a Problem with a Kobo book purchase

[crich70]

Originally Posted by shalym

Interesting. Crich, which one is the one you purchased? Are you still having an issue?

Shari

Yep. I still can't download the book in question (though it is on my library page), and haven't heard back from Kobo as yet either.

[Difflugia]

Originally Posted by crich70

I'm having a problem with a Kobo book. I bought one this afternoon, I got the receipt via email and the amount is showing as a pending deduction from my bank account, but although it shows up in my purchase history it doesn't show in my library and when I try to download it I get a webpage with the address header of :
http://ebook.lightningsource.com/Messages/RetailerNotAuthorized.htm below which there is a message that reads:
The requested eBook title cannot be downloaded at this time due to difficulty in communicating with the retail site. Please try again later. There was no message on the page the book was offered on that there was any geo restriction i.e. no message that 'this book is not available in your country' or anything. Has this happened to anyone else here? I have sent Kobo an email inquiry about the problem. Just wondering if anyone else has had this happen.

Lightningsource.com serves their PDF downloads. I bought a book that did exactly the same thing and I talked to customer service about it. Apparently, the publisher stopped offering the book through Lightningsource and this somehow didn't filter back through to Kobo. They offered to either refund my money back or have me wait while they see if the publisher puts the book back on Lightningsource. The book was cheap enough and one that I wanted, so I opted to wait. It's been a few months now, though, and the book still hasn't become available (though Kobo still appears to be selling it), so the next time I have a customer service issue, I'll probably just tack on a request for a refund.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Difflugia

Lightningsource.com serves their PDF downloads. I bought a book that did exactly the same thing and I talked to customer service about it. Apparently, the publisher stopped offering the book through Lightningsource and this somehow didn't filter back through to Kobo. They offered to either refund my money back or have me wait while they see if the publisher puts the book back on Lightningsource. The book was cheap enough and one that I wanted, so I opted to wait. It's been a few months now, though, and the book still hasn't become available (though Kobo still appears to be selling it), so the next time I have a customer service issue, I'll probably just tack on a request for a refund.

When I sent my email to them I did mention that I would like either the book or a refund of my money. So I did give them an either/or option as I didn't want to seem unreasonable.

[Nabeel]

I think I've had the same problem with a Verso book I bought from Kobo. I complained to Kobo, was given a lot of unhelpful advice, and when I complained again found that my complaints were then blocked.

What's the publisher of your missing book?

I'm a unhappy with Kobo!

N

[crich70]

According to the page it's Bloomsbury Publishing USA eBooks. I got an answer to my query of Kobo and got a different reply than some advice.

Dear Charles ,

Thank you for contacting Kobo Customer Care. We are happy to assist you.

You contacted us as you were experiencing an issue with a purchased eBook "Longitude" by Dava Sobel , that you were unable to access.

Unfortunately, after looking into this matter, we verified that you would not be able to successfully view your eBook, because the eBook has a formatting issue.

We can provide you a refund or store, to reward you in this issue . Please reply to this email with what would be the best option for you.

We apologize for any inconveniences and appreciate your understanding in this matter.

[Nabeel]

Limited congratulations! You got more out of them than me.

N.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Nabeel

Limited congratulations! You got more out of them than me.

N.

Thanks. I don't know why I got such a different response. Maybe you caught whomever read your query on a bad day, or the issue was slightly different. Of course I haven't had time to write back yet with my reply and could still run into some trouble as far as implementation of my choice. Time will tell.

[crich70]

Kobo has credited me store credit for the book that I couldn't download. That left me with a problem of a different sort. Choosing a book to use the credit for. I chose "Time after Time."

[crich70]

I ran into another problem book with Kobo. I ended up buying a copy of it from B&N since Kobo's version is Adobe PDF and the kobo book can't be downloaded. I got a reply to my problem that it is possible to learn the format by downloading the preview which doesn't make sense to me as right below where it has the buy/add to cart and save preview boxes/links there is a link in blue that reads "Available on these devices." So I asked them today what the point of having that there is if it isn't of any use? When I click on that link I am taken to the bottom of the page and all the info. I get there is:

Sizzler,
May 2006
ISBN:9781588738790
Language:English

And it's the same with any book. Just the publishers name when it was published, the ISBN # and the language of the book. Not one mention of which devices it is compatible with. So what's the use of having the link that should tell you if it's compatible with whatever reader you have or not if it's not going to tell you that?

[AnemicOak]

Almost every book will list compatible devices either by clicking that link or by just scrolling down on the books page (see attached). This can be of some use, but the doing the preview trick is probably the best way to know what format you'll get.

When "read this on" is blank, like the book you just posted about (9781588738790) it generally means that the download is a PDF.

[crich70]

There isn't anything listed there for the book in question. The screen is all blank in that space. You'd think they could at least post a message that book x isn't reader compatible.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by crich70

There isn't anything listed there for the book in question. The screen is all blank in that space. You'd think they could at least post a message that book x isn't reader compatible.

Yes, you'd think they could but like I said that area being blank generally means PDF. IMO the old site was better as it just listed whatever the download format was.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Yes, you'd think they could but like I said that area being blank generally means PDF. IMO the old site was better as it just listed whatever the download format was.

That also assumes the customer knows that little fact. I certainly didn't. And you know what they say about assuming something. Anyway it's Kobo's bad as I don't think they even cover that fact in their help pages. If they do I haven't found it yet. I did get the book in question, though not from Kobo. I ended up looking up the book over at B&N where it is also being sold, though this time it was in epub format. So it's not a matter of a book not being available in a given format either since B&N did have it in epub.

[AnemicOak]

Kobo does lots of unexplained things.

The format thing has been a problem for lots of people ever since they launched the new web site. Their search has never worked very well (going back to when they were Shortcovers) with a Google search almost always giving better results of Kobo's own site. They've been soliciting reviews since they quit using Goodreads reviews yet they are nowhere to be found on the site. Books that are kePub only even though other places have the ePub (Kobo says this is a publisher choice, yet some publishers have called BS on that). Continuing to sell large numbers of titles that they know have problems. All kinds of odd things that have gone on for years.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Kobo does lots of unexplained things.

The format thing has been a problem for lots of people ever since they launched the new web site. Their search has never worked very well (going back to when they were Shortcovers) with a Google search almost always giving better results of Kobo's own site. They've been soliciting reviews since they quit using Goodreads reviews yet they are nowhere to be found on the site. Books that are kePub only even though other places have the ePub (Kobo says this is a publisher choice, yet some publishers have called BS on that). Continuing to sell large numbers of titles that they know have problems. All kinds of odd things that have gone on for years.

If it's been that bad for as long as you say I wonder how they manage to have any customer base left. I mean people get tired of having to jump through hoops to get the books that they've paid for or filling out a form to get either store credit or reimbursement of their money. And one I bought earlier tonight has a few things wrong with it. The cover that came up in Calibre was a thumbnail with a wide area of white around it and it's a 5 book Omnibus with a poor TOC. It has

Book Title
Chapter 1
Midpoint
Info about Author
and then goes to the next book though at least the 1st one has some 14 chapters in of itself. What happened to properly formatting books? I've seen a lot better TOC's here at MR (including some I've done myself). Of course the book I'm talking about (not the same as the one above in post #24) only cost me .99 but still what happened to doing things right when a book is for sale? And the book has 2821 pages according to my view panel in Calibre so I know that they are complete novels.