a Problem with a Kobo book purchase

[robko]

Originally Posted by Ravensknight

It is seeing threads like this over and over again that make me leery of using Kobo. I have used them to buy 2 books before, but everytime I think about buying a book there, I feel like I am walking into a minefield, never knowing when something is going to go KaBloom!

Stories like Crich70's and others are a nightmare and should never happen. But the reality is that in the vast majority of cases purchases are fine and problem free. It's like broken screens: if you went on perception of how often they happen based on how much they are talked about on here rather than a rational thought of how often they occur you'd never buy any e-reader. Do they happen? For sure, just like billing screw-ups happen. Just not very often.
And Kobo doesn't help the perception of the number of their screw-ups when they happen because they aren't the fastest or easiest about getting things straightened out which means they get lots of talk.

[snape]

I think the timeframes do certainly bring Kobo-related issues into the forefront more than the sheer number of problems would otherwise suggest.

In my case, resolving the issue with Kobo was measured in days, rather than the minutes or perhaps hours it takes to work through problems with many other e-book sellers. When I called Kobo to get help, I was on hold for 40 minutes before a rep picked up. I tried to utilize their chat app via a link I found through a Google search but it never connected. In the end, it took 6 days total to get access to my books.

Though Kobo finally provided access to the content I purchased and the duplicate PayPal charges (or whatever they were) were ultimately resolved, this morning I received an e-mail from their customer service department asking (again) that I send them my receipts. Apparently they are unaware that they have already fixed the problem.

In other news, while the amount I was billed included the use of my e-book settlement credit, the credit still appears as available in my Kobo account. I wouldn't try to use it twice because a) I'm just not that kind of person, and b) I'm absolutely done dealing with Kobo. However, I can now look forward to being badgered about using my settlement credit once the expiration date draws near. Sweet.

[JSWolf]

The thing is, you don't usually get people posting about how everything is working as it should. You get mostly people posting when they have a problem. So for everyone who posts about a problem, there are many more not posting because there isn't a problem. I've bought lots of eBooks from Kobo and never have a had a problem. I don't go posting that when I buy an eBooks from Kobo and and all goes as expected. I have never broken the screen on an eInk Reader. I don't go posting every time I go to read and nothing it wrong with the screen.

So really, issues like this are few and far between. It did get sorted and all is well. Just look at the Kobo discount code thread. You read from the beginning and you'll see many people making many purchases from Kobo without a hitch.

Even Amazon is not free from issues. Just scan the net and you'll see people posting about their accounts being closed for no reason. Most people this doesn't happen to. But it does happen to some.

There is not one retailer who sells eBooks and/or Readers where you won't find a small number of people complaining about something that went wrong. So if you think not buying from Kobo based on what's been posted in this thread, just remember, not one retailer is 100% without problems.

[crich70]

I don't expect perfection certainly. Still they got the two different issues I was talking about mixed up together and it took multiple emails to sort it out. One that I got from them requested that I send a screen shot of the multiple charges (as shown on my account). This was after I'd already sent just that screen shot. And it took about 2 weeks to sort it out as well. Which seems a bit long. Granted it does take a few days for funds that are reimbursed to show up I'm sure, but two weeks to sort it? And it took them several days after they unlocked the one book before they unlocked the other even though I'd identified both books by title in my email. My problem with them isn't that there was a problem but how long it took to sort out. Granted I'm sure that there are more examples of where nothing does go wrong than there are examples of problems and granted that no retailer is perfect. Any store that employs human beings is going to occasionally have problems. I am happy that they did get it sorted out. I've bought a good many books from them (most of them free books) and have had only a handful of problems.

[khalleron]

That's been my experience, too.

Had a problem with my Nook Color, called B&N customer service, problem solved immediately.

Had a problem with a third party seller on Amazon, called CS, problem solved immediately.

Had a problem with not being able to download a book from Kobo, contacted CS, took almost TWO MONTHS to sort the problem.

Sure, every retailer makes mistakes, but Kobo apparently has a really hard time dealing with their errors. You can't tell me that they have more complaints than Amazon, yet their ability to deal with the complaints they have is far worse.

We're not asking them to be error-free; we're asking them to be more professional and timely in their customer service.

[taustin]

Originally Posted by robko

Stories like Crich70's and others are a nightmare and should never happen. But the reality is that in the vast majority of cases purchases are fine and problem free. It's like broken screens: if you went on perception of how often they happen based on how much they are talked about on here rather than a rational thought of how often they occur you'd never buy any e-reader. Do they happen? For sure, just like billing screw-ups happen. Just not very often.
And Kobo doesn't help the perception of the number of their screw-ups when they happen because they aren't the fastest or easiest about getting things straightened out which means they get lots of talk.

And that's the problem. All companies have screw-ups. An employee having a bad day, technical problems, defective products, it all happens. All companies have problems.

The test of a company's character is how they respond. Kobo responds . . . poorly, and slowly. The lesson I get from this thread is that they are so inept at handling their customer's money that they cannot tell if they got paid or not, cannot pull up financial records based on an account user name, and see if, or how many times, they got paid. That is simply unacceptable. That's the sort of thing that gets them in trouble with the authorities if they ever get audited. Or they're just making it difficult on purpose.

Either way, I'm inclined to go back to paper books before doing business with them (since I have stronger, though different objections, to Amazon's ebook walled garden, and there may soon be very few other alternatives left).

[khalleron]

Originally Posted by taustin

And that's the problem. All companies have screw-ups. An employee having a bad day, technical problems, defective products, it all happens. All companies have problems.

The test of a company's character is how they respond. Kobo responds . . . poorly, and slowly. The lesson I get from this thread is that they are so inept at handling their customer's money that they cannot tell if they got paid or not, cannot pull up financial records based on an account user name, and see if, or how many times, they got paid. That is simply unacceptable. That's the sort of thing that gets them in trouble with the authorities if they ever get audited. Or they're just making it difficult on purpose.

Either way, I'm inclined to go back to paper books before doing business with them (since I have stronger, though different objections, to Amazon's ebook walled garden, and there may soon be very few other alternatives left).

Google Books has become my go-to. Not only do they usually have the best prices for epub books, but they've got more free PD books than you could read in several lifetimes.

I can't vouch for their customer service because, frankly, I've never had a problem. That may be another discussion for another day.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by khalleron

I can't vouch for their customer service because, frankly, I've never had a problem. That may be another discussion for another day.

I can only say that the one time I needed their CS they got back to me in a couple hours and offered a solution which I took them up on and they executed within a few hours of me getting back to them.