Another nasty experience buying from Kobo store

greenapple · 02-26-2014, 09:57 PM

Couple weeks ago, I bought an ebook from Kobo, only to find that there's no download link. I've since learned to look a lot more carefully before I click the purchase button.

But nothing prepared me for what I got from Kobo store yesterday.

I've always used paypal to pay for all my purchases at Kobo. I bought 4 ebooks, but I was charged for 5 items by Kobo. The reason, I suspect, is this: during one of the checkouts, I was informed by Kobo that the paypal transaction was not successful. I took it in good faith, that Kobo didn't get the money from my paypal account, and re-bought the book.

I didn't check paypal transaction list until today, when I discovered, horror of horrors, that the "unsuccessful" transaction was in fact untrue. Paypal had processed that payment successfully. This means Kobo has an extra US$5.55 that they shouldn't have.

I could've contacted Kobo, but my region is not among the supported countries in the contact page.

I'm going to just stay away buying from Kobo from now on, discount coupons or no. No more buying from Kobo store for me.

PeterT · 02-26-2014, 10:51 PM

Get in touch with them, try Twitter and see what they say.

Lynx-lynx · 02-27-2014, 07:12 AM

@greenapple what country are you in? I don't understand when you say that you're not in a Kobo contact country list.

Google Kobo live chat (I can't give you the link - I'm posting from my phone) and alert Cust Care what happened. There's a clear transaction record to show your purchases and it should also show that you bought the same book twice, shouldn't it?

samhy · 02-27-2014, 10:55 AM

The live chat works well even if you're not in Canada or the USA. The thing is what time will it be for you when it's business hours in Canada?
I used it once (at night for me, from Europe) and it worked well.
Good luck to you

greenapple · 02-27-2014, 09:48 PM

I live in Singapore. A number of features are not available for the local version of the Kobo site (eg daily offers). Live chat and support are not available, if my eyes are not failing me.

This incidence is not isolated. It has happened a least once previously, when Kobo notified me of paypal error during checkout. I didn't bother to take a look at my Paypal account at that time. High probability that Kobo also debitted some money from my Paypal account without giving me the book.

I'm done with Kobo.

taming · 02-27-2014, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenapple

I live in Singapore. A number of features are not available for the local version of the Kobo site (eg daily offers). Live chat and support are not available, if my eyes are not failing me.

This incidence is not isolated. It has happened a least once previously, when Kobo notified me of paypal error during checkout. I didn't bother to take a look at my Paypal account at that time. High probability that Kobo also debitted some money from my Paypal account without giving me the book.

I'm done with Kobo.

It may be that the issue with being in one country and buying from another is behind the paypal/kobo communication mixup. I don't know that I would ask for help in that situation either. I have no idea what happens when a user is in violation of the Terms of Use and then asks for help with something which is an easily fixable issue otherwise. It could be that never buying from Kobo again would be what they would have in mind.

PeterT · 02-27-2014, 10:18 PM

I still say reach out viua twitter to @KoboHelp they have been highly helpful in many MANY circumstances

taming · 02-27-2014, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterT

I still say reach out viua twitter to @KoboHelp they have been highly helpful in many MANY circumstances

He has nothing to lose, for sure.

Lynx-lynx · 02-28-2014, 03:05 AM

I've got no intention of helping greenapple any further .... they didn't post because they wanted help ... they posted because they wanted to moan

samhy · 02-28-2014, 05:05 AM

Greenapple, live chat isn't available for me either but someone provided the link (it's somewhere in the forum) and I could use it to deal with Kobo customer service.
Try it before saying that won't work.

Barbara1955 · 02-28-2014, 06:28 AM

Could be he does contact them & since hes in a country they don't sell to instead of helping they might just close the account causing him to loose ALL his ebooks! Not sure I would chance it either....

Lynx-lynx · 02-28-2014, 06:52 AM

Greenapple stated that they're in Singapore - very much a Kobo country.

(And excellent for buying publisher unrestricted discountable books!)

corroonb · 03-09-2014, 12:00 PM

This exact issue happened to me today. I have forwarded the details and the Paypal receipt to Kobo. There was some error on the Kobo site after the payment went through at Paypal and I never received the Kobo receipt. The item isn't present in my library either. Thankfully it's relatively easy to open a dispute with Paypal if Kobo don't co-operate.

jackastor · 03-09-2014, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenapple

Couple weeks ago, I bought an ebook from Kobo, only to find that there's no download link. I've since learned to look a lot more carefully before I click the purchase button.

But nothing prepared me for what I got from Kobo store yesterday.

I've always used paypal to pay for all my purchases at Kobo. I bought 4 ebooks, but I was charged for 5 items by Kobo. The reason, I suspect, is this: during one of the checkouts, I was informed by Kobo that the paypal transaction was not successful. I took it in good faith, that Kobo didn't get the money from my paypal account, and re-bought the book.

I didn't check paypal transaction list until today, when I discovered, horror of horrors, that the "unsuccessful" transaction was in fact untrue. Paypal had processed that payment successfully. This means Kobo has an extra US$5.55 that they shouldn't have.

I could've contacted Kobo, but my region is not among the supported countries in the contact page.

I'm going to just stay away buying from Kobo from now on, discount coupons or no. No more buying from Kobo store for me.

PayPal will refund the money immediately if you open a claim.

regards

Jack

moffattm · 03-09-2014, 06:01 PM

PayPal have had a few problems lately. I run a website that uses PayPal to accept payments and as such I've subscribed to PayPal's notifications that tell you when they're experiencing problems. They've had at least two payment outages over the last couple of weeks that affected my website.

02-26-2014, 09:57 PM	#1
greenapple Evangelist Posts: 404 Karma: 664 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle DX, Kobo Aura HD	Another nasty experience buying from Kobo store Couple weeks ago, I bought an ebook from Kobo, only to find that there's no download link. I've since learned to look a lot more carefully before I click the purchase button. But nothing prepared me for what I got from Kobo store yesterday. I've always used paypal to pay for all my purchases at Kobo. I bought 4 ebooks, but I was charged for 5 items by Kobo. The reason, I suspect, is this: during one of the checkouts, I was informed by Kobo that the paypal transaction was not successful. I took it in good faith, that Kobo didn't get the money from my paypal account, and re-bought the book. I didn't check paypal transaction list until today, when I discovered, horror of horrors, that the "unsuccessful" transaction was in fact untrue. Paypal had processed that payment successfully. This means Kobo has an extra US$5.55 that they shouldn't have. I could've contacted Kobo, but my region is not among the supported countries in the contact page. I'm going to just stay away buying from Kobo from now on, discount coupons or no. No more buying from Kobo store for me.

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02-26-2014, 10:51 PM	#2
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,698 Karma: 79983758 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	Get in touch with them, try Twitter and see what they say.

02-27-2014, 07:12 AM	#3
Lynx-lynx Treachery of images ... Posts: 4,149 Karma: 94320195 Join Date: May 2012 Location: Australia Device: Sony 650, Kobo Glo, H2O, Aura One, Forma, Libra 2, Libra Colour	@greenapple what country are you in? I don't understand when you say that you're not in a Kobo contact country list. Google Kobo live chat (I can't give you the link - I'm posting from my phone) and alert Cust Care what happened. There's a clear transaction record to show your purchases and it should also show that you bought the same book twice, shouldn't it?

02-27-2014, 10:55 AM	#4
samhy Wizard Posts: 1,824 Karma: 9503859 Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: France Device: (Sony (J) PRS 650), Kobo Mini, Kobo Glo HD (broken), Kobo Clara BW	The live chat works well even if you're not in Canada or the USA. The thing is what time will it be for you when it's business hours in Canada? I used it once (at night for me, from Europe) and it worked well. Good luck to you

02-27-2014, 09:48 PM	#5
greenapple Evangelist Posts: 404 Karma: 664 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle DX, Kobo Aura HD	I live in Singapore. A number of features are not available for the local version of the Kobo site (eg daily offers). Live chat and support are not available, if my eyes are not failing me. This incidence is not isolated. It has happened a least once previously, when Kobo notified me of paypal error during checkout. I didn't bother to take a look at my Paypal account at that time. High probability that Kobo also debitted some money from my Paypal account without giving me the book. I'm done with Kobo.

02-27-2014, 10:18 PM	#7
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,698 Karma: 79983758 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	I still say reach out viua twitter to @KoboHelp they have been highly helpful in many MANY circumstances

02-28-2014, 03:05 AM	#9
Lynx-lynx Treachery of images ... Posts: 4,149 Karma: 94320195 Join Date: May 2012 Location: Australia Device: Sony 650, Kobo Glo, H2O, Aura One, Forma, Libra 2, Libra Colour	I've got no intention of helping greenapple any further .... they didn't post because they wanted help ... they posted because they wanted to moan

02-28-2014, 05:05 AM	#10
samhy Wizard Posts: 1,824 Karma: 9503859 Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: France Device: (Sony (J) PRS 650), Kobo Mini, Kobo Glo HD (broken), Kobo Clara BW	Greenapple, live chat isn't available for me either but someone provided the link (it's somewhere in the forum) and I could use it to deal with Kobo customer service. Try it before saying that won't work.

02-28-2014, 06:28 AM	#11
Barbara1955 Non-Techy Posts: 4,455 Karma: 15499273 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: WV---USA Device: Samsung Cell Phone & Amazon Fires & Kobo eReaders	Could be he does contact them & since hes in a country they don't sell to instead of helping they might just close the account causing him to loose ALL his ebooks! Not sure I would chance it either....

02-28-2014, 06:52 AM	#12
Lynx-lynx Treachery of images ... Posts: 4,149 Karma: 94320195 Join Date: May 2012 Location: Australia Device: Sony 650, Kobo Glo, H2O, Aura One, Forma, Libra 2, Libra Colour	Greenapple stated that they're in Singapore - very much a Kobo country. (And excellent for buying publisher unrestricted discountable books!)

03-09-2014, 12:00 PM	#13
corroonb Addict Posts: 317 Karma: 1232685 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Ireland Device: Kindle Voyage, Kobo Aura, Nexus 9	This exact issue happened to me today. I have forwarded the details and the Paypal receipt to Kobo. There was some error on the Kobo site after the payment went through at Paypal and I never received the Kobo receipt. The item isn't present in my library either. Thankfully it's relatively easy to open a dispute with Paypal if Kobo don't co-operate.

03-09-2014, 06:01 PM	#15
moffattm Addict Posts: 333 Karma: 1440670 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Auckland, New Zealand Device: Kobo Original, Kobo Glo	PayPal have had a few problems lately. I run a website that uses PayPal to accept payments and as such I've subscribed to PayPal's notifications that tell you when they're experiencing problems. They've had at least two payment outages over the last couple of weeks that affected my website.