A large selection of Faber and Faber titles free at Kobo

[koland]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Yesterday, I "bought" four titles. Only two of them let me download. Today, the same two work. The other two show in my library but the Abobe button is missing.

I just deleted any that refused to download, as those were obviously either "errors" or I simply found them during a price transition (since there is absolutely no way to figure out which is which).

I refuse to let my touch (or the non-touch) or vox sync with my library, except for one account with only one vox only book. I also refuse to use their app -- even if I didn't think their social media features were even more intrusive than the ones on Kindle, I won't use an app or hardware that does a permanent delete from the library after reading and wanting to remove from a device.

The same goes for the nook app, which is now wanting to do the same thing on Android (perm delete), although it does at least offer to archive the item for you.

[slex]

Originally Posted by koland

I refuse to let my touch (or the non-touch) or vox sync with my library, except for one account with only one vox only book. I also refuse to use their app -- even if I didn't think their social media features were even more intrusive than the ones on Kindle, I won't use an app or hardware that does a permanent delete from the library after reading and wanting to remove from a device.

The same goes for the nook app, which is now wanting to do the same thing on Android (perm delete), although it does at least offer to archive the item for you.

Do you mean that the Kobo app for Android deletes permanently the books from the Kobo library ones they are read on the device?! I have only recently installed it and if this is the case, I will have to uninstall it.

BTW, to return on topic, I've deleted the books I got from the F&F "promotion".

[plib]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm certainly not saying there's anything illegal about it. I'm just following my personal code of ethics in this matter. If you think that's foolish or arrogant, that's fine by me; you're just as entitled to your opinion as I am to mine.

But doesn't your personal code of ethics also hold that "it's their IP connection so they're responsible for anything that happens on it, no excuses" (paraphrasing, I'm not bothering to excavate the actual post). If little green pirates from Mars, colloquially known as gremlins, did hijack their pricing algorithms then aren't they responsible for the consequences, not anyone who downloads the results of such gremlins?

Of course it might not have happened if they'd properly secured their routers.

[taming]

plib, are you claiming special knowledge of what happened? Speculating? Admitting to something?

This is my speculation--it could have been on the Kobo end, or the publishers. Publishers monkey with pricing fairly regularly--adjusting for specials, changes in currency--all sorts of things. Kobo does their thing. Unless a Kobo staffer tells us what happened, we will never know for sure (barring the possibility that plib has been fooling around, of course ).

[koland]

Originally Posted by slex

Do you mean that the Kobo app for Android deletes permanently the books from the Kobo library ones they are read on the device?! I have only recently installed it and if this is the case, I will have to uninstall it.

Yes, that is exactly what it does for any book you added to your library at the "free" price (no matter what it costs when you hit "delete". I've been assured that it won't do that with books you paid for, but I lost some of my early bargains there, before I figured out what it was doing.

The only way around it is to do a 'clear data' on the app (or uninstall it), which removes all the books, without sending a delete code.

[slex]

I have very few free books from Kobo, but I will probably uninstall their app.

[koland]

Originally Posted by slex

I have very few free books from Kobo, but I will probably uninstall their app.

The only reason I can see to use it, is if you have a book that only works in side the app (there are a few of those). Just be sure that you very quickly stop the automatic download when it first starts up (turning off WiFi helps), then only download those particular titles.

Otherwise, I'm using Aldiko and Bluefire Reader for the EPUB's.

[pietvo]

I sent them a message, asking what to do. I offered to delete the downloaded books if they so desire:

Dear Sir, Madam,

This week a large collection of titles from Faber and Faber was free in the Kobo ebook shop. I downloaded a number of them. However, there was a discussion on the web about whether these titles were really meant to be free or that there was some pricing error on them.

If I have downloaded these titles for free contrary to the intentions from your or the publisher's side, please let me know. In that case I will delete them if you desire so.

Their response:

Thank you for contacting Kobo Customer Care. I understand you downloaded some books that were free on the website. If there was a problem with the pricing on the website it will be corrected but the books are yours. We know of no issues with pricing. Enjoy reading. Please feel free to contact us if you have further questions.

So I feel free to keep the books.

[slex]

So, it was a pricing mistake, but anyone who downloaded the books can keep them, after all (there is a legal mechanism to make consumers delete them, anyway)? Or it was a genuine promo?

[pdurrant]

I'm sure it was an error. A promotion that isn't promoted doesn't make a lot of sense.

[koland]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I'm sure it was an error. A promotion that isn't promoted doesn't make a lot of sense.

And yet, that is true of almost ever free book in the Kindle and B&N stores, as well as from Sony and Kobo. few of them ever make the official "promo/freebie" pages they have set up. Few of the publishers make announcements or even promote them using their own channels, instead relying on us (the customers) to find them and promote them on our own.

Lacking a statement from Faber, it was as legitimate as any other freebie that has been posted here.

[Wald07]

So I don't have to feel guilty about all these books I clicked on? Loaded on my Kobo with no trouble...
Except for my guilty conscience. Must have clicked on $100 worth of titles that showed as free.

But, if they were listed as free, why would an ordinary person think it were a mistake?
Maybe I am not suspicious by nature?

[koland]

Originally Posted by Wald07

So I don't have to feel guilty about all these books I clicked on?

Only if you're Catholic...

Originally Posted by Wald07

Except for my guilty conscience.

See above.

Free book downloading not required!

Originally Posted by Wald07

But, if they were listed as free, why would an ordinary person think it were a mistake?
Maybe I am not suspicious by nature?

Other than the sheer number of titles, there would be nothing an ordinary person (which includes all of us there, AFAIK) would see that would indicate it was a mistake.

There's never an announcement from Zondervan, Revell, etc, but I've downloaded as many titles from them, over time. I see some from HarperCollins all the time that are only free in select markets -- is it a mistake or a promotion? Since they never say one way or the other, it could be either one.