Touch Kobo Standard Warranty (1st Year)- Is shipping covered?

SCION · 09-13-2011, 10:16 AM

I'm familiar with the standard manufacture's one year warranty. Why does Kobo not pay for the shipping when one has a defective device and would like a replacement? Do they only pay if you live in Canada? When I've had to return defective devices to other manufactures, I did not have to pay for shipping, but they were located in the United States.

Quote:

*

Hi,

Please ship the eReader to the address below. The RMA number is your help ticket number which is .... Please write this number and your full name on the package before shipping it to Kobo. Kobo will not cover the cost of shipping the defective eReader. You will need to cover the shipping charge and make sure the device does not break in transit.

Kobo Inc.
135 Liberty St, Suite 100
Toronto, ON, CA
M6K 1A7

Sincerely,
The Kobo Team

I received a prepaid label in my case, so I'm puzzled by this follow up message.

Psyke · 09-13-2011, 02:01 PM

it really is at the company's discretion; I've dealt with plenty where shipping is not covered. It's possible they paid for the shipping because of the run-around you had but they still only send canned messages.

SCION · 09-13-2011, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psyke

it really is at the company's discretion; I've dealt with plenty where shipping is not covered. It's possible they paid for the shipping because of the run-around you had but they still only send canned messages.

Thank you.

taming · 09-13-2011, 03:41 PM

I received a prepaid label, as have other folks who have posted on MR. I have no idea what the criteria for free shipping might be.

SCION · 09-13-2011, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by taming

I received a prepaid label, as have other folks who have posted on MR. I have no idea what the criteria for free shipping might be.

OK, I understand now. Their general policy is probably to not pay shipping. There could be a number of exceptions. Doesn't seem unusual. Thanks for that info.

The Terminator · 09-14-2011, 12:41 AM

I got a pre-paid shipping label for mine a month ago, but I'm in Canada.

porphyra · 09-21-2011, 10:25 AM

This was posted in a Canadian forum by a Kobo employee, so take it for it's worth. Kobo seems to be changing their service policies. I know of Canadians too that have now been told to cover their own shipping (from a week or two ago).

Quote:

I work for Kobo in one of their contact centers, and this new policy regarding returns is pretty lame. We had training on it coming into effect last week and it started up on the 14th (September).

Kobo is now considering the screen problem almost everyone has a "cosmetic" issue rather than a "manufacturing" issue... which is what it clearly is. I process about 5-10 RMA requests a day and almost all of them are due to screen problems.

The biggest changes are the fact that you now have to ship the device back at your own cost (no matter where you reside in the world) and that if your device is not considered to be covered under the limited warranty, they will charge you 59.95 USD to have a refurbished device sent to you...

If you have a Kobo Wifi or older, you should really read the warranty before you consider mailing the device back; if you are going to end up with a refurbished one anyways you may as well just buy one from bestbuy/futureshop for the same price roughly but without the wait time.

If you are looking at purchasing a Kobo Touch however, there is a extended warranty plan available for the device, and when you connect it to your computer and the Kobo desktop you will get an option asking if you would like to purchase it. If I recall correctly it is around $30-40 and it will cover your device from anything for 2 full years.

And I mean anything. We were told in training that it is covered against acts of god, your dog chewing down on the thing... even if you decided to put the device in the microwave... we would replace it for you.

I don't see this new policy lasting very long... it is similar to what we had in place when the devices first launched and we got many complaints. We then became really lienent with our RMA's (I did one for a guy who melted his!) but Kobo has started to lose too much money by replacing all of these devices which is why they have changed the policy back to what it used to be.

If you have a screen issue (looks like an etch a-sketch or lines through it) that you should probably just write to the president of the company or file a complaint with the BBB before you even contact Kobo... the fact that this is considered cosmetic blows my mind now...

p_a_smith · 09-21-2011, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by porphyra

This was posted in a Canadian forum by a Kobo employee, so take it for it's worth. Kobo seems to be changing their service policies. I know of Canadians too that have now been told to cover their own shipping (from a week or two ago).

Can you please link to where it was posted?

Latch · 09-21-2011, 03:50 PM

How can they honestly (is that a poor choice of words here?) think that locked pixels are 'cosmetic' when it's blatantly obvious that it's a defective screen?

molman · 09-22-2011, 03:58 AM

It's sad when the customer service you receive is linked to the amount of noise one makes. Felt sorry for the individual in the other thread who had to ship it back from Germany (I believe) at his own expense for a refurbished unit even though it was pretty much DOA.

Different countries will have different consumer/trade laws so it is worth being aware of these. It can get a little tricky if they are not trading directly in your country though.

porphyra · 09-22-2011, 10:07 AM

The latest according to the person at kobo is that the company has revisited this policy and is going back to shipping labels for RMA, at least for now. I suppose people making noise got heard.

However, the screen issue being labeled as cosmetic rather than manufacturing error is still worrisome.

P.S. The original thread is here.

09-22-2011, 10:07 AM	#11
porphyra Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 42 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: Kobo Wireless, Kobo Touch	The latest according to the person at kobo is that the company has revisited this policy and is going back to shipping labels for RMA, at least for now. I suppose people making noise got heard. However, the screen issue being labeled as cosmetic rather than manufacturing error is still worrisome. P.S. The original thread is here. Last edited by porphyra; 09-22-2011 at 10:09 AM.

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09-13-2011, 02:01 PM	#2
Psyke Evangelist Posts: 482 Karma: 534340 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Ottawa/Canada Device: Kobo Wi-Fi - Kobo Touch - GNex - N7	it really is at the company's discretion; I've dealt with plenty where shipping is not covered. It's possible they paid for the shipping because of the run-around you had but they still only send canned messages.

09-13-2011, 03:41 PM	#4
taming Trying for calm & polite Posts: 4,012 Karma: 9455193 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mostly in Canada Device: kobo original, WiFI, Touch, Glo, and Aura	I received a prepaid label, as have other folks who have posted on MR. I have no idea what the criteria for free shipping might be.

09-14-2011, 12:41 AM	#6
The Terminator Retired Posts: 2,552 Karma: 37638420 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Vancouver Island Canada Device: Kobo Touch, Optimus One (2.3), Nexus 7 (4.2)	I got a pre-paid shipping label for mine a month ago, but I'm in Canada.

09-21-2011, 03:50 PM	#9
Latch Porcupine Tree fan Posts: 139 Karma: 357322 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Ottawa, Canada Device: Kobo Touch	How can they honestly (is that a poor choice of words here?) think that locked pixels are 'cosmetic' when it's blatantly obvious that it's a defective screen?

09-22-2011, 03:58 AM	#10
molman Evangelist Posts: 436 Karma: 538958 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: none	It's sad when the customer service you receive is linked to the amount of noise one makes. Felt sorry for the individual in the other thread who had to ship it back from Germany (I believe) at his own expense for a refurbished unit even though it was pretty much DOA. Different countries will have different consumer/trade laws so it is worth being aware of these. It can get a little tricky if they are not trading directly in your country though.

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