Does Kobo or Amazon ever *officially* acknowledge their devices problems?

[k9reeder]

I'm just curious, and don't keep a close eye on the industry.

I know a lot of the forum is taken up with user reports of hardware problems. I see people saying, this or that has now been "fixed". For example the lighting and green/red blotching on the Aura One. The source for these reports often seems unknown, anonymously second hand via corporate underlings/insiders, or assumption.

I suppose it would be bad for business for a corporation to officially issue a statement acknowledging a hardware fault, straight from the horse's mouth. But do they do it? Or done it ever? If so, where can you go view it?

Kind of frustrating if you're aware of reports of hardware problems but have no idea if it is widespread, overblown, rare, or worthwhile to enter a replacement lottery.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by k9reeder

I see people saying, this or that has now been "fixed". For example the lighting and green/red blotching on the Aura One. The source for these reports often seems unknown, anonymously second hand via corporate underlings/insiders, or assumption.

To pick that one, the lighting issue for the KA1 has not been fixed, a device bought two months ago had exactly the same issue (blotchy ComfortLight in the bottom corners of the screen) as original devices did.
People saying it has been fixed have probably just gotten lucky and bought a unit with no issues, so assume all units now have no issues, or are passing on misinformation from a clueless first line support person.
Unless the problem is bad enough to have to do a recall, companies are unlikely to change hardware within a model, they will just wait and (hopefully) fix it next time around.

[NiLuJe]

I'd have to dig the actual ChangeLogs up, but the Kindle 3 (or at the very least a large batch of 'em) was initially released with a funky eInk driver that handled temperature changes very badly (think how an eInk screen behaves when ~0°C (i.e., *very* sluggish), except, well, not anywhere near 0°C ), and this warranted an actual mention in the "what's new" of the FW that fixed it (and it potentially made it to the CS's script before that) .

Granted, that was a while ago, I don't recall anything of the sort since, and everything's hasn't be particularly rosy... (the PW1 lighting was generally not great, the PW2 had a few light pinholes issues, etc.).

[Quoth]

It's rare for large companies to admit anything, because they are afraid of litigation.
I've found Kobo very hard to deal with (awkward to contact and admit nothing) and Amazon, in general on all issues (web page adverts, display cost vs checkout cost, book publishing issues) very awkard and misleading, EXCEPT their online chat about Kindle, they did try to be helpful, explained issues and gave links to update. However they refuse to admit that the Sync & Collection "Warnings" if your WiFi is off, or Sync is disabled or if book is via USB are abusive and annoying or bugs. They say that's intentional. They are determined to push Cloud Usage and want users to send ALL books / documents to the Kindle via the Cloud (no doubt so that they can analyse your interests?).
So really none is good and none is "better". Anyway, I'm more interested in them providing better library management on the devices, ability to remove Cloud/Goodreads/Adverts/Recommendations (really should be user choice and opt out by default, see GDPR), fix bugs and stop doing pointless GUI & Advert changes.

I found that on Kindle the Goodreads & Store is only Greyed out, not hidden if disabled in Parental control and that the voice view is disabled if any Parental item is blocked. Also the double tap is too short, it's almost always sensed as two single taps. The Voice view is poor design for partial sighted and pathetic for listening to book via synthetic voice. An American female accent only? Useless navigation. Did they have a Student write it in a summer break?
Even with Calibre getting per book annotation of Kindle is worse than Kobo, and on Kobo it's useless without the Kobo Utilities on Calibre.

Both companies only want you to load books you buy from them and encourage you to delete them after reading and rely on Cloud. DO NOT rely on Cloud.

[Pizza_Cant_Read]

I hope this is fixed. My birthday is coming up, or maybe Amazon will release something even better! Quality of hardware is very important. I have gone from wanting a Kobo for the sake of a few features and supporting the underdog to 'let it all burn' sort of mentality. Both of my Oasis e-readers have worked fine.

If Kobo is going to send out defective units at such a scale then they obviously don't care enough about my business. Kindle will release an Oasis 3 before Christmas 2019 and I will order it from Chinese Amazon and it will be much easier than dealing with the problems you all describe, not to mention having to purchase a Kobo through a third party and then not receiving any support with any issue I later discover. Feel bad for all the international Kobo customers who bent over backwards to get their hands on one of these devices only to get stuck with faulty hardware.

As long as Amazon doesn't screw over calibre support, I will bide my time and wait for Kobo to get their QC issues. The 'principle' simply isn't worth it anymore.

Maybe Boyue or a similar Chinese company will beat them to the punch. The Mimas Likebook looks really sweet, and I could journal at night time on my powerful ereader. How much better does it get than that? Probably won't get it because of potential quality issues, but my money is going towards the best device.

The Oasis 2 is already satisfying. Forma would have been great for the larger screen and the temperature control for night time reading. Also I like being able to organize by series, as well as collections...

tl;dr I'm not proud of my Kindle infatuation but I am not going to write Kobo a blank check just because they represent a viable competitor to the Amazon monopoly. They need to prove they are a dog worth betting on. Still waiting on the ultimate reader that can hold a Library of Congress in an organized fashion

[compurandom]

Originally Posted by Pizza_Cant_Read

If Kobo is going to send out defective units at such a scale then they obviously don't care enough about my business.
[/B]

Don't forget, a disproportionate number of people show up in these forums with complaints. Most people who have these devices are happy with them.

The proof of that can be found in the complaints in the Walmart thread...where they complain a lot of the devices are sold out...

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by compurandom

Don't forget, a disproportionate number of people show up in these forums with complaints. Most people who have these devices are happy with them.

Is every device they sell defective? Clearly not.
Do they have a history, across several devices, of issues (particularly lighting issues) showing up in a significant proportion of devices? Yes.
These aren't random issues, they are design defects that show up in the same way for specific models. The Forma often has a bright strip along the right-hand side. The One often has blotchy coloured lower corners with the ComfortLight on. The Clara often has light bleed along the sides.
Those things don't have to happen to 100%, or 50%, or even 10% of units to be evidence of poor quality control. We can't just ignore that.

The proof of that can be found in the complaints in the Walmart thread...where they complain a lot of the devices are sold out...

People who haven't bought them yet can't have encountered a problem...
Plus most of the problems are liveable with. I haven't returned my One, because taking the good with the bad I still like the device. But it has been poorly designed/built.

[kobayashi]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

Is every device they sell defective? Clearly not.

Except that every Forma sold is defective. No one has been able or will be able to produce a picture of a non-defective Forma. Keep waiting for that unicorn.

[Calenorn]

Originally Posted by kobayashi

Except that every Forma sold is defective. No one has been able or will be able to produce a picture of a non-defective Forma. Keep waiting for that unicorn.

Your opinion. FWIW.

[kobayashi]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

Your opinion. FWIW.

Produce that picture then. ROTFLMAO

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by kobayashi

Produce that picture then. ROTFLMAO

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. As has been noted forums are magnets for people with issues with their devices.

[Barbara1955]

Originally Posted by k9reeder

I'm just curious, and don't keep a close eye on the industry.

I know a lot of the forum is taken up with user reports of hardware problems. I see people saying, this or that has now been "fixed". For example the lighting and green/red blotching on the Aura One. The source for these reports often seems unknown, anonymously second hand via corporate underlings/insiders, or assumption.

I suppose it would be bad for business for a corporation to officially issue a statement acknowledging a hardware fault, straight from the horse's mouth. But do they do it? Or done it ever? If so, where can you go view it?

Kind of frustrating if you're aware of reports of hardware problems but have no idea if it is widespread, overblown, rare, or worthwhile to enter a replacement lottery.

Not unless its a Safety Hazard.

[kobayashi]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. As has been noted forums are magnets for people with issues with their devices.

And yet no one can produce a single non-defective Forma. Odd.

[Calenorn]

Originally Posted by kobayashi

And yet no one can produce a single non-defective Forma. Odd.

Your definition of defective might be different from others.

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by kobayashi

And yet no one can produce a single non-defective Forma. Odd.

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

Do I need to explain that concept to you?