Touch Kobo is Junk - Buyer Beware

[SCION]

I had to issue a refund to the purchaser of my Kobo.

When performing a factory reset to prepare item for shipment, unit is unresponsive. Will not power on. After 5 hours of charging there is no change. Screen is white. Tried performing several hard resets to no avail. I did the paper clip in the back thing and the hold down power switch and home button thing. The device had been powered off for several days (fully charged). I had anticipated selling it when I got my Sony. The factory reset was performed successfully, and it was at the Welcome screen. I decided to turn it on just to make sure it was good to go. I wasn't going to, but something kept prompting me to do it.

After Googling I've discovered that this is common. I can deal with bugs and anticipated firmware updates for missing features. But hardware failure within several days/weeks of purchase is UNACCEPTABLE. I don't know who slapped this crap together, but it's an embarrassment.

I don't recommend buying one of these devices from someone in the United States who purchased from Borders. Someone may try to sell knowing the unit doesn't power on. Be cautious.



EDIT by Moderator: This thread is closed (see final post). OP's resolution as follows:

Originally Posted by SCION

I was contacted here at MobileRead by a Kobo representative who would like to assist me with my issue. I won't keep adding fuel to the fire by continuing to make known my frustration. Everyone knows how I feel and that's that. Let's see if this thread can make its way off of the front page. It has attracted enough attention. I'll do my part by not posting to it anymore.

[EverC]

I just returned my 2 1/2 week old Kobo Touch today.

The storage error issue is nothing compared to what happened after the firmware update. When I had the storage error I was at least able to put my books back on, which is a pain, but at least it would work afterwards.
After the firmware update I was unable to put new books on my Kobo and I believed at first that it was a Calibre incompatibility.

I decided to factory reset my Kobo and redo everything and have a clean new slate after my Kobo crashed 4 times and was unresponsive and needed several hard resets.
I spent all day and night yesterday trying to put my books back on and I was unable to upload more than 10 books at once and in the end it would be stuck "processing content" after uploading only around 25 books.
I used Calibre and the regular drag and drop method, I tried not upgrading the firmware, etc. My Kobo really can't see more than 25 books!!!

I cannot waste my nights fretting over my ereader and go to work after having 2 hours of sleep, so I guess it's time to let it go. I was so frustrated. I don't think that's a simple software issue anymore and I am glad i was able to return it for a full refund.

I really loved having an ebook reader, but I don't really want to buy another Kobo. The Kindle is a no go, because my books are mostly epub and the Sony ereaders are quite pricey. Maybe I'll wait for the new PRS-T1.

[molman]

Don't you think the title should be "My Kobo is Junk". I'm rocking a sample size of two units from Borders (US) with none of the issues you are proclaiming. I'm sorry but I just struggle with posts like these where people make sweeping proclamations. I could likewise say SONY TV's are Junk because mine crapped out about 6 months back with a reportedly common issue (if I believe the internet) just out of warranty, but really.

As to who made this "crap", probably the same underpaid poor Chinese workers who make all your electronics including your new SONY eReader.

I appreciate the frustration but I keep getting the sense that people feel their own situation encapsulates a universal perspective. If you were a store selling these and could give me a failure rate for a statistically significant sample size I would pay attention, beyond that it's just bad luck. Utilise that warranty and on-sell your replacement whilst your enjoying your new SONY eReader. Life's too short to be getting upset over consumer goods.

EDIT: @EverC I would have done the same though I'd likely have been tempted to try a swap for another unit first. Like you said life is too short. That SONY T1 looks like it will be a nice option. I'd definitely look at it if I didn't have the KT.

[EverC]

@Molman:
I did considered exchanging it, but I don't have time to play around it at the moment anyway. so I will just wait for the new Sony one to try.

Don't get me wrong I really loved the Kobo Touch when it actually worked and I'm seriously missing having an ereader already, but fiddling with it constantly was just too timeconsuming.

[molman]

@EverC: I can appreciated that. Your lucky that you can likely walk into a store to exchange/resolve issues. It's posting it half way across the world for me, and no chance of refund with Borders almost gone.

Shame it didn't work out for you, I've had no regrets with mine - and my wife loves her's. Sometimes I feel like I'm coming across as the fanboy in this forum, I really do, but then I just think it's probably worthwhile hearing a little balance from someone who isn't having issues. I even seemed to avoid the storage error bug which seemed to affect a number of people in this forum. Was joking with HarleyB my two must have fairy dust sprinkled on them or something.. touch wood it continues.

[SCION]

My Kobo is junk along with many others who reported the same problem! Do you feel better about your purchase now? I said I Googled and discovered this is a common problem. There's always a few die hards who feel threatened when someone doesn't have a similar feel-good experience as they do.

Thank goodness I didn't have to meet a potential buyer face-to-face only to find out the thing won't power up. Had I shipped the unit as is without powering it up again, I would have lost my credibility here. The buyer is someone who frequents this forum. I take that very seriously.

Edit: I don't know why you keep bringing up the Sony thing. I have no loyalty to them. Maybe those televisions were junk.

Mine's been fine (apart from one storage error on the morning the 1.9.10 firmware was released with the fix). In general, it just sounds like the quality control has slipped with the Touch as compared to the 1 and 2. That said, bear in mind that only people with issues are going to talk about devices, and people without issues aren't really, so any (non-enthusiast) forums are almost inevitably going to be skewed towards people with faulty devices.

In my experience, Kobo's been good with replacements (thought that policy may have changed with the Touch). Borders should be able to replace it, though, right?

[Shopaholic]

Originally Posted by cyvros

In my experience, Kobo's been good with replacements (thought that policy may have changed with the Touch). Borders should be able to replace it, though, right?

Borders has gone bankrupt. Stores are closing. NO returns regardless of reason, regardless of how long ago the purchase was made, even if you bought it just 10 minutes ago opened it in the car & found it to be DOA.

[Shopaholic]

Scion,

I'm sorry this happened to you but glad you found out before turning the unit over to the buyer. You have me worried though. I bought one from Borders for the express purpose of reselling it. I have only ever had a Sony reader. I've never had any significant problems with them. I had a weird battery blip and then the silliness of the 300 library PDF/epub conflict but nothing having to be reset on a regular basis.

I watched the discussions on the constant firmware updates, the errors, the resets, the freezing, how they fix one thing but set back a few others and it worried me. I never bought it for me and wouldn't but when the price was right I did grab one for resale. It's enroute to Australia and I'm worried.

I don't think that the issue would be limited to Borders however. I think it's the luck of the draw as to which unit is going to crap out and which one isn't. I agree however with your comment about the person who slapped this crap together. I could be wrong but I'm fairly certain you weren't meaning the specific individual in the factory but rather the higher-up who condoned the creation of such a lousy device.

They put too much time into making it cutesy with the nonsensical Facebook integration for example rather than just making a good, stable reading device.

[FJames]

Originally Posted by molman

Don't you think the title should be "My Kobo is Junk". I'm rocking a sample size of two units from Borders (US) with none of the issues you are proclaiming. I'm sorry but I just struggle with posts like these where people make sweeping proclamations.

I think everyone feels the frustration of having a new gadget fail, and we understand the implied "My..." in front of the complaint. One benefit of forums like this is we can judge for ourselves how common problems are. Personally my KT has been fine (except for recent Storage Error issues), although I'm starting to wish that Kobo tested their firmware releases better.

I could likewise say SONY TV's are Junk because mine crapped out about 6 months back with a reportedly common issue (if I believe the internet) just out of warranty...

I can attest that you're not wrong there.

[Joe563]

I did the paper clip in the back thing and the hold down power switch and home button thing.

Did the button method trigger a factory reset? The LED will turn red if a factory reset has been triggered. To ensure a successful reset do the following: 1) hold down the Home button WHILE pushing and releasing the power slider, and, 2) push and release the power slider quickly.

[ST-One]

Originally Posted by SCION

My Kobo is junk along with many others who reported the same problem! Do you feel better about your purchase now? I said I Googled and discovered this is a common problem. There's always a few die hards who feel threatened when someone doesn't have a similar feel-good experience as they do.

Thank goodness I didn't have to meet a potential buyer face-to-face only to find out the thing won't power up. Had I shipped the unit as is without powering it up again, I would have lost my credibility here. The buyer is someone who frequents this forum. I take that very seriously.

Edit: I don't know why you keep bringing up the Sony thing. I have no loyalty to them. Maybe those televisions were junk.

Now I'd love to hear what you think of the PRS-950 (I just bought one - and am impatiently waiting for it to be delivered )

[fps]

This worked for me:

To perform a simple reset

This will not harm any of the content of your eReader.

First:

Hold down the power button for eight seconds.
Let go, then press it once more firmly.

[08GibsonExplorer]

It's not junk... you just have a defective unit. Go to any forum about any product and you will see lots of posts about the product failing. For instance look at Xbox 360, PS3, Nikon DSLR's, Canon cameras, Sony ereaders, Kindle ereaders, ipad's etc.. They all have a failure rate

[SCION]

Originally Posted by 08GibsonExplorer

It's not junk... you just have a defective unit. Go to any forum about any product and you will see lots of posts about the product failing. For instance look at Xbox 360, PS3, Nikon DSLR's, Canon cameras, Sony ereaders, Kindle ereaders, ipad's etc.. They all have a failure rate

Junk = hardware failure + bugs + features that's don't work

Do folks in the United States who purchased from Borders get a replacement device without personally paying for ANY shipping?