Frustrated Kobo Buyer

[JD Gumby]

Originally Posted by nogle

I will agree however that it would be handy to see the price on the book's information page (I can see an argument that within the search results, there just isn't enough screen real-estate to include it).

Actually, there is enough screen real-estate to show the price - the display fields for each book are the same size in search results as they are when you browse the categories (category results show the prices).

[treadlightly]

Originally Posted by sminarov

Hey, not the newbie I appear, but changed email server forgot password as I have been lurking for the past while.. anyway.. The last 4 books that I have purchased from Kobo have failed to download on to my computer they all have this "error" (in quotes because customer service says this is not an error message)

<error xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/adept" data="E_ADEPT_RESOURCE_DOES_NOT_EXIST http://acs4.shortcovers.com:8080/ful...t/URLLink.acsm 6b3919fd-a48a-4075-92d8-fc90348c74c6"/
e

I received this message for one book four days ago and customer service said the download link for the book was faulty and they were "working hard to resolve the problem". They said I could use the Kobo Desktop app to view the book in the meantime, but that isn't a workaround that I am interested in pursuing.

[yhamm]

Originally Posted by treadlightly

I received this message for one book four days ago and customer service said the download link for the book was faulty and they were "working hard to resolve the problem". They said I could use the Kobo Desktop app to view the book in the meantime, but that isn't a workaround that I am interested in pursuing.

Yes, I have had a similar issue with a book I purchased a few days ago. CS is happy with the resolution of "you can read with the Kobo app or download via wifi to your Kobo reader" and "this is a publisher issue and we cannot do anything about it other than let the publisher know." In other words, they do not care if the ADE version is inaccessible as long as the kepub version is working.

[ottdmk]

From what I understand of how ADE works, Kobo is telling the truth. They do not actually have the Adobe DRM'ed files on their servers. I think it is disingenuous to claim they do not care; this is a situation where their options are severely limited.

[nogle]

Originally Posted by ottdmk

From what I understand of how ADE works, Kobo is telling the truth. They do not actually have the Adobe DRM'ed files on their servers. I think it is disingenuous to claim they do not care; this is a situation where their options are severely limited.

For an .epub file, what you download from Kobo is a token that lets you download the book from Adobe servers. It is outside of Kobo's control.

For a .kepub file, the files are stored on Kobo servers and so are within Kobo's control.

[EldRick]

Yet another good reason not to buy books from Kobo.

Instead, use calibre to search for the title you want from an assortment of online stores (it takes only seconds), choose the price you like with the DRM you can tolerate, and get the book from a firm that imposes less control over the content you purchase.

[yhamm]

Originally Posted by ottdmk

From what I understand of how ADE works, Kobo is telling the truth. They do not actually have the Adobe DRM'ed files on their servers. I think it is disingenuous to claim they do not care; this is a situation where their options are severely limited.

Perhaps I wasn't clear in my contribution... the CS I contacted stopped any further efforts to assist me after she discovered that I was able to download the book into the kobo desktop app. This was after I had already told her it was an ADE download issue NOT a kepub download issue. I never stated that Kobo was not telling the truth about the ADE issue needing to be fixed by the publisher, merely that as far as they are concerned, their kepub works, the customer has a way to access THAT file and so the problem (as far as they are concerned) is solved.

It is reasonable to expect that if they are going to offer the option that they should ensure it works. As of today, the link is still broken on the book I purchased and they are still selling it with the link indicating that the download is possible. Maybe they could disable the link so the book buying public will know that the option is not currently available. Caveat emptor.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by EldRick

Yet another good reason not to buy books from Kobo.

Instead, use calibre to search for the title you want from an assortment of online stores (it takes only seconds), choose the price you like with the DRM you can tolerate, and get the book from a firm that imposes less control over the content you purchase.

Actually, I think that Kobo is giving you more choice. They have kepubs which use their DRM and they have epubs which use Adobe DRM. Most other shops only have the Adobe DRM. And Kobo and the other shops handle this in the same way.

As to price, whenever I search, the Kobo price has been the same as others. Plus, I have been using Kobo promo codes for most books, so it is cheaper.

[jackastor]

Originally Posted by sminarov

Hey, not the newbie I appear, but changed email server forgot password as I have been lurking for the past while.. anyway.. The last 4 books that I have purchased from Kobo have failed to download on to my computer they all have this "error" (in quotes because customer service says this is not an error message)

<error xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/adept" data="E_ADEPT_RESOURCE_DOES_NOT_EXIST http://acs4.shortcovers.com:8080/ful...t/URLLink.acsm 6b3919fd-a48a-4075-92d8-fc90348c74c6"/
e

although the numbers probably change to identify the books so far Kobo
has been unable to help me nor yet refund my money although to be fair, the
last two books were purchased after the trouble began...I lived in hope it was a one of event..

I updated my Adobe digital editions, added Kobo desktop even though I don't have a Kobo reader so it was pointless, I didn't want to muddy thhe waters telling them I use calibre. All the books fail to download to ADE, or Sony Reader. One book did show up on the kobo desktop but not on my computer and as it could not be moved or synced on to my sony reader and I domn't read books off my computer this seemed pointless.

Has anyone elese experienced this problem recently with Kobo books?
What was the out come? I am wondering if they take off the books and refund my money do I try again to purchase them..or give up..I many times more times do I purchase from Kobo from specific publishers inthis case Ellora's Cave, and Siren-Bookstrand..before I give up.

Sad no Christmas Erotica!

ACtually it sounds like that when you purchased the books, you used a different email address. Because of this you cannot download the books as the information is different. I have the same error with a book I purchased a long time ago. But fortunatly for me I stripped the drm off and saved it to hdd.

Good luck

Jack

[sapphiresilver]

I've had this happen with a couple of books. I haven't worried too much about it, but it is nice to know I'm not the only one with this problem. I don't think it has anything to do with the email address I used to purchase the books, since I use the same email for ADE and Kobo. It has made me a bit wary of purchasing future books from Kobo, since I always use the ADE download option so I can back up my books.