Kobo Discounts: Coupon Codes + Discussion

[icenova96]

Is Kobo not doing birthday codes anymore?

[winsomnia]

Originally Posted by icenova96

Is Kobo not doing birthday codes anymore?

I have consistently been given one code every year, including last year (2022).
I'm hopeful for getting one this year.

[issybird]

Kobo’s got one of its gift card promotions going. Through February 14.

UK: Buy a £50 gc, get a £10 credit
Canada: $60/$10
US: $50/$10

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by issybird

Kobo’s got one of its gift card promotions going. Through February 14.

UK: Buy a £50 gc, get a £10 credit
Canada: $60/$10
US: $50/$10

They've reverted to their usual sluggishness - I bought a qualifying card 23 hours ago, the bonus card has not yet arrived.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

They've reverted to their usual sluggishness - I bought a qualifying card 23 hours ago, the bonus card has not yet arrived.

I think the fine print used to say 72 hours although I don’t bother to read it anymore. They do always show up at least for me.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by issybird

I think the fine print used to say 72 hours although I don’t bother to read it anymore. They do always show up at least for me.

It's now been 48 hours for me, and I've just got off a 45 minute chat window which ended with "can you wait another day?" I started the chat to have a 'paper trail' in the event aht Kobo doesn't send the bonus card.

They're REALLY dragging the chain on promos at the moment - Bought an ebook with a promotional bonus ponits extra, and after enquiring was told it would take up to FOURTEEN DAYS to get the bonus points. And it seems they weren't kidding as it's now been five days already, and they have not been applied to my account

[Dr. Drib]

That's why I stay away from Kobo whenever this type of promotion comes up.

They're unprofessional, in my opinion.

[issybird]

IMO, Kobo has upped their game at the same time Amazon’s lost their edge. I’ve never not gotten this promotion and so long as it’s within the 72 hour window, fair enough. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to contact Kobo CS; on the other hand, I didn’t get the points for a $10 purchase in the current Amazon beta program and CS told me in so many words it couldn’t be fixed. Huh. That was the end of my participation.

The main thing about this Kobo promotion is that it’s such a great value. Basically, they’re giving you ten bucks (or quid) for free. Unlike Amazon promotions that say “spend $XX, get $YY” you don’t have to buy anything up front and there’s no expiration date on the bonus. You can bank it all and wait on your druthers or a sale price or both. And if you’ve got a credit balance the next time the promotion comes along, you can roll it forward. This is especially valuable if you think (as I do) that $50 is a large outlay.

Well, MMV, obviously. But sign me up for free money and effectively a 16.67% discount (it varies with the promotion) compared to all the conditions at Amazon which make the bonus worth less than they make it appear.

….and that’s not even getting into the convertibility issues going forward.

[sufue]

Originally Posted by issybird

...
And if you’ve got a credit balance the next time the promotion comes along, you can roll it forward. This is especially valuable if you think (as I do) that $50 is a large outlay.
...

I've actually had a Kobo rep tell me that this (using previous credit to buy another gift card to earn a bonus) was the reason I didn't get the bonus one time - although they manually gave it to me that time. So now I use my husband's largely inert Kobo account to give the gift card - and then I have to remember to use the bonus that's in his account. Which is a bit of a pain.

So I'm frustrated? amused? annoyed? to hear that the exact same thing works for you ! Maybe I'll try it from my account one more time.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by sufue

So I'm frustrated? amused? annoyed? to hear that the exact same thing works for you ! Maybe I'll try it from my account one more time.

I’ve not had it not work for me. So I was puzzled and then had a thought regarding what might account for it: I always send the “gift” to a different email and then I don’t cash in the gift until after the bonus hits my account. If that’s not been your practice, it might do the trick.

But then, Kobo being Kobo. Why knows?

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by issybird

I’ve not had it not work for me. So I was puzzled and then had a thought regarding what might account for it: I always send the “gift” to a different email and then I don’t cash in the gift until after the bonus hits my account. If that’s not been your practice, it might do the trick.

But then, Kobo being Kobo. Why knows?

I might have to try this next time. I do send the gift card to a different email address, but have not tried waiting for the bonus card before cashing in the purchased card. With 5 hours to go before the 72 hours are up, I have not received the bonus card. I did get an email an hour ago from the Kobo CSR I spoke with yesterday saying:

And since this is the 3rd day when you purchased the promo, and the promo should be able to credit on your account, I will now escalate this issue to the higher department to manually add your credits to your account.

This is why I always contact Kobo support, to have eligibilty verified in the event of issues like this.

[issybird]

My bonus showed up overnight last night which was typical timing, i.e., the small hours of the third day.

Out of curiosity I added it up and this makes $50 in bonus money since last August.

[LoveMySofa]

stupid question - how do you all contact kobo customer service?

I tried via "Chat with us", but nothing happens. I turned off my pop-up blocker, and still nothing happens. Is anyone else here able to contact with Chat, and if so, how so?

I bought the $50 GC, to get the $10 GC. But my receipt, and the confirmation email, shows that the GC is for $49.98! I'm sure you can understand that I did not accidentally hit 49.98 instead of 50. I wonder whether I will be able to get the $10 since I didn't actually get the $50 GC.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by LoveMySofa

stupid question - how do you all contact kobo customer service?

I tried via "Chat with us", but nothing happens. I turned off my pop-up blocker, and still nothing happens. Is anyone else here able to contact with Chat, and if so, how so?

I have trouble getting the chat to load in Vivaldi (chromium-based). Too lazy to track down the issue, so I just switch to Waterfox (firefox-based) to use it.

[LoveMySofa]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I have trouble getting the chat to load in Vivaldi (chromium-based). Too lazy to track down the issue, so I just switch to Waterfox (firefox-based) to use it.

Hey, that worked! Thanks.