New Kobo Aura HD eInk eReader 1440x1080

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by drew2720

geez...between having it shipped back to Canada (Mikeyboards) and them losing the order (Skydog), I'm wondering if Kobo should have just stuck with dealing with the independent bookstores as far as the US goes. I had no trouble at all ordering my Kobo Mini that way.

I did finally get a reply back from my email telling me that my order was pending and pre-order meant first received, first shipped, which of course, is not true at all, since I ordered the 16th and people who ordered days later not only have had there's shipped but have actually received them. Of course, a lot of those people are in Canada.

Skydog.... Did you finally get it straighten out?

Good luck everyone... my last order with Kobo direct, that's for sure

No resolution yet for me. I'm still in the ticked off mode. Truly, they (Kobo) were really clueless even though I supplied all the information. I did receive another automated order confirmation tonight (originally placed on 4/16) but no mention of shipping and the original pre-authorization charge on 4/17 disappeared on 4/19 and has not returned. If it is necessary to call them again it will be to cancel my order. They may have an excellent reader but I cannot tolerate dealing with Kobo and their inferior customer service.

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by Mikeyboards

OMG!! So what are they/you doing now? (Your cc never got charged besides pre-authorization?) Are they going to fix this for you, or did you just become a never-again customer!?

They are doing nothing, basically. At the end of the 27-minute hold the customer service rep recited the standard talking point "you will receive an email with the tracking information when it ships." WHAT?! She just informed me they could not find my order. My original cc pre-authorization of 4/17 disappeared on 4/19. As I mentioned in another post, if it is necessary to call again it will be to cancel. Kobo customer service (and ordering) is absolutely the WORST.

BTW, my distaste is not just for this issue. Twice I have had problems with purchasing ebooks from them (which I stopped doing a long time ago). One book I purchased and downloaded was blank -- nothing existed beyond the cover. I emailed - no response. I called and they said they would "look into it." (like this year?) Three calls and three months later they finally agreed to refund my purchase. But what's worse is that I checked the book six months later and they were still selling the bad file/book. Nothing had been fixed.

[taming]

It sounds to me like the communication between Kobo and whoever is handling the US fulfillment has broken down. Kobo is responsible, of course, but I am not seeing anything that indicates that devices that hit the credit cards don't get delivered. Release date is coming .

[Mikeyboards]

Originally Posted by Skydog

...
BTW, my distaste is not just for this issue. Twice I have had problems with purchasing ebooks from them (which I stopped doing a long time ago). One book I purchased and downloaded was blank -- nothing existed beyond the cover. I emailed - no response. I called and they said they would "look into it." (like this year?) Three calls and three months later they finally agreed to refund my purchase. But what's worse is that I checked the book six months later and they were still selling the bad file/book. Nothing had been fixed.

I have had several problems with ordering ebooks from the as well, and I haven't even ordered that many! There's one called "Labyrinth of Osiris" which, to this day, contains the wrong book entirely! They not only didn't fix it, after months and months, and after being informed twice (at least) about it, but they never responded to PayPal when I was forced to go through them (PayPal) for a refund, where I reiterated the info. PayPal refunded my money after a period during which they repeatedly contacted Kobo for a response, to no avail.
I have only recently (finally) decided to attempt buying a few more ebooks, at low prices and/or with promo codes, but only after verifying (with a sample) that the content looks correct. (Just wanted to have a few fresh ebooks/kepubs for when the Aura arrives.)

[Katsunami]

Messages like "did not respond" and "had to go through PayPal to get a refund" do not make me want to buy the Aura, to be honest. If there is one thing I look at when buying new devices, then it is support; maybe even more so than technical specifications.

I'm not a very hard customer, and I don't mind if there's a problem. Shit happens. If it does, I want it fixed in a reasonable time frame, and fixed permanently. Should that not happen, or worse, should I get no response, I might drop the entire company from my "to purchase from"-list for the next 10 years or so.

[taming]

Just for some perspective: I have purchased 250+ books from Kobo since I opened my account in May 2010 I have had one book that was the wrong encoding (forgot what exactly, but the epub was fixable with Sigil), two books with nonadjustable line spacing, and one book without a cover. I was charged twice one time--I didn't know the first sale had gone through so I hit buy again.

[Katsunami]

I've had books with no covers or just plain text from several sources; even books from major publishers, bought at BOB or Diesel. I didn't make any fuss out of that as the rest of each of those books was perfectly fine, so I just put the cover in there myself. Still, to be honest, I shouldn't have had to.

[simond]

Just bought my Aura case from my local WH Smiths (Holborn), they had the demo unit out but aren't allowed to sell in store until tomorrow, luckily they decided the embargo shouldn't cover Aura accessories, they seemed really surprised I had mine already!

[ghostyjack]

Great!

Finally got my shipping notice from WHSmith, shouldn't be too long now before I get my hands on it. Which will be good as my cover has already arrived, just waiting for something to put in it.

[Pookeysgirl]

Originally Posted by Mikeyboards

I have had several problems with ordering ebooks from the as well, and I haven't even ordered that many! There's one called "Labyrinth of Osiris" which, to this day, contains the wrong book entirely! They not only didn't fix it, after months and months, and after being informed twice (at least) about it, but they never responded to PayPal when I was forced to go through them (PayPal) for a refund, where I reiterated the info. PayPal refunded my money after a period during which they repeatedly contacted Kobo for a response, to no avail.
I have only recently (finally) decided to attempt buying a few more ebooks, at low prices and/or with promo codes, but only after verifying (with a sample) that the content looks correct. (Just wanted to have a few fresh ebooks/kepubs for when the Aura arrives.)

I had the same issue with a book I bought from them a few months ago. It was an omnibus and contained a completely different series by the same author. It took 2-3 calls, because nobody seemed to understand that the book I bought and the book in the file are 2 different books, before I was able to get a credit (not a refund) added to my account.

Just this week my co-worker purchased a book and it refused to download to her desktop app or Kobo Touch. After 4 phone calls in 6 days it's still not working and they won't refund her money. It's a $16 book. They keep telling her "We're working on fixing the issue" and expect her to wait who knows how many days/months until they fix it instead of giving her a refund so she can purchase another book. She was extremely frustrated by the customer service reps, having to repeat herself several times so they would understand the simple fact that the books won't download to her reader.

I have a Kindle now but will purchase books from Kobo if I find them to be cheaper. At least with Amazon it only takes one click to return a book with a full refund (not a store credit) within 7 days. I don't see why Kobo can't implement this same service. They have one-click buying, they should have one-click returns.

[MySony505]

Anyone else seeing "bleed through" from the page underneath the page being read ?

[jersysman]

I will hold off on the Aura until I find out if there are any issues with the firmware. It seems to me that with a lot of Kobo introduction of new hardware, there are a few firmware issues. That is why I am still on the sidelines waiting.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by MySony505

Anyone else seeing "bleed through" from the page underneath the page being read ?

What value have you set for pages in Settings - Reading Settings - Refresh the screen every? Try a smaller number, or even 1, if you want the screen to completely refresh with each page turn.

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by Pookeysgirl

I had the same issue with a book I bought from them a few months ago. It was an omnibus and contained a completely different series by the same author. It took 2-3 calls, because nobody seemed to understand that the book I bought and the book in the file are 2 different books, before I was able to get a credit (not a refund) added to my account.

Just this week my co-worker purchased a book and it refused to download to her desktop app or Kobo Touch. After 4 phone calls in 6 days it's still not working and they won't refund her money. It's a $16 book. They keep telling her "We're working on fixing the issue" and expect her to wait who knows how many days/months until they fix it instead of giving her a refund so she can purchase another book. She was extremely frustrated by the customer service reps, having to repeat herself several times so they would understand the simple fact that the books won't download to her reader.

I have a Kindle now but will purchase books from Kobo if I find them to be cheaper. At least with Amazon it only takes one click to return a book with a full refund (not a store credit) within 7 days. I don't see why Kobo can't implement this same service. They have one-click buying, they should have one-click returns.

You will not see prices of Kobo books lower than Amazon -- quite the opposite. And any hardware advances Kobo may make is negated by their inept customer service and buggy firmware.

I canceled my order, or attempted to. One would think a simple phone call, referencing the order number, would be sufficient. Nope. The c.s. rep said she could not cancel my order directly and my request would be forwarded to another level. Unbelievable. I insisted she send a confirmation email of our conversation. I am finished with Kobo.

[Ken Maltby]

It turns out that I have purchased exactly one ebook from Kobo, so I do have an acct.
there. Given the recent posts here that one book may remain the only one in my acct.
Thanks to Apprentice Alf, it matters not who sells the ebook that I crave, I don't expect
that to change when/(if?) the Aura HD I ordered arrives.

[OT: Having the ability to disinfect ebooks makes it possible to purchase an author's
and/or publisher's product for use on my devices. I have the production of a great
many authors and/or publishers to choose from, why would I choose those who make
it harder to use their product? Given this, WHO actually benefits from DRM?]

The apparent difficulty dealing with Kobo, is no obstacle to my getting a book for my
new Aura if/(when?) it gets here. [All thanks to Alf.] Kobo can be as bad an ebook
seller as it wishes, just so long as they don't drag down the eReader support dept.
with them.

Luck;
Ken