Aura HD Kobo Customer Service--**** you!

[Major General]

So, I go to turn on my Aura HD this morning. I go to the main screen...but the right 1/3 is still taken up by a frozen image of the last book I was reading. Did every sort of reset, no luck. This is how it looks when it's powered off:



Call up Kobo Customer Care, tell them the situation, request warranty repair/replacement. They ask me to send pictures of front, back, and receipt. I do so, and get the reply (via phone call and email) that "the curved lines are a clear indicator of physical damage, which is not covered by our warranty". Escalate it, get the same reply.

This reader was never physically damaged in any way. BEWARE OF KOBO. They're using a fake claim of physical damage--and you can see from the picture the screen isn't damaged in any way--to avoid honoring their warranty.

[robko]

Yes Kobo customer service sucks, but if you look at the bottom right part of the screen you can see angled lines where it's obvious the glass substrate is broken. There are all kinds of threads here and anywhere else you find info on e-ink that the substrate is the weak link on all eink readers (there are a few teardown pics on mobileread here that will show you what it looks like -- it's a near paper thin sheet of glass). Having said all that, it usually isn't harsh mistreatment of the device that causes this (although if you drop something hard on the screen it could), but twisting of the housing that stresses the screen and leads to it breaking. And no, having it in a case won't prevent this type of damage unless it is hard cover enough to not flex. Amazon is a much bigger company so they seem to often cover this type of damage strictly for customer relations even though technically it wouldn't fall under their warranty either.

[mr_nihilism]

It pains me to see such a fine device so critically wounded.

[twowheels]

I'm sorry, but they're correct. The glass substrate is cracked.

[Danger]

That picture shows a definite broken screen, I know I've broken a Kobo, Kobo Touch and a Glo. They screens all looked like that after being broken. Physical abuse of any sort is not a warranty issue. It doesn't take much to break the glass substrate either.

[Major General]

It was sitting on a shelf--in its case, nothing on top of it, nothing on the sides of it. It wasn't dropped, abused, folded, spindled, or mutilated.

My wife and I are on limited incomes--I can't afford to eat a $200 investment.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by twowheels

I'm sorry, but they're correct. The glass substrate is cracked.

Agreed.

[Major General]

If it is then it freaking self-destructed. Read what I said above. It was on a shelf, in it's case, not touched in any way, nothing on top of it or dropped on it. It was working three days ago. Perfectly. Turned it on this morning, and got this.

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by Major General

It was sitting on a shelf--in its case, nothing on top of it, nothing on the sides of it. It wasn't dropped, abused, folded, spindled, or mutilated.

I see this exact statement quite often. The problem is that glass has a tendency to not break at the moment that it is stressed, but to sit and fester with a tiny little imperfection, then due to a slight provocation (such as a change in temperature overnight) completely let go. The damage may have been an unfortunate corner drop a month ago...

You may have seen it on car windshields... a tiny rock ding in the corner for many months, then one night when the temperature changes, bam, major crack across the entire window.

[Major General]

It's never been dropped, never leaves the house. This unit suffered NO abuse or physical damage. If Kobo thinks they're going to **** me over they have another think coming.

[Buber]

Swearing will get you nowhere. Maybe it was your cat, or your cousins little son (daugher) which dropped it , and put it back - there can be many reasons. But the result is the same - physically broken screen. Check on ebay - screens fro kindle are to be had for ~40$ and changing them is not a big deal. I did not looked for Aura HD screen though, and it is bigger. Still, it wil be cheaper than a device.

[PeterT]

Calm down; we all know you are upset but seriously; that screen DOES show sign of physical damage.

Manufacturing defects show up totally different to that on the device.

Cussing and swearing within a forum and at Kobo does nothing at all to help you.

[Ken Maltby]

I am not one to ignore Kobo's shortcomings, but in this case it is obviously a physically damaged screen. Perhaps, they are using a weaker sheet of glass than they (e-Ink) should for this device, I certainly hope not as I have two. It is my understanding that the screen, and light are assembled as a module, by e-Ink, before Kobo's assembly takes place. Not what you want to hear, but the device may be more fragile than we would expect.

Luck;
Ken

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Sorry to hear about your device. You don't have any kids who might have dropped it accidentally do you? Were you reading the reader before you put it on the shelf? What I mean to say is, can you confirm that the reader was physically fine before you put it away or was it sitting in your bag, or maybe on the couch where someone might have half sat on it or something like that? We do feel for you.

[PeterT]

By any chance, had you tried changing the SD card in it to being a larger one?