MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Aura HD Beware Kobo's non-existent return policy!

graycyn · 05-06-2013, 06:25 PM

Wow, I hate to say something negative, but this needs saying so that other folks are warned.

My Kobo Aura HD has exhibited, to date, glo light flickering (on both low and moderate levels, 4% and 19%), two-page turns, once (during a flickering incident at 4%, this was happening every 3 pages!!!), inability to sync when connected to strong WiFi signal, i.e. sync was rolling for over 20 minutes and nothing was happening and there are no ebooks in the associated Kobo account. The only thing TO sync was my reading life awards/stats. Canceling sync and hitting sync again finally got me an updated sync date.

Another interesting thing, I could not search the book store and get any results! I entered two author names, Elizabeth George (very mainstream) and Dorothy L. Sayers, whose books I *know* are available at Kobo, because I've bought some, and all I get is "0 results found".

Lastly, having disconnected from WiFi, I then attempted to connect again and could not! I was able to connect to the same network with my Galaxy Note with no issue. And this was the strongest and most reliable WiFi hotspot in town.

Anyway, I explain all this to the Kobo CS person, and I indicated that I wished to return for a refund. (I wasn't sure I trusted an exchange process to go smoothly, but I planned to buy another.) She said that Kobo DOES NOT DO RETURNS FOR REFUNDS! So, if you are not sure about whether or not you will like the Aura HD in person, don't buy expecting to be able to return for a refund, even if you get a defective unit!

I pointed out to the CS rep that the Kobo website says that items can be returned within 30 days of the shipment date, which I am well within. She said "That's only for an exchange." OK, but that "exchange" part is *NOT* specified on the website, which I also pointed out.

The upshot is, you only can exchange a unit you aren't satisfied with, and cannot return for a refund. This, I feel, is a very poor policy! I bought a Sony T1 I didn't like the screen on (dark, bad ghosting) and had no trouble returning for a refund.

I will be returning my reader for an exchange, and if I get a second defective unit, I'll give it one more go. Really hoping the exchange goes smoothly though, I like the reader.

05-06-2013, 06:25 PM	#1
graycyn Wizard Posts: 1,585 Karma: 11380098 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: NE Oregon Device: Kobo Sage, Pocketbook Era, Kobo Forma, Kindle Oasis 2	Beware Kobo's non-existent return policy! Wow, I hate to say something negative, but this needs saying so that other folks are warned. My Kobo Aura HD has exhibited, to date, glo light flickering (on both low and moderate levels, 4% and 19%), two-page turns, once (during a flickering incident at 4%, this was happening every 3 pages!!!), inability to sync when connected to strong WiFi signal, i.e. sync was rolling for over 20 minutes and nothing was happening and there are no ebooks in the associated Kobo account. The only thing TO sync was my reading life awards/stats. Canceling sync and hitting sync again finally got me an updated sync date. Another interesting thing, I could not search the book store and get any results! I entered two author names, Elizabeth George (very mainstream) and Dorothy L. Sayers, whose books I know are available at Kobo, because I've bought some, and all I get is "0 results found". Lastly, having disconnected from WiFi, I then attempted to connect again and could not! I was able to connect to the same network with my Galaxy Note with no issue. And this was the strongest and most reliable WiFi hotspot in town. Anyway, I explain all this to the Kobo CS person, and I indicated that I wished to return for a refund. (I wasn't sure I trusted an exchange process to go smoothly, but I planned to buy another.) She said that Kobo DOES NOT DO RETURNS FOR REFUNDS! So, if you are not sure about whether or not you will like the Aura HD in person, don't buy expecting to be able to return for a refund, even if you get a defective unit! I pointed out to the CS rep that the Kobo website says that items can be returned within 30 days of the shipment date, which I am well within. She said "That's only for an exchange." OK, but that "exchange" part is NOT specified on the website, which I also pointed out. The upshot is, you only can exchange a unit you aren't satisfied with, and cannot return for a refund. This, I feel, is a very poor policy! I bought a Sony T1 I didn't like the screen on (dark, bad ghosting) and had no trouble returning for a refund. I will be returning my reader for an exchange, and if I get a second defective unit, I'll give it one more go. Really hoping the exchange goes smoothly though, I like the reader.