Aura One return dupe?

[KipPrdy]

Got the Aura One a few weeks ago. Other than a bug with the backlight failing to shut off that developed, I liked the thing a lot.

(One big criticism, though the more red lighting for night reading is nice, the illumination is wildly uneven.

Also, no landscape. Seriously?)

Up until today - this morning, it suddenly quit. The light opposite the power button comes on, but that's all. I can even do a reset (light turns blue, light turns red, light turns blue - no response from the screen).

I've kept it plugged in - the blue light randomly comes on and the unit gets hot. No screen response.

Contacted Kobo and they said they'd replace it.

Great, except...

I've had it less than a month, so I can return for a refund.

Their replacement deal means I won't have it for about three weeks, at the end of which I'm out of the return period. I have to send it back to them, then they send me a replacement.

So... I'd be pretty stupid to take their offer, wouldn't I?

It seems that these are having a fairly high failure rate. Maybe they ought to work out something better.

I guess I have to send mine back. Only problem is, I ordered it from Canada, and I'm in the US. What a pain.

I really don't understand Kobo's indifference to the US market. (Reminds me of Dragon Anywhere, a potentially killer product massively let down by quality issues and bad - in that case atrocious - customer service.)

[Fursty Ferret]

Might take even longer than 3 weeks through Kobo - they told me yesterday that all shipments were on hold as they ship/collect through TNT. This apparently applies to new sales and returns.

[JSWolf]

There is NOT a high failure rate. For everyone who posts about a problem, there are more people who don't have a problem. Do you come on a forum and start a thread on your devices that work and have no problem? I didn't think so.

[KipPrdy]

Hmmmm... Doesn't mean it's not a high failure rate.

The fact that many people don't have a problem doesn't mean there's not a high failure rate. If 10,000 people something, and one thousand don't have a problem, that's a high failure rate, even if those one thousand don't post.

Even if only 1,000 have a problem, that's still a high failure rate, even if the other 9,000 didn't post.

Should be obvious.

As I said, it SEEMS like they're having a high failure rate - I don't know what the actual failure rate. Maybe somebody else knows for sure?

I do know that I've had it for less than two weeks and it died, something five Kindles over several years never did, never even had a malfunction of any sort despite a taking them all over the world - Kobo hasn't gone anywhere quit.

I also know, which is what I posted about, that the customer service reply was unacceptable - a new product fails, and... we'll send you a replacement weeks later.

That's what I was wondering about. Seems like a pretty bad deal for me - would make a lot more sense just to return the dead one and buy a whole new one.

However, I called Indigo in Canada and they were much more reasonable: they immediately dispatched a replacement and trust me to return the dead one. Closer to what you'd reasonably expect.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

There is NOT a high failure rate. For everyone who posts about a problem, there are more people who don't have a problem. Do you come on a forum and start a thread on your devices that work and have no problem? I didn't think so.

I can start that thread if you like.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by KipPrdy

Hmmmm... Doesn't mean it's not a high failure rate.

The fact that many people don't have a problem doesn't mean there's not a high failure rate. If 10,000 people something, and one thousand don't have a problem, that's a high failure rate, even if those one thousand don't post.

Even if only 1,000 have a problem, that's still a high failure rate, even if the other 9,000 didn't post.

Should be obvious.

As I said, it SEEMS like they're having a high failure rate - I don't know what the actual failure rate. Maybe somebody else knows for sure?

No, we have no idea. Or, at least, I have never seen any numbers from Kobo, Amazon or any of the other ereader manufacturers. As they continue to be in business, the failure rates must be, in their opinion, reasonable. Until I see otherwise, I'll stick with the idea that the people with problems are making more noise than the ones without. I don't think the failure rate is to bad.

I also know, which is what I posted about, that the customer service reply was unacceptable - a new product fails, and... we'll send you a replacement weeks later.

That's what I was wondering about. Seems like a pretty bad deal for me - would make a lot more sense just to return the dead one and buy a whole new one.

However, I called Indigo in Canada and they were much more reasonable: they immediately dispatched a replacement and trust me to return the dead one. Closer to what you'd reasonably expect.

This something I've never understood, but maybe it's something different in the Australian consumer laws. If I buy something and it doesn't work, it's the responsibility of the seller to fix the problem, not the manufacturer. To me, the last thing you did is what you should have done first.

[pagepack]

Originally Posted by davidfor

This something I've never understood, but maybe it's something different in the Australian consumer laws. If I buy something and it doesn't work, it's the responsibility of the seller to fix the problem, not the manufacturer. To me, the last thing you did is what you should have done first.

WHSmiths in the UK tried to fob me off when I had an issue with original Glo years ago. I said my contract is with you, not Kobo, they soon changed their tune.

Anything over £100 I also pay on my credit card, as under the Sales of Goods Act they are jointly liable with the retailer. When I was given the run around by an online retailer over a faulty LCD TV, I rang my card provider up and said you sort it out. Card provider rang me back a couple of hours later, new TV on the way.

[Empty Pen]

I'm going through the refund process with Kobo myself. I debated on whether to wait for the replacement Aura One or just refund it and buy another one. I decided it would be faster to just refund it since I only have 30 calendar days to do so according to the term of sales.

However it's been a week and I've yet to hear anything back from Kobo except "Please allow us 24-48 business hours to provide you with an update on your request" every time I ask what's going on. I have a little over two weeks left to hit the 30 days from purchase mark and I brought the issue up with Kobo the day after I opened the box.

I agree that US customers get screwed over and the call center that Kobo outsourced to seems to agree. The person helping me basically stated that if I had purchased it at a store it would have been a lot better for me. I would have loved to have bought it at a store, I searched high and low for an Independent Bookstore near me that might carry them, but no one seemed to know what they were so I had to buy it directly from Kobo. Buying directly is fine when there's no problems with the reader but I'm starting to dislike their customer service.

[Barbara1955]

Seems to me be best to Return for Refund then when the Bugs are worked out you can buy again. IF they take it off the market you are still able to buy something else.

[bookwurm70]

Originally Posted by KipPrdy

Contacted Kobo and they said they'd replace it.

Great, except...

I've had it less than a month, so I can return for a refund.

Their replacement deal means I won't have it for about three weeks, at the end of which I'm out of the return period. I have to send it back to them, then they send me a replacement.

So... I'd be pretty stupid to take their offer, wouldn't I?
)

Did they say you have to send it back right away? When I asked for a replacement, they sent me the new one and then I returned the old one. I had them both, so I could see them side by side to compare. This was when the ONE first came out, so maybe they changed the policy.