Avoid Kobo

[jersysman]

Originally Posted by bvz

That must be what is happening to me right now with my last two books. I have properly purchased them and made sure that both (!) of my logins for the Sony Desktop software are correct (they work for all my other books). But they simply will not open no matter what I do. Logging into my account on the web shows that they are there, but they don't have any sort of a button next to them (i.e. most of my other books have either EPUB or Adobe DRM EPUB or PDF next to them. These books don't have anything next to them).

The books download alright now (thanks again to the tips I got from this forum) but the actual files just have a long gibberish name. Opening these epub files in Textwrangler on my Mac, I can see a bunch of sub-files in there that seem to generally match the structure of my other epub files. But no matter what I do I cannot open them (they just say something to the effect of "This computer is not authorized to read this book."

Naturally I have not gotten back any response from Kobo even after two attempts to email them (my only option) and way more than the 60 hours they list as their turn-around time.

I wonder if they are slowly going out of business and this is the symptoms of that.

Is the extension *.epub or something else?

[bvz]

Originally Posted by jersysman

Is the extension *.epub or something else?

It is epub

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by HYPE

Agreed. It's the worst search engine that I have to deal with when looking for books. Sometimes even writing the exact book's title will throw completely irrelevant results, and the actual book will be buried somewhere in the results. I find it incredible that someone at Kobo would analyze this search engine and think "yup, this is it boys".

Put the title into double quotes, so the search engine searches on the entire string, instead of each separate word:

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/Sea...ip+of+the+ring

vs.

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/Sea...of+the+ring%22

and:

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/Sea...ince+of+ravens

vs.

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/Sea...e+of+ravens%22

As you can see, the two first searches have some of the same books. It seems Kobo tries to guess the book (maybe doing a quoted search internally), coming up with only one book, and filling the rest of the page with (random?) best-sellers. The two second searches are much more relevant, producing the correct book and many related books, as those related books probably refer to, or are referred by the one you are searching for.

[bvz]

Ok, I have scoured the web for a phone number for these guys and I managed to find one on this thread:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/arc.../t-202196.html

I tried a number of them and this one actually got me talking to a person:

1-800-368-5390

Clearly they don't want you calling, and yet they actually have a working customer help line. What gives?

At any rate, the customer service rep there manage to tell me that the books I purchased are not compatible with my Sony (even though their website says it is compatible with ereaders). They say they will refund me my money.


Edit:

Ok, so I just got an email from Kobo Customer Care and it is kind of revealing. First, they embed that same phone number in there so now I can call them directly. More importantly, it contained the contents of the second of my attempts to contact them online. So apparently they DID get my question, I just didn't get any sort of auto-reply like I did with my original attempt at contacting them a month ago. It is still within the 60 hours for this second attempt at contacting them so I guess they are still, technically, in the clear as far as their internal policies are concerned.

Once I called I was talking to a representative almost immediately and they were able to help me (well, tell me that they couldn't help me, just refund my money) immediately as well. I guess that is why they keep the phone number a closely guarded secret. Their customer service reps are not completely swamped like any other big company's support line would have been. So, I guess that works to my favor now that I have the phone number. Doesn't help any other poor schlepp who has an issue (unless they stumble onto this thread)

My recommendation is that if you have reason to contact Kobo, don't bother with the email support as it is impossibly slow (and, so far, not that helpful). Instead use the phone number above.

[PeterT]

The approach many have used for speedier service is to contact them via Twitter; they seem to respond pretty quickly there.

[bvz]

Originally Posted by PeterT

The approach many have used for speedier service is to contact them via Twitter; they seem to respond pretty quickly there.

Huh. Interesting. Thanks.

I have never actually used twitter myself, but that might be a good option for someone else.

Right now I have been busy learning how to convert my books via calibre and will see how that works for me going forward (i.e. Does that allow me to purchase books from anywhere and then read them on my Sony?)

[HYPE]

Originally Posted by bvz

Huh. Interesting. Thanks.

I have never actually used twitter myself, but that might be a good option for someone else.

Right now I have been busy learning how to convert my books via calibre and will see how that works for me going forward (i.e. Does that allow me to purchase books from anywhere and then read them on my Sony?)

Not necessarily. Unless you are buying non-DRM'd books from Amazon, conversion all by itself won't do anything since most stores sell in a format that is compatible with your reader. The issue here is DRM. And regarding this, I believe all we are allowed to say is to google "Apprentice Alf".

[bvz]

Originally Posted by HYPE

Not necessarily. Unless you are buying non-DRM'd books from Amazon, conversion all by itself won't do anything since most stores sell in a format that is compatible with your reader. The issue here is DRM. And regarding this, I believe all we are allowed to say is to google "Apprentice Alf.

Ah yes. Already did that. As well as Obok (2.03) <- necessary to solve my particular problem.

As it turns out, I found ANOTHER one of the books I purchased is not compatible with my Sony. But, together with Calibre, utilizing those two resources mean that I can now read the books that I have paid for (on the device that I have paid for).

Using those two resources also means, I believe, that I can now purchase freely from Kobo or Amazon or Barnes and Noble etc. and still read any of those books on my Sony. I haven't experimented with that last bit yet though... I'll have to do a bit more research.

I work in an industry that frequently gets ripped off by pirates who claim (erroneously) that "information wants to be free!" when really what they mean is "I want free access to the product of your labors and I can do it easily! So, thanks for working so hard while I give you absolutely nothing!".

So I get the desire to use DRM. It is the first reaction I have when thinking about these jerks too. But it is also a mistake. DRM hurts legitimate customers (case in point: me). Pirates don't bother buying a book and then stripping the DRM. They just download the pirated (non-DRM) book in the first place while the legitimate customers just get frustrated and stymied as a reward for staying above board.

Now, with Calibre and the resources you and I mentioned, I have the luxury of actually being able to give these misguided companies my money AND still be able to use the products that I have paid for. They should be thanking the Calibre team as well as Apprentice Alf... these two are the only reason I will be continuing to purchase their products.

[howyoudoin]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why is it people are creating threads with disparaging titles? Then the problem gets solved and the OP just looks like a bitter person. This really should stop. Just say you have a problem, not that something sucks or is !@#$%ed or such.

I don't mind these. I can skim over the thread titles in the individual device forums and decide at a glance which poses the most problems. Even if they are simple issues that are solved quickly, it tells me that the device/software/service isn't intuitive enough to make it a breezy experience. The MR Kobo subforum is the one single reason why I have not considered purchasing a Kobo so far.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by howyoudoin

I don't mind these. I can skim over the thread titles in the individual device forums and decide at a glance which poses the most problems. Even if they are simple issues that are solved quickly, it tells me that the device/software/service isn't intuitive enough to make it a breezy experience. The MR Kobo subforum is the one single reason why I have not considered purchasing a Kobo so far.

I don't understand how skimming this thread title would be helpful to you in that way. The original poster doesn't even have a Kobo ereader. They're predominantly having issues with a Sony reader and Adobe passwords.

Kobo also attracts the tweaker/hacker market, and a huge number of threads are devoted to those topics and related issues.

[howyoudoin]

Originally Posted by meeera

I don't understand how skimming this thread title would be helpful to you in that way. The original poster doesn't even have a Kobo ereader. They're predominantly having issues with a Sony reader and Adobe passwords.

Kobo also attracts the tweaker/hacker market, and a huge number of threads are devoted to those topics and related issues.

This thread isn't in the Kobo sub-forum, tbh. I'd assume Kobo owners post over there. It isn't a very scientific method, I admit. It's similar to scanning Amazon reviews for competing products and going off the star ratings despite their flaws.

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Threads like these make me wonder how I've had a Kobo device for two years and used the Kobo website for at least four and managed to have an almost completely wonderful experience. I must be some kind of brainiac when it comes to eReaders.

[Anthem]

I contacted Kobo about a problem that I was having and I never heard back from them... ever...

I had a very similar problem with a Kindle and Amazon helped me right away.

Anecdotal, but I think Amazon's customer service is superior.

[anesthezea]

I bought an Aura on July 18th that was defective (bad pixels, lots of noticeable ghosting everywhere) and finally managed to get a replacement approved on Aug. 11th. I'm still waiting for it to arrive. When I call Kobo all I get is "that's not our department" and "we don't know when it shipped".

[Smartie]

I have to say Kobo's purchase experience is not as good as amazon. Like those promotion code thing,try 20 times and never succeed. Like people said, it shows up doesn't mean it accept coupon.

Never had any issue with amazon, always 1-click button.