Further Tales of Kobo's Lousy Customer Service

[khalleron]

On 4/19 I contacted Kobo CS about a book I had bought that was defective. Wherever there should have been an italicized word, the word(s) were just missing. The rep I talked to looked at the book, and said she would remove it from my library and give me a store credit within 24 hours. (hah!)

On 4/27, I received an email that they needed a copy of the PayPal receipt, which I sent.

This morning, I get a credit on my PayPal account, not for the $4.06 which the book cost, but for $.41. Yes, I got 41 cents back on a book that costs over 4 dollars.

I also got an email from Kobo teling me of the refund and telling me how much they value my business.

Now, it's possible that this is a book that I used my 90% off 'Friends' coupon on (I bought a bunch of books that day, I don't really remember which book I used the coupon on), but even so, shouldn't I get either the value of the book, or the refund plus another coupon?

I am so mad right now.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by khalleron

On 4/19 I contacted Kobo CS about a book I had bought that was defective. Wherever there should have been an italicized word, the word(s) were just missing. The rep I talked to looked at the book, and said she would remove it from my library and give me a store credit within 24 hours. (hah!)

On 4/27, I received an email that they needed a copy of the PayPal receipt, which I sent.

This morning, I get a credit on my PayPal account, not for the $4.06 which the book cost, but for $.41. Yes, I got 41 cents back on a book that costs over 4 dollars.

I also got an email from Kobo teling me of the refund and telling me how much they value my business.

Now, it's possible that this is a book that I used my 90% off 'Friends' coupon on (I bought a bunch of books that day, I don't really remember which book I used the coupon on), but even so, shouldn't I get either the value of the book, or the refund plus another coupon?

I am so mad right now.

You will only get back what you paid, nothing else. I returned two PDFs bought with 90% off coupons and I only got cents just like you.

[PeterT]

Did you try both the ePub and Kobo version of the book?

[khalleron]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Did you try both the ePub and Kobo version of the book?

Yes.

Extra verbiage to get past the silly length requirements on replies.

[Smartie]

If they return list price instead of purchase price, I will return all my Kobo books

[khalleron]

Originally Posted by Smartie

If they return list price instead of purchase price, I will return all my Kobo books

Are all your books defective?

[disconnected]

I had a problem once with a book I bought using a coupon. I filled out the form on the site explaining the problem and mentioning the coupon. They were very nice about it.

They credited me the amount that I'd paid and said that they had no active coupon that they could give me but they said the next time I bought a couponable book to write and tell them the order number and they would credit me the amount equaling what the discount would have been if I'd used my original coupon on that book.

I notified them when I bought my next book and they did give me the credit right away. I was pretty impressed.

Maybe they've gotten less flexible since then; it was quite a while ago.

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by disconnected

I had a problem once with a book I bought using a coupon. I filled out the form on the site explaining the problem and mentioning the coupon. They were very nice about it.

They credited me the amount that I'd paid and said that they had no active coupon that they could give me but they said the next time I bought a couponable book to write and tell them the order number and they would credit me the amount equaling what the discount would have been if I'd used my original coupon on that book.

I notified them when I bought my next book and they did give me the credit right away. I was pretty impressed.

Maybe they've gotten less flexible since then; it was quite a while ago.

It seems the Kate isn't sure if she did or did not use a coupon on the defective book, and thus it's not likely she could have informed Kobo of the fact when she requested the refund.

[khalleron]

I protested to Kobo, and I just got a refund for the full price of the book.

Squeaky wheel is now greased.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by khalleron

I protested to Kobo, and I just got a refund for the full price of the book.

Squeaky wheel is now greased.

...in other words, this is a tale of over-and-above customer service. Maybe the Subject line should be changed?

[RZetlin]

Based on what you wrote, you only paid $0.41 for the book.

So you are complaining that Kobo gave you exact change back?

Originally Posted by RZetlin

Based on what you wrote, you only paid $0.41 for the book.

So you are complaining that Kobo gave you exact change back?

There is the lost coupon, which would be disappointing. Then again, I doubt that you would get a coupon back if you returned something that was purchased with a physical coupon (regardless of the retailer) so it doesn't seem entirely out of line.

[khalleron]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

There is the lost coupon, which would be disappointing. Then again, I doubt that you would get a coupon back if you returned something that was purchased with a physical coupon (regardless of the retailer) so it doesn't seem entirely out of line.

If I returned defective merchandise, I would expect to get the merchandise replaced. If Kobo had offered me another defect-free copy of the book, I'd have been satisfied. I wouldn't expect any retailer to replace a defective item and demand the amount of the coupon I had originally used.

I almost never return things for money. If I had wanted the money I wouldn't have spent it in the first place.

As it is, a defect-free copy of the book costs more than twice as much as the one I had, and I still don't have a coupon to use on it, but I'll have to be satisfied that I got the value of the book back.

Anyway, as is pretty typical of Kobo, you can get fair play from their CS if you protest often enough. It's the fact that you have to keep at them and keep at them that makes their CS so abysmal.

I'm not going to change the title of the thread because A) it took more than a week for them to get back to me instead of the 24 hours they promised and B) I wouldn't have gotten a resolution if I hadn't kept after them.

[PeterT]

The defect is in the content from the original publisher not from Kobo.

I've seen this error numerous times in content from many many publishers.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by PeterT

The defect is in the content from the original publisher not from Kobo.

It likely is, but do we know in this case? Kobo has been known to wreck content after it has been provided to them in the past by replacing the CSS in the provided file with something of their own.