps soon Kobo is about to lose the functionality advantage they hold. With all other factors being equal it will be hard for me to keep buying from a company that I feel hides restrictions and is not perfectly honest in its sales.

Be sure to check the fine print when buying from Kobo, provided that you can find the fine print, that is.

12-06-2010, 10:06 AM	#1
hippoherder Member Posts: 10 Karma: 86 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Sony PRS 300	Be careful when buying from Kobo Please be careful when taking part in a sales promotion from Kobo. They sent me an email for a Cyber-Monday sale stating that I would earn a free ebook if I bought over $30 in ebooks. I could also earn discounts for spending less money. I have noticed that many of their other sales promotions are limited to a specific list of books and not their entire catalogue so I checked the sales promotion email several times looking for any restrictions. I followed the promotion link back to the Kobo website each time and looked for restrictions there as well. I did not see any restrictions to be placed on the free ebook so I spent the required $30. When I received my email with the coupon for the free ebook it stated that I had to choose from a list of 180 ebooks, significantly less than their entire catalogue. I believe this was underhanded. Had they provided this list of books in the original promotion I could have checked to see if it included anything I wanted to read. As it is, I feel like they performed a bait and switch, promising a free ebook and then hitting me with restrictions once they had my money. I have emailed Kobo to complain about the promotion and the matter is still under consideration. One of the primary reasons I buy from Kobo is that they offer apps for the ipad and for Android phones while Sony does not. As Sony is supposed to release these apps soon Kobo is about to lose the functionality advantage they hold. With all other factors being equal it will be hard for me to keep buying from a company that I feel hides restrictions and is not perfectly honest in its sales. Be sure to check the fine print when buying from Kobo, provided that you can find the fine print, that is.