I originally bought a WiFi Kobo for DH at a Borders with extra warranty, and it died in less than 4 months of gentle usage. Screen developed these funny bars etc. I didn't pursue it immediately because I thought the chain closing meant I was out of luck but folks here told me otherwise, and they were right. After dealing with their unwieldy & inefficient (but polite - then) 'tiered' system eventually I found Kobo would exchange it if I covered the shipping & insurance to Canada. Sadly the refurbished they sent was also a lemon (screen issue - lines & bars again in weeks), and so was the one after that. At least we were given a domestic address the last time!
As the warranty was at the defunct Borders you could say they were being 'nice' in honoring it for awhile. However, its not-so-nice to send me back readers that were doomed to fail in weeks no matter how gently we treated them!
Refurbished is only fair if it really IS fixed!
I was paying pretty high shipping & insurance, and we were feeling burned until they sent that Kobo Touch, since I had paid out enough just returning those rotten units to have bought a Kindle or Nook (which would still be working!) - and this is beyond the purchase price
The refurbished Kobo Touch that came in March was an upgrade that made us willing to forgive all the nonsense we'd gone through before - until this week, when it broke too (That's 5 months of gentle use. A new record!) DH took it out of its out-sized extra protective case in a waiting room and found 1/4 of the screen was frozen on the 'powered off' image. When he got home, and powered up it up again, half the screen was now unreadable, as another quarter only changed from dark to light areas.
I know DH was treating it extremely gently. The day it failed it was in its tough case, carried in a bag of soft clothes, in case he was admitted to the hospital.
I don't honestly know if the screen is 'broken' - there's no exterior damage and it hadn't been dropped or anything like that (no walls or tables involved!). The battery had just acted up again two days before, so I am going to see what I can do with the factory reset that's on the threads here somewhere or maybe even try taking out the battery and putting it back before I give up entirely. I am convinced there's any easy fix for it, though I may not be able to provide it.
Part of my irritation was the lack of sympathy and unhelpful attitude of their rep - he bordered on rude. He wouldn't even suggest the other reset, or repair service, or anything...then asks me 'if there was anything else he could do to help.' Cheeky!
I've seen plenty of other irritated customers threads looking up its issues, and a few noted that customer service and support for it were less generous than before. I could see that happening if there have been many returns.
Anyway,
for listening. At least sharing with you guys made me feel a little better. I'll get him a Sony, Kindle or Nook next time there's a good deal in my range - and that will be that.