USA: how could I get someone to send me a Kobo from there? - Page 2

LivresInOz · 12-02-2021, 01:38 PM

I'm definitely open to more recommendations for honest, reliable and affordable
'freight forwarders'!

i.e Companies like MyUs.Com

SIDEBAR: It's really dumb of companies to provide sub-optimal service to customers these days when there are so many review sites around. A good reputation takes years to build but can be quickly destroyed. "Karma" is gettin real lol.

DNSB · 12-02-2021, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zenji

I'm definitely open to more recommendations for honest, reliable and affordable 'freight forwarders' !

SIDEBAR: It's really dumb of companies to provide sub-optimal service to customers these days when there are so many review sites around. A good reputation takes years to build but can be quickly destroyed. "Karma" is gettin real lol.

For your requirements, the old saw about "fast, cheap and good are the options, pick which 2 you want" comes to mind.

When looking at reviews, I try to remember that the number of people who have taken it upon themselves to destroy reputations by posting false reviews is legion. Much like the number of people who post excellent reviews of products that are not available even for review purposes.

LivresInOz · 12-02-2021, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

When looking at reviews, I try to remember that the number of people who have taken it upon themselves to destroy reputations by posting false reviews is legion. Much like the number of people who post excellent reviews of products that are not available even for review purposes.

There is a special place in hell for both!

To me information is sacred and like oxygen.
Oxygen for making good decisions.

People rarely realise the long-term results of stuff like that.
A quick analysis would reveal how the currency would be devalued.

More BS reviews > less trust in reviews > less point in going to the effort > fewer reviews > less good info > you're left in the hands of the marketing wolves.

No matter how bad I thought a company was, I would never put BS in a review. Frankly, the problem companies and products have plenty wrong with them to make that unnecessary.

Same of course with BS positive reviews. Have some self-respect I say.

Thankfully, I think some commonsense can avoid damage from much of the BS - especially the fake negatives. Mainly by looking for concrete facts (experienceable in the five senses) rather than abstractions and generalisations, and by using the reviews only as a guide to your googling.

koboy · 12-02-2021, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zenji

There is a special place in hell for both!

To me information is sacred and like oxygen.
Oxygen for making good decisions.

People rarely realise the long-term results of stuff like that.
A quick analysis would reveal how the currency would be devalued.

More BS reviews > less trust in reviews > less point in going to the effort > fewer reviews > less good info > you're left in the hands of the marketing wolves.

No matter how bad I thought a company was, I would never put BS in a review. Frankly, the problem companies and products have plenty wrong with them to make that unnecessary.

Same of course with BS positive reviews. Have some self-respect I say.

Thankfully, I think some commonsense can avoid damage from much of the BS - especially the fake negatives. Mainly by looking for concrete facts (experienceable in the five senses) rather than abstractions and generalisations, and by using the reviews only as a guide to your googling.

that's a lot of BS

for what it's worth (probably not much) i'd go for the Forma over the Sage if you want an 8 inch e-reader. the Forma's plastic substrate is a big plus for me. if however your happy with the size and shape of your Libra H2O upgrading the storage from 8GB to 32GB on the Libra 2 is a viable option to consider.

best wishes koboy

LivresInOz · 12-02-2021, 05:38 PM

Thanks koboy - the main prompt was the need for 32 GB, but

(...partly because im annoyed i have to buy ANOTHER kobo so soon (WEEKS) after buying the first one because the space was just not enough

I thought I'd try for a bigger screen too, for some of those PDFs...

But I really dont want to risk more weight (or bad battery life). The weight (and size???) of the H20 changed my reading life.

Hence right now Im at Forma 80% to Sage 20%...with Libra 2 an option only if the Forma has some dreadful problem I havent yet heard of (and I know about the bad power button and the lighting problem on SOME dud devices)

...and yes, plastic seems more drop-proof...
Libra wins on that front tho, cos the indent i assume also protects the screen in a drop?

__________________________________________________
The emotional side: why I'm REFUSING to buy a Libra 2 and how Kobo has made me feel as a company...

TBH, I'd feel a bit abused if I bought a Libra 2. I only bought the H20 (i.e Libra 1) a couple of months ago. To buy ANOTHER just to get the 32GB that I honestly feel they COULD have put in the H20 given the low cost of storage over the last few years (it was released Sep 2019)...I'd just feel abused. I feel I need more of an upgrade than that. Grrr !

To get a bit 'political' for a moment, its this kind of resentment that I think its wise for companies to avoid. Even though I think Kobo's hardware is MOSTLY great and the software is MOSTLY fantastic (esp ORGANISING your books (esp. compared to to Boox, which is ATROCIOUS and PAINFUL at that)...but NOT for getting books ONTO the reader (which I think is VERY inconvenient for Kobo and GREAT for Boox), I've come to dislike Kobo as a company TBH.

For the above reason and a few others. Like ditching removable SD cards. Like not bothering to make it easy to just send books to the device over wifi (you pretty much have to use USB, whereas Boox makes wifi transfer pretty darn easy, potential privacy/spying issues aside lol). Like not providing Australia with a 32 GB version of the Forma, only 8. (I mean, seriously? What would it cost them to POST them?) And some other stuff.

Many people LOVE a company like Apple or a handful of other companies (I dunno, Netflix?). In marketing circles they talk about 'love brands'. But if companies do things that are genuinely quite inconsiderate to their customers, they will end up earning their HATE and people will buy grudgingly. And the minute a competitor comes along...they're off!

darryl · 12-02-2021, 06:10 PM

Australia post had a service called Shopmate which was reliable but is closing shortly. They recommend a Singapore Post service, VPost. This is an extract from https://shopmate.auspost.com.au/help...sked-questions

Quote:

As Australia Post doesn’t offer an international parcel-forwarding service, is there another parcel-forwarding service I can use offered by another provider?

Yes, there are several parcel-forwarding services available in the market, including Singapore Post’s parcel-forwarding service, vPost. vPost also offers a parcel forwarding service from other countries please refer to their website vpost.com/au/ for further information.*

koboy · 12-02-2021, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zenji

and yes, plastic seems more drop-proof...
Libra wins on that front tho, cos the indent i assume also protects the screen in a drop?

only the Forma as the plastic substrate.

best wishes koboy

LivresInOz · 12-02-2021, 06:52 PM

Thanks for the info

Uncle Robin · 12-02-2021, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zenji

To get a bit 'political' for a moment, its this kind of resentment that I think its wise for companies to avoid.

One disproportionately angry and emotional customer (who STILL plans to buy from them) will undoubtedly have Rakuten Kobo fearing for the future of their balance sheet, that's for sure.

MGlitch · 12-02-2021, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

One disproportionately angry and emotional customer (who STILL plans to buy from them) will undoubtedly have Rakuten Kobo fearing for the future of their balance sheet, that's for sure.

No, no, how dare Kobo not design and release a device tailored to each customers specific demands and uses.

I want a Kobo Sage with a 9" screen, with a mobius substrate, a carta 1200 screen, with the buttons a smidge closer together, no branding, with 512gb storage, 4gb RAM, a quadcore 5ghz CPU, a 3,000mah battery, which comes with a sleepcover which isn't origami style. That Kobo doesn't have this is outrageous in the year of our lord two thousand and twenty one! They are doing this intentionally just to spite me, and are evil and hideous because of it!

John F · 12-03-2021, 04:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MGlitch

No, no, how dare Kobo not design and release a device tailored to each customers specific demands and uses.

I want a Kobo Sage with a 9" screen, with a mobius substrate, a carta 1200 screen, with the buttons a smidge closer together, no branding, with 512gb storage, 4gb RAM, a quadcore 5ghz CPU, a 3,000mah battery, which comes with a sleepcover which isn't origami style. That Kobo doesn't have this is outrageous in the year of our lord two thousand and twenty one! They are doing this intentionally just to spite me, and are evil and hideous because of it!

That does sound good. But they must keep it as thin as a Forma, under 150g, and battery life can be no worse then a Glo HD. And bluetooth for page turning.

LivresInOz · 12-03-2021, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MGlitch

No, no, how dare Kobo not design and release a device tailored to each customers specific demands and uses[...]I want [...]That Kobo doesn't have this is outrageous in the year of our lord two thousand and twenty one! They are doing this intentionally just to spite me, and are evil and hideous because of it!

You should celebrate your official status as FanBoy and Defender of the Corporate Faith by getting yoself a Ford Pinto son

Ripplinger · 12-03-2021, 08:00 AM

Do you know anyone through gaming or other online activities that you would trust enough to get one and send to you and just reimburse them or send them the money up front? I did that a couple of times back when Sony stupidly made the dark blue PRS-350 available in Europe only and I wanted one soooo bad.

A friend in Denmark got one and shipped it, 2nd time someone in Canada whose boyfriend was in England did it. It's probably cheaper than going through a company you don't know. But that depends on how many years you've known such online people and the level of trust both ways. But it worked out great for me when I found several used blue readers but they wouldn't ship to the US. Even though those readers are now old, I wouldn't part with them for anything.

LivresInOz · 12-03-2021, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

One disproportionately angry and emotional customer (who STILL plans to buy from them) will undoubtedly have Rakuten Kobo fearing for the future of their balance sheet, that's for sure.

Obviously one customer makes little difference, but if many complain about the same thing, only a fool company wouldn't listen.

I'm sure you don't want to create a chilling effect by critiquing me for complaining do you?

LivresInOz · 12-03-2021, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MGlitch

No, no, how dare Kobo not design and release a device tailored to each customers specific demands and uses.

I want a Kobo Sage with a 9" screen, with a mobius substrate, a carta 1200 screen, with the buttons a smidge closer together, no branding, with 512gb storage, 4gb RAM, a quadcore 5ghz CPU, a 3,000mah battery, which comes with a sleepcover which isn't origami style. That Kobo doesn't have this is outrageous in the year of our lord two thousand and twenty one! They are doing this intentionally just to spite me, and are evil and hideous because of it!

I know, customers should just shut up and accept what they're given, right?
Let's not bother to change anything in the world.
Kids back down the mines, I say!

12-02-2021, 01:38 PM	#16
LivresInOz LivresInOz Posts: 330 Karma: 15956 Join Date: May 2010 Device: Kobo: Forma + Libra\|Galaxy: TAB A7 + Note 8 tablet\|Boox: Note Air 2	I'm definitely open to more recommendations for honest, reliable and affordable 'freight forwarders'! *i.e Companies like* MyUs.Com** SIDEBAR: It's really dumb of companies to provide sub-optimal service to customers these days when there are so many review sites around. A good reputation takes years to build but can be quickly destroyed. "Karma" is gettin real lol. Last edited by LivresInOz; 12-02-2021 at 04:47 PM.

12-02-2021, 05:38 PM	#20
LivresInOz LivresInOz Posts: 330 Karma: 15956 Join Date: May 2010 Device: Kobo: Forma + Libra\|Galaxy: TAB A7 + Note 8 tablet\|Boox: Note Air 2	Thanks koboy - the main prompt was the need for 32 GB, but (...partly because im annoyed i have to buy ANOTHER kobo so soon (WEEKS) after buying the first one because the space was just not enough I thought I'd try for a bigger screen too, for some of those PDFs... But I really dont want to risk more weight (or bad battery life). The weight (and size???) of the H20 changed my reading life. Hence right now Im at Forma 80% to Sage 20%...with Libra 2 an option only if the Forma has some dreadful problem I havent yet heard of (and I know about the bad power button and the lighting problem on SOME dud devices) ...and yes, plastic seems more drop-proof... Libra wins on that front tho, cos the indent i assume also protects the screen in a drop? __________________________________________________ The emotional side: why I'm REFUSING to buy a Libra 2 and how Kobo has made me feel as a company... TBH, I'd feel a bit abused if I bought a Libra 2. I only bought the H20 (i.e Libra 1) a couple of months ago. To buy ANOTHER just to get the 32GB that I honestly feel they COULD have put in the H20 given the low cost of storage over the last few years (it was released Sep 2019)...I'd just feel abused. I feel I need more of an upgrade than that. Grrr ! To get a bit 'political' for a moment, its this kind of resentment that I think its wise for companies to avoid. Even though I think Kobo's hardware is MOSTLY great and the software is MOSTLY fantastic (esp ORGANISING your books (esp. compared to to Boox, which is ATROCIOUS and PAINFUL at that)...but NOT for getting books ONTO the reader (which I think is VERY inconvenient for Kobo and GREAT for Boox), I've come to dislike Kobo as a company TBH. For the above reason and a few others. Like ditching removable SD cards. Like not bothering to make it easy to just send books to the device over wifi (you pretty much have to use USB, whereas Boox makes wifi transfer pretty darn easy, potential privacy/spying issues aside lol). Like not providing Australia with a 32 GB version of the Forma, only 8. (I mean, seriously? What would it cost them to POST them?) And some other stuff. Many people LOVE a company like Apple or a handful of other companies (I dunno, Netflix?). In marketing circles they talk about 'love brands'. But if companies do things that are genuinely quite inconsiderate to their customers, they will end up earning their HATE and people will buy grudgingly. And the minute a competitor comes along...they're off! Last edited by LivresInOz; 12-02-2021 at 05:57 PM.

12-02-2021, 06:52 PM	#23
LivresInOz LivresInOz Posts: 330 Karma: 15956 Join Date: May 2010 Device: Kobo: Forma + Libra\|Galaxy: TAB A7 + Note 8 tablet\|Boox: Note Air 2	Thanks for the info Last edited by LivresInOz; 12-03-2021 at 07:43 AM.

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12-03-2021, 08:00 AM	#28
Ripplinger 350 Hoarder Posts: 3,574 Karma: 8281267 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Midwest USA Device: Sony PRS-350, Kobo Glo & Glo HD, PW2	Do you know anyone through gaming or other online activities that you would trust enough to get one and send to you and just reimburse them or send them the money up front? I did that a couple of times back when Sony stupidly made the dark blue PRS-350 available in Europe only and I wanted one soooo bad. A friend in Denmark got one and shipped it, 2nd time someone in Canada whose boyfriend was in England did it. It's probably cheaper than going through a company you don't know. But that depends on how many years you've known such online people and the level of trust both ways. But it worked out great for me when I found several used blue readers but they wouldn't ship to the US. Even though those readers are now old, I wouldn't part with them for anything.