Kobo in trouble in Canada and the US

[eschwartz]

Oh god no... It was so peaceful here...

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Oh god no... It was so peaceful here...

Was just thinking the same thing.

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Originally Posted by sirmaru

Kobo will go the way of Sony and Barnes & Noble. Apple will be right behind them. The standard is NOT epub - its Amazon Kindle format.

Those, who just stick to Amazon, don't need Calibre, Alf or any other eBook publisher; they just need Amazon to stay alive at least until the next generation of direct from server to human mind company is born and drives Amazon out.

Spoken like a true believer!

[booklover6]

Long Live KOBO! They have the best e-ink devices on the market!

[issybird]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Long Live KOBO! They have the best e-ink devices on the market!

Debatable. But they have no competition for worst customer service.

[jersysman]

Originally Posted by issybird

Debatable. But they have no competition for worst customer service.

That is going to be a hard reputation to shake. I have seen stories here and there of a little bit better CS. However, it is true, when one thinks of Kobo, great customer service is not something that comes to mind.

[sirmaru]

Amazon has great customer service but they just raised the Prime annual rate from $ 79 to $ 99. When Kobo goes down, it will probably go to $ 119 and, when Apple goes down, it will probably go to $ 139.

Monopolies get that way by great service and products and then make the customer pay a lot more.

[soulfuldog]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Long Live KOBO! They have the best e-ink devices on the market!

They have amongst the best e-ink devices on the market!

Fixed that for you.

Even then there is a but - as long as you don't mind bugs and having to stick with a particular firmware.

Mind you, Amazon's collection issues have meant a little of this kind of pick your 'best' firmware option for the Kindle too, which is a new problem. They have at least fixed it somewhat with a new firmware update though....

As for customer service. I just recently read a thread in the Kobo forum about someone returning an Aura HD because of a hardware fault and after receiving pictures showing the fault, Kobo are sending them out a replacement Aura HD before they have to return the old one. So perhaps a sign that they are getting a little better in this respect?

[issybird]

Originally Posted by soulfuldog

Fixed that for you.

Even then there is a but - as long as you don't mind bugs and having to stick with a particular firmware.

Mind you, Amazon's collection issues have meant a little of this kind of pick your 'best' firmware option for the Kindle too, which is a new problem. They have at least fixed it somewhat with a new firmware update though....

As for customer service. I just recently read a thread in the Kobo forum about someone returning an Aura HD because of a hardware fault and after receiving pictures showing the fault, Kobo are sending them out a replacement Aura HD before they have to return the old one. So perhaps a sign that they are getting a little better in this respect?

Only a little better at best. I just had to get a replacement Glo and while they did mail it to me before I had to return the old one, with both Amazon and Barnes & Noble, the replacement reader comes with a prepaid label to return the faulty one. With Kobo I had to pick up the tab. And with Amazon and B&N, it takes one phone call to get the exchange going, while with Kobo, it took several back-and-forths with CS and, yes, it included my taking pictures, before they agreed to a replacement.

The single biggest issue with Kobo's CS (and there are many) is that the first level contact at CS is empowered to do nothing at all except give boilerplate responses expressing regret at your frustration and suggesting a soft reset and then a hard one. Days can go by without progressing past that point. By the time they start to get serious, you'd have already received your replacement from Amazon or B&N.

Unfortunately, Kobo is last man standing irt ePub readers in the US. I don't think lack of competition will improve things. And as said above, the collection issues alone at Kindle make it an unappealing alternative.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by soulfuldog

Fixed that for you.

Had to make my statement in response to the pro-Kindle statement. I know, there are always dissenters! But my personal list of pros and cons points to Kobo as the clear winner.

Originally Posted by soulfuldog

Even then there is a but - as long as you don't mind bugs and having to stick with a particular firmware.

I don't like changes to perfectly good firmware....which is why I returned my PW2. (Of course, I could have waited, jailbreaked, rolled back....but that's a lot of extra work that I don't have to do with my Kobo).

So far I haven't ever needed any CS from Kobo. Their devices have been rock solid. I have 4 of them, with another on the way.

Yes I do use Calibre and plug-ins and a patch.....still WAY less work than jailbreaking and modifying a kindle...with way better results in collection management. Kobo rocks!

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

Exactly. The Kobo website is not very good - searching doesn't work well and Kobo won't even tell you the format of the book you want to buy. You can add it to your library to see the format, but this goes back to ease of use again. Kobo's customer service is not very good either. If they fix even just the website problems I think their business could do better. Also there is the problem that you can't use coupons on the big publishers in the US - after the publishers settled Kobo allowed coupons for a while and then stopped abruptly. I usually bought from Kobo because with coupons you could get a good deal and that is a pain now as well.

And there is no wishlist for me to keep track of books I might want to buy.

I like Kobo. I'm an affiliate for them and I sell a decent amount of books on their site. But even though I've had people say they have left reviews for my books on Kobo and they did a huge "book review" drive...none have shown up. They have a ways to go with customer service (both for their affiliate program and their buying customers.) Believe me, I want them to succeed. I want them to succeed badly because I want to sell books somewhere other than Amazon. I love the coupons and I use them and buy books there. But they do have some work to do to keep up with the competition.

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by issybird

Debatable. But they have no competition for worst customer service.

Oh, I don't know, nook is a good contender.

Admittedly I've only had 1 problem with both and Kobo eventually sorted theirs out, gave up with nook CS.

[soulfuldog]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Had to make my statement in response to the pro-Kindle statement. I know, there are always dissenters! But my personal list of pros and cons points to Kobo as the clear winner.

I'm guessing that pro-Kindle statement came from someone who is a well known blinded-by-love-for-Amazon poster, so therefore it doesn't really count!

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by soulfuldog

I'm guessing that pro-Kindle statement came from someone who is a well known blinded-by-love-for-Amazon poster, so therefore it doesn't really count!

Absolutely, but I still wanted to sing for the underdog! Just for people who don't know the circumstances!

[ottdmk]

Hmnn. This doesn't really surprise me. I've believed for a long time that Agency was a big factor in helping Kobo survive; this proves it.

Having to compete on price with an operation like Amazon is extremely daunting. While Amazon doesn't use e-books as a loss leader, Amazon's profit margins are extremely thin. They're a stock darling despite the fact that they don't turn a large profit. Instead, the market has been rewarding their leading (and usually improving) market share for years.

That's tough for other operations to match.