Lack of support from Kobo

[marcardis]

I have version 2.03.

I have now got the logfile and emaied it to SameerH.

Thanks for the reply.

Marcardis

[SameerH]

Thanks Marcardis,

I replied to your email and requested that you use Microsoft DebugView and send me the output that appears when you click on the 'sync' button on the application.

Thanks!
Sameer.

[akuerz75]

Originally Posted by marcardis

I have purchased a number of ebooks from Kobo to read on my Kobo iPhone app.

These have all worked despite the very long time that the app takes to load.

I also downloaded the Kobo PC Reader.

Despite numerous emails to Kobo, the PC software refuses to display the books that I have purchased.
.......

Hi Marcadis
This sounds somehow familiar.
I had exactly the same problem
But unlike you I can only confirm that Kobobooks has an awesome support.
You have to provide them the right information.

What Operating system do you use?
(System? Version? Language?)

My problem was in correlation with a German Win7 which can obviously cause problems with the desktop app.

The support provided me a beta version of the upcoming German App and from now on everything works fine.

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by Corby

Download and unzup Microsoft's DebugView from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s...rnals/bb896647

Start it, and then run the desktop. Do a sync where this redownloading is happening.

If you are on Mac, the same steps apply, but instead of DebugView, just run Console.app which is in the Applications/Utilities folder.

Then send that log file on as requested.

[SameerH]

Hi Marcardis, I received the file and will forward it to the dev team to take a look. I'll report back here once we have more info. I'll also reply to you in email.

[marcardis]

Thanks for your time in replying to this.

Did you also get the Debugview reort that I sent you last Friday?

I much appreciate you help, but I am not sure that you should be doing this in your spare time.

I have paid my money to Kobo.com - so far no reponse to my emails. Really not very good.

I think we have both wasted enough time on this - together with all the others who have offered helpful advice - I am going to download my purchased books, remove the DRM and convert them to .prc format in order that I can read them on my Kindle Desktop Reader.

Thanks again for your time - zero marks to Kobo Customer Support.

Marcardis

[SameerH]

Originally Posted by marcardis

Thanks for your time in replying to this.

Did you also get the Debugview reort that I sent you last Friday?

I much appreciate you help, but I am not sure that you should be doing this in your spare time.

I have paid my money to Kobo.com - so far no reponse to my emails. Really not very good.

I think we have both wasted enough time on this - together with all the others who have offered helpful advice - I am going to download my purchased books, remove the DRM and convert them to .prc format in order that I can read them on my Kindle Desktop Reader.

Thanks again for your time - zero marks to Kobo Customer Support.

Marcardis

Hi marcardis,

I replied to your email. As a separate point, your ticket doesn't have any response from you since the customer care agent asked you to try a few steps to resolve the issue. That may be why you haven't heard anything.

That aside, please try the build I sent.

Sameer.

[molman]

I feel sorry for anyone who has to support a Desktop PC application(s). From the end user, to the very integrity of the machine your application is running on makes it far from an easy task.

Anyway I commend Sameer in taking the time to try and resolve this, and for me personally this and other's comments speak well for Kobo's customer support. It's a shame Marcardis doesn't really seem as interested in a true resolution. I don't know why you would strip the DRM (with all this involves) and convert to .PRC to read in the Kindle Desktop application!?? Beyond the fact that you could easily read them in the Adobe Digital Editions (which you have to download them into first anyway), I don't believe Kindle Desktop application can even open .PRC files (maybe he meant .MOBI), nor is it elegant with its need to dump books into a folder to add rather than having the ability in app.

[marcardis]

Originally Posted by SameerH

Hi marcardis,

I replied to your email. As a separate point, your ticket doesn't have any response from you since the customer care agent asked you to try a few steps to resolve the issue. That may be why you haven't heard anything.

That aside, please try the build I sent.

Sameer.

Thanks for your reply.

To answer your points.

I contacted Kobo Customer Support on 03/06/11 to report the problem with Kobo Desktop not displaying my purchased books. I clearly stated that I was using the Kobo iPhone app and the problem was with Kobo Desktop.

They replied on 05/06/11 giving a fix involving a Kobo eReader.

I replied on 05/06/11 stating that I did not have a Kobo eReader.

They replied on 05/06/11 with the following:

We apologize for the misunderstanding. Please confirm that you are signed into the Kobo desktop application with the same email address and password you use for your Kobo account on your iphone. If you are signed into the application with the same information and the books do not appear, please try the following steps:

Please try signing out and back in (at which time, please click ALL BOOKS) . Once you sign in, if the book does not appear you can reset the book by trying the following steps:

1 Sign in to your online Kobo account at www.kobobooks.com
2 Go to the "My Library" and the "I'm Reading" section.
3 Delete your books from your "I'm Reading" list. It is only temporary.
4 Go to the "Library" and go to "Purchased " and click BOOKMARK>BOOKMARK PAGE 1
so that it goes back to your "I'm Reading" section.
5. Click on "Update Library" on the desktop application (this should load your books onto the desktop application).

If the issue persists, please sign out and uninstall the desktop application. Reinstall it from www.kobobooks.com/desktop and sign in.

Sincerely

The Kobo Team

I replied on 12/06/11 to advise them that this fix did not work.

No reply until 18/06/11:

Thanks for getting in touch with us. Your request (#410952) has been received, and will be reviewed by the Kobo support team. As we are experiencing higher than normal volume at this time, we would ask for your continued patience as we work to address your request

So, in reply to your comments, I have replied to your Customer "Support" Team but have not received any sensible reply from them other than they are very busy!

I have downloaded and installed the build that you have suggested.

I have now lost the Kobo Desktop altogether. When I run the new program it asks me to connect my eReader at the first step!

Still no reply from Kobo.com

Marcardis

[marcardis]

Originally Posted by molman

I feel sorry for anyone who has to support a Desktop PC application(s). From the end user, to the very integrity of the machine your application is running on makes it far from an easy task.

Anyway I commend Sameer in taking the time to try and resolve this, and for me personally this and other's comments speak well for Kobo's customer support. It's a shame Marcardis doesn't really seem as interested in a true resolution. I don't know why you would strip the DRM (with all this involves) and convert to .PRC to read in the Kindle Desktop application!?? Beyond the fact that you could easily read them in the Adobe Digital Editions (which you have to download them into first anyway), I don't believe Kindle Desktop application can even open .PRC files (maybe he meant .MOBI), nor is it elegant with its need to dump books into a folder to add rather than having the ability in app.

After all the helpful advice that I have had the I guess that something stupid would have to come along.

What is the point of your patronising link to peoples ability to use a computer?

I have already thanked Sameer for his work on this problem. He has done this himself - the support from Kobo.com has been non-existant as you would have realised if you had actually read my postings.

Why do you think that I am not interested in a resolution to the problem? Whilst I can now read my Kobo books elsewhere, I have paid them and their Desktop program should work.

Why would I strip the DRM (with all that involves)? Stripping DRM takes a few minutes. If I buy a digital book the I should be able to read it on any device of my choice.

Kindle is quite capable of reading .prc files.

Thanks for your useful? contribution.

Marcardis

[molman]

I sympathise that you did not get the email replies, or follow-up you felt necessary to resolve your issue. I guess it just seemed a little petulant when Sameer was quite obviously continuing to help you.

Out of curiosity did you ever log into Zendesk to see the status of you ticket, or try to add any comments via that avenue?

Oh and my link was anthropological not patronising, but interpret as will. Also interesting re: Kindle Desktop supporting .PRC (though makes sense as the hardware does). Still seems an odd choice to me rather than .MOBI.

[PeterT]

I think .prc is a generic "containier" class from Palm OS days; prcs were originally used to contain code while pdbs were databases.

[molman]

Originally Posted by PeterT

I think .prc is a generic "containier" class from Palm OS days; prcs were originally used to contain code while pdbs were databases.

Yeah recall them from my old Palm's, just didn't think it was a format really used anymore (at least not one you'd convert to).

Also curious if the OP was aware of http://getsatisfaction.com/kobo, another avenue he could have taken for help.

[smoggy]

I've had my Kobo Touch for 2-3 weeks and am extremely happy with it.

[marcardis]

Originally Posted by molman

I sympathise that you did not get the email replies, or follow-up you felt necessary to resolve your issue. I guess it just seemed a little petulant when Sameer was quite obviously continuing to help you.

Out of curiosity did you ever log into Zendesk to see the status of you ticket, or try to add any comments via that avenue?

Oh and my link was anthropological not patronising, but interpret as will. Also interesting re: Kindle Desktop supporting .PRC (though makes sense as the hardware does). Still seems an odd choice to me rather than .MOBI.

I have been trying to resolve the problem since the middle of June without success.

Yes, I have logged into Zendesk. As of this morning they told me that my query had been resolved. I pointed out that thay had done nothing and received a reply to say that it had been passed to a Tier 2 team to look at.

Marcardis