Kobo lost my order but charged me anyway

Josieb1 · 01-15-2014, 02:12 PM

Last night I bought a book on KoboUK. I paid with PayPal and as I was being transfered back to Kobo I got a white 'internal server error' screen.

The upshot of it is I have been charged by PayPal but Kobo has no record of my order, and needless to say I don't have the book in my library. I've gone through 'chat' twice now and provided proof of the paypal completed transaction but no joy, they keep telling me they can't trace the payment or the order, supposedly they are investigating the issue, and should get back to me in 48 hours.

Any suggestions on what I do other than dispute the transaction in PayPal?

It's not a lot of money it's more annoying than anything, after all I wanted to read the book!

TechniSol · 01-15-2014, 03:21 PM

I'd take it up with PayPal since Kobo claims no knowledge of your order. There must be some protocol at PayPal for these sorts of issues that apply to all their vendors.

robko · 01-15-2014, 05:24 PM

While I would agree with TechniSol and I don't have a lot of faith generally in Kobo CS, in fairness you should at least give them a chance to fix the issue (since they are supposedly working on it) before you jump to PayPal (especially when it's a small amount of money that it doesn't sound like you need back immediately).

PeterT · 01-15-2014, 06:00 PM

What often seems to get better response from Kobo is to reach out to them via Twitter, if possible include the ticket number(s) of any other interactions you have had with them.

Josieb1 · 01-15-2014, 11:37 PM

Thank you. I've had an email overnight saying they will refund me. I've bought a few books from them before but this is the first time I've used PayPal, I had a balance I wanted to use as normally I use a credit card, so I'm not sure I'd trust using PayPal again as it seems like their system crashed after payment was authorised,

I've found the whole process quite a hassle tbh as I've spent at nearly an hour on two chat sessions and had to provide three attachments. I'm a bit bemused by them even with a PayPal transaction number they still can't find the order, so the accounting is definately out somewhere.

All I wanted was the book. It was bought with a one use code so I can't rebought at that price, oh well, it's only 49p cheaper on Amazon, and I have Kindle as well as a Kobo. Guess Amazon gets my order this time.

paola · 01-16-2014, 03:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josieb1

Thank you. I've had an email overnight saying they will refund me. I've bought a few books from them before but this is the first time I've used PayPal, I had a balance I wanted to use as normally I use a credit card, so I'm not sure I'd trust using PayPal again as it seems like their system crashed after payment was authorised

sorry it did not work. I do use Paypal regularly from the UK, and never had an issue, so I do hope your bad experience was just a one off!

TechniSol · 01-17-2014, 01:01 AM

Incidently, by way of explanation, I meant no ill will toward Kobo. But, if they claim no knowledge of a transaction, and Paypal has billed or transferred money then Paypal would be the logical entity to raise an issue with -in the event of a transaction that processed on their end, but didn't get transmitted to the vendor.

Josieb1 · 01-17-2014, 06:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TechniSol

Incidently, by way of explanation, I meant no ill will toward Kobo. But, if they claim no knowledge of a transaction, and Paypal has billed or transferred money then Paypal would be the logical entity to raise an issue with -in the event of a transaction that processed on their end, but didn't get transmitted to the vendor.

I did raise it with PayPal first as initially it was a Pending transaction. They assured me it would only be processed by Kobo when they Completed the transaction, if they had the transaction. PayPal told me they would get the transaction voided but before they did that Kobo debited me. Which is why they had to refund me.

So it seems the PayPal transactions are completely separate at Kobo's end to the actual book purchase.

TechniSol · 01-18-2014, 01:15 AM

It sounds like there is a handshake at both ends, which makes sense. Apparently there was some delay between Paypal debiting you, and Kobo seeing the credit available to them and responding because of the error you experienced. I suspect that the error mechanism in place involves PayPal periodically retransmitting the credit being available until the vendor accepts it or something times out or so many attempts have been made. Blah blah blah... Glad you got it resolved, I just wanted to make it understood that I was not taking Kobo to task over it.

Ladyrixx · 01-23-2014, 03:37 PM

I haven't ever had that happen with Kobo, but I've had the same thing happen with in-app purchases on my Android phone. I guess sometimes paypal isn't good at getting back to the vendor.

01-15-2014, 02:12 PM	#1
Josieb1 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,009 Karma: 18018738 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: UK Device: Kobo Forma, Libra2, Clara 2e, Kindle PW SE & Kindle 2022	Kobo lost my order but charged me anyway Last night I bought a book on KoboUK. I paid with PayPal and as I was being transfered back to Kobo I got a white 'internal server error' screen. The upshot of it is I have been charged by PayPal but Kobo has no record of my order, and needless to say I don't have the book in my library. I've gone through 'chat' twice now and provided proof of the paypal completed transaction but no joy, they keep telling me they can't trace the payment or the order, supposedly they are investigating the issue, and should get back to me in 48 hours. Any suggestions on what I do other than dispute the transaction in PayPal? It's not a lot of money it's more annoying than anything, after all I wanted to read the book!

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01-15-2014, 03:21 PM	#2
TechniSol GranPohbah-Fezzes r cool! Posts: 1,056 Karma: 3151024 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Nook STRs, Kobo Touch, Kobo Glo	I'd take it up with PayPal since Kobo claims no knowledge of your order. There must be some protocol at PayPal for these sorts of issues that apply to all their vendors.

01-15-2014, 05:24 PM	#3
robko Wizard Posts: 2,454 Karma: 5469320 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Kobo	While I would agree with TechniSol and I don't have a lot of faith generally in Kobo CS, in fairness you should at least give them a chance to fix the issue (since they are supposedly working on it) before you jump to PayPal (especially when it's a small amount of money that it doesn't sound like you need back immediately).

01-15-2014, 06:00 PM	#4
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 12,160 Karma: 73448616 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Nexus 7, Clara, Touch, Tolino EPOS	What often seems to get better response from Kobo is to reach out to them via Twitter, if possible include the ticket number(s) of any other interactions you have had with them.

01-15-2014, 11:37 PM	#5
Josieb1 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,009 Karma: 18018738 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: UK Device: Kobo Forma, Libra2, Clara 2e, Kindle PW SE & Kindle 2022	Thank you. I've had an email overnight saying they will refund me. I've bought a few books from them before but this is the first time I've used PayPal, I had a balance I wanted to use as normally I use a credit card, so I'm not sure I'd trust using PayPal again as it seems like their system crashed after payment was authorised, I've found the whole process quite a hassle tbh as I've spent at nearly an hour on two chat sessions and had to provide three attachments. I'm a bit bemused by them even with a PayPal transaction number they still can't find the order, so the accounting is definately out somewhere. All I wanted was the book. It was bought with a one use code so I can't rebought at that price, oh well, it's only 49p cheaper on Amazon, and I have Kindle as well as a Kobo. Guess Amazon gets my order this time.

01-17-2014, 01:01 AM	#7
TechniSol GranPohbah-Fezzes r cool! Posts: 1,056 Karma: 3151024 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Nook STRs, Kobo Touch, Kobo Glo	Incidently, by way of explanation, I meant no ill will toward Kobo. But, if they claim no knowledge of a transaction, and Paypal has billed or transferred money then Paypal would be the logical entity to raise an issue with -in the event of a transaction that processed on their end, but didn't get transmitted to the vendor.

01-18-2014, 01:15 AM	#9
TechniSol GranPohbah-Fezzes r cool! Posts: 1,056 Karma: 3151024 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Nook STRs, Kobo Touch, Kobo Glo	It sounds like there is a handshake at both ends, which makes sense. Apparently there was some delay between Paypal debiting you, and Kobo seeing the credit available to them and responding because of the error you experienced. I suspect that the error mechanism in place involves PayPal periodically retransmitting the credit being available until the vendor accepts it or something times out or so many attempts have been made. Blah blah blah... Glad you got it resolved, I just wanted to make it understood that I was not taking Kobo to task over it.

01-23-2014, 03:37 PM	#10
Ladyrixx Zealot Posts: 146 Karma: 585496 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: Astak EZ Reader Pocket Pro, Kobo Mini, Nook Glowlight 2, Kobo Forma	I haven't ever had that happen with Kobo, but I've had the same thing happen with in-app purchases on my Android phone. I guess sometimes paypal isn't good at getting back to the vendor.

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