Aura Customer care / RMA experience

[FacebookVirus]

If your wish is that Kobo receives a bit of karma from this, I (a new US Sony refugee who was considering a kobo for Christmas) won't be purchasing from them, either.

[xendula]

Someone posted a link to your thread in the kindle forum, because some of us are interested in a lighted smaller device like the Aura. I am actually drooling over the Aura pictures, it's bad!


Tyrone, I feel for you. How you are still able to hope for a working device is beyond me. If you do end up getting a replacement, and it has issues, you will go through all this again. I now have my third Paperwhite 2 unit, and replacement was a complete breeze.

I always heard that Kobo CS was attrocious/non existant - probably even worse than BN's. For this reason I was waiting to see if any local stores or Amazon vendors will start selling the Kobo Aura, so I could purchase it but not have to deal with Kobo in case I needed a replacement (reading through the Aura threads, there are some issues, and needing a replacement is a real possibility), but now that I read about your woes, I feel that even if I were to buy the Aura from a third party, I would still be financially supporting Kobo, whose treatment of their customers is simply unacceptable.

It will be hard, but if I ever see an Aura in person, I'll try to ignore it and think of you. As Facebookvirus said, there is a thing called karma. Good for you for publicizing your dealing with them and even publishing on FB (I'll have to go check that out) - I'll be sure to send them an email, and letting them know they lost my business as well.

If I were you, I'd ask for a refund and move my business to a different company. They don't deserve your money.
ETA: I'd ask for a full refund of the cover as well, and if they want it back, have them pay for return shipping. You have been more than patient, and expecting you to take a financial loss because of their incompetence is unacceptable.

[speedtouch]

Rone1986, what's the resolution on this insane saga? Inquiring minds want to know!

[rone1986]

Originally Posted by speedtouch

Rone1986, what's the resolution on this insane saga? Inquiring minds want to know!

It was finally resolved, but I'm sure they shaved a few years off my life. Here's the final rundown of what finally happened:

--------------------

I contacted them again on the 17th Oct:

Hi, my name is Isela P R. How may I help you?
Tyrone: Please take a moment to look at ticket 131003-001581
Isela P R: Alright. Do you mind holding for a moment while I research this?
Tyrone: I am happy to wait. Then can you please explain to me the poor level of communication and the difficulty in resolving this issue
Tyrone: I have aired my grievances here https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=224457 and on FaceBook. I am very upset with your company.
Tyrone: And you can also explain why I have been promised numerous phone calls, but no one has contacted me
Isela P R: Thank you for holding. I have reviewed your case and I will escalate this to a higher department. They will contact you within 48 business hours. I understand your frustration on this matter and this will be escalate to the higher department.
Tyrone: I doubt that.
'Tyrone' disconnected ('Concluded by End-user').

-----------------

Chatted again 18th Oct.

They were again hopless. Called them on their international CS number. Hopeless... Was told I needed to call back that night after 9pm. The replacements department was supposed to have been open then so I could talk to them directly.

So I called again just after 9pm that night. The Indian girl I spoke to was useless, dismissive and didn't believe I was told to call and speak to the replacements department as no one talks to them. I believe this is as true for anyone in Kobo as it is for the general public. This was when I began to yell and demanded a supervisor. There were none available. She was going to escalate my call again and a manager would call me back. I yelled more and cut her off halfway through a sentence, slamming the phone.

I immediately redialed, thinking to tie up their lines until I got through to a manager or got a resolution. I was so sick of it all by this point. I got through to an guy of indeterminable ethnicity. I immediately demanded a manager. He was unable to find my details on the system at all. I was livid. I yelled. I demanded a manager. I heard him talking to someone in the background. He couldn't find my reference as the previous CS staffer still had my complaint open making notes. Finally he accessed it, took 10-15 minutes to wade through all the notes. He asked me to wait a minute and suddenly I was talking to a manager - a manager in Canada no less! Quebec!

He took a while to calm me down (I was really, really, really riled up). I spoke/yelled/spoke with him for just over an hour, until about 11.30pm and it ended up in this email being received at about 9am the next morning:

Thank you for contacting Kobo Customer Care.

As per our discussion today, I have escalated your issue about the replacement of your New Aura. I will have someone from our management team contact you at ***********(AU), if we are unable to get in contact with you this way we will be sending an email with an update on the status of your correct device replacement and to the correct address. We do apologize for the inconvenience that this issue have caused you and we do value you as a customer. As compensation we are providing you with a promo code for 100% for a book on our web site where applicable. Here is the code which does expire by NOV.30 th 2013: *******.
--------------------

19th October
They did contact me. They offered to send me a device straight from Canada and added a $20 credit to my account:

Thank you for taking the time to speak to me today. As we discussed we will be sending you a replacement for you Kobo Aura which will ship out on Monday. I will send you the tracking number as soon as I receive it. Also I have added a $20 store credit to your Kobo account which you can use towards your next Kobo purchases.

Thank you

Dan
---------------------------

He never did advise me of that tracking number, but the correct model Kobo Aura did show up shortly after, though that one came from Hong Kong. I figured he had lied about sending it from Canada, but I had my replacement, so I didn't care. The replacement even had fewer pin pricks of light than my original, so I was happy with the replacement - not the company.

Then - and you'll love this - another 6" Aura, this one sent from Canada, showed up about a week after I had received the first... I gave it to my sister for her birthday.

Then, the beginning of November, just to punctuate theie incompetence, I received another email from Kobo CS with yet another NEW incident number concerning my Kobo Glo... which, just like the Aura HD, were figments of Kobo's imagination.

And that's that. That's how it all ended. I had been meaning to update, but think I subconsciously buried the whole experience for the benefit of my mental health. I've never had a worse experience with a company. I have no idea how they function as a business.

[speedtouch]

That is truly epic. I've read about bad customer service, but your CS saga is near the top or the very top. Amazing. Ok, so in the end you FINALLY got your Aura replacement. And another Aura. Oh, and they want to work with you on your Glo problems. Fantastic! If you'd like to give them my address to send me the replacement Glo, I'd be happy to work with you on that. Ha!!

I'm glad it's finally over for you. Good Lord. I bet you were pounding the beers and hard liquors near the end, I know I would be.

So, now that everything is done. How do you like your Aura and how does your sister like hers?

[HarleyB]

Oh my goodness! I've just read this entire thread and it is unbelievable...

Sooooo funny though - thanks so much for posting. I'm glad you finally got a couple of Aura's to read with. Who knows maybe they'll send you a Glo as well?

[rone1986]

Originally Posted by speedtouch

That is truly epic. I've read about bad customer service, but your CS saga is near the top or the very top. Amazing. Ok, so in the end you FINALLY got your Aura replacement. And another Aura. Oh, and they want to work with you on your Glo problems. Fantastic! If you'd like to give them my address to send me the replacement Glo, I'd be happy to work with you on that. Ha!!

I'm glad it's finally over for you. Good Lord. I bet you were pounding the beers and hard liquors near the end, I know I would be.

So, now that everything is done. How do you like your Aura and how does your sister like hers?

Originally Posted by HarleyB

Oh my goodness! I've just read this entire thread and it is unbelievable...

Sooooo funny though - thanks so much for posting. I'm glad you finally got a couple of Aura's to read with. Who knows maybe they'll send you a Glo as well?

Yeah, my good friends Jim B and Johnny W helped my through this most frustrating experience. I've never had such a poor consumer experience.

As for the Aura, I love the device, just can't stand the company. Hopefully I never have to deal with them again. I have no idea how a company can operate like this...

My sister laughed her a$$ of at my pain through the whole ordeal, then benefited from it. It's her first ereader and she's enjoying it.

As for the non-existent Glo, I haven't heard anything more. Fingers crossed one shows up before Christmas, my mother could use one.

[xendula]

I have no idea how they function as a business.

Me neither!
Glad you had your issue resolved, though. If it were me, I would have just insisted on getting my money back and would have given it to a competitor.

I'll think of you every time I lust after a Kobo device!