Touch Saga of Touch Issues- Please Help me find an answer!

[beckybug3]

First some background:

I've had a bad time with my Kobos. My hubby sat on my aura, I had a chapter of a book I bought show up as white ink on white background, and I was suckered by a scam book. Kobo handled all these issues wonderfully and fixed or explained all my issues.

I have been in what feels like constant contact with Kobo this week as a new issue seems to be attacking my poor account every day. Several people seem to be having some of my issues and all these threads have a date close to 9/28/13. So I am going to list my saga in the hopes that maybe we can figure out a solution, or at least see if others can state if they are having any problems like me.

Kobo asked me several questions, so I answered in the same Q and A format:


Thank you for contacting Kobo Customer Care. We are glad to help you.

We are sorry to hear that you are having this issue.

We have checked our records and we have found that you have contacted us several time because you were unable to purchase in our website. Also, we have found that you were having issues with your Kobo Touch. However, in order to better assist you please provide us with additional information about the issue you are experiencing so we can assist you in the best possible way:


- What kind of issue do you have with you Kobo touch?

1- The touch will not sync via wifi. When I ask it to, it will say in process for 4+ hours until it finally runs the battery out and asks me to recharge the reader.

2- The ebook Cat Scratch Fever, Jodi Redford, was accessible by the desktop app, but had the 'locked content' error message when attempting to open the book on the touch.

3- Today while the ereader was turned off and NOT connected to a wifi, the book I was reading when I turned the reader off was not in the library AT ALL when I turned the ereader on several hours later.


- Are you having the same issue with your Kobo Aura Hd?

It turns out my Husband had sat on the Aura- not the same issue.


- Do you want to purchase an ebook? What is the ebook's name?

We are talking about several books- at least 5.
This is the one I tried to buy tonight.
The Asylum Interviews: Bronx: An Asylum Tales Short Story
By Jocelynn Drake

- Is there an error message? If so, please copy and paste the error message into your response to this email.


1- This is the error message when I attempt to buy a book via ereader, desktop app, or my internet account.

Sorry, but something went wrong with your purchase. If this problem persists, please contact Kobo Customer Care and provide them with error code [9999].


2- This is the error I get when I try to open my library via my internet account.

Oops!
Something happened and we weren't able to get the requested content. Sorry, please try again. If you continue to receive this notification, please contact our Customer Care department for assistance:
Call 1-855-732-3662 (8am-12am EST)
Email: help@kobo.com (24 hours)

- Please tell us what led up to the issue. For instance, what was on the screen when the problem happened? How did you get to that point?



Ok. Here is the saga...

The desktop app and the ereader both began having 'syncing' issues. The ereader, as noted, would spin its wheels until the battery was dead. While the desktop app would sync for about 2 - 3 minutes and then say 'sync cancelled' without anyone touching anything.

Soon thereafter, the ebook purchasing issue began. First Cat Scratch Fever, Jodi Redford, was able to be opened on the desktop app, but its contents were 'locked' on the ereader.

Followed by the fact that when I bought a book, I'd receive the first error message. And though my credit card was charged, the books would not appear in either the desktop app or the ereader. If I tried to rebuy the ebook, the 'buy now' button was missing.

This set up the call on 9/30. The Kobo customer care person asked if I could access my library via the internet, tried it and the answer was 'no', this is the second error message. The Kobo person could see all the books with the error message in my library from her side, but they never appeared as mine on my side. She then escalated the buying/syncing issue to Tier 2. The Tier 2 response was to say that they were going to 'remove' the sales from my credit card and remove my account information from my kobo account. They wanted me to enter the information again and then gave me instructions on HOW to buy a book. Tier 2 then closed the ticket. They never addressed the syncing or the library issue.

This brought about the call 10/1 to reopen the ticket. The customer care person, had me try to access my library by firefox rather than internet explorer- same error message. I was then asked to uninstall and reinstall my desktop app- same syncing issue. I was asked to do a basic reinstall using a paperclip for the ereader- same syncing issue. Same buying issue- after entering all my account information again. Also my credit card was still charged and the 'buy now' button was missing when I tried to rebuy the books Tier 2 was going to remove. I was then told that the issue was that even though I have removed or archived almost 400 books, that my library was too large. No answer was given when I asked why Micro SD cards could expand the memory to hold MANY more books than I had. Although I was NOT having this issue while I had 1200 books active in my library. She then told me that the 'locked content' issue would only be solved by me accessing the book through Adobe digital editions- even though the book was purchased directly from kobo. She then said that she was going to close the ticket- even though I was no where near satisfied.

This brings us to 10/2. I was reading an ebook before work on my ereader. Closed and powered the ereader off. Several hours later turned on the ereader, the book had disappeared from my ereader library. Again the ereader was powered off AND was not connected to wifi. Now I tried a factory reinstall for the ereader and another uninstall/reinstall for the desktop app Neither system would install the library- it says that an error has occurred, please try again. This frustrated me to the point of a third phone call. I asked to speak to someone at the Tier 2, Tier 1, Tier A, just someone above the basic level. I was told that they had closed for the night, and was asked if I had answered this email. Here is the answers, please advise.


Having done some checks, we found that you have a large library which consist of free books, previews and your purchased books. based on what we are seeing on your account, we would like you to confirm whether you had requested to have your account merged and also provide us with the email addresses for the accounts.

Another possible cause for your problem may be the existence of one corrupt book in your library. We would like for you to please authorize us to delete all the preview and free books you currently have in your library, in the hopes that this will delete the problem book. If you are able to view your library and download your books after doing so well will re-add your free books in batches and have you check your library as we do so to see whether any of those books are corrupt.

Please let us know whether or not you authorize us to delete the previews and free books from your library


And I have NOT merged any kobo accounts. If you can give me a list of my previews and free books, you may remove them, but ONLY if I can be told which books are being removed or archived.


Thank you

[beckybug3]

After reading several of the threads, I see where some folks have had luck logging out and then back in. Since I had done this to no success when I was trying the uninstalls/reinstalls, I thought to try this with an old account which was having purchasing issues about 2 years ago. Imagine my surprise it would load on the desktop app and the ereader (I have not tried it using the internet yet). But when I logged out of the old account and logged back into the new one, same 'sync cancelled' and library unable to load issues returned.

Things that make you go hmmm...

[beckybug3]

Here is the response I just got from Tier 3 support. Hopefully, they will find a fix for everyone who has been having issues like me soon.

Thank you for you patience so far. We would like to apologize again for the inconvenience of this situation. We have located an error that is causing the issues you have been experiencing and are currently investigating possilble fixes for it. Unfortunately, we don't yet have a resolution in place for it yet, nor do we have an ETA for when we would have that. Please be assured that we are working diligently to get this resolved for you and the others affected by this error as soon as possible. We will be keeping you posted of the progress. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

Thank you again for your patience and understanding.

Sincerely,

The Kobo Team

[TechniSol]

Wow, a week to reply and their answer is that they've identified the problem, but aren't sure how or when they'll fix it! Now, that's service for you.

Wouldn't you think a new account coupled with at worst a hardware replacement would solve the issue and have taken less time than they took just to infirm you that they're going to fix it someday? Customer Service indeed! Their brand must come with a coupon for lubricant in the package.

[beckybug3]

New update!!!!!

Here is the email exchange between me and kobo on 10/18/13:

Me to Kobo;
Good morning,
Yesterday I received the following email from Kobo:

Hello,
On October 17, 2013 , you placed a pre-order for Allegiant with us. Thank you.
When the publisher makes your book available, we'll charge your credit card $13.99 and download your book to your Library. Allegiant is scheduled for release on October 22, 2013 , but please note that this is subject to change.
Thanks again for shopping with us and happy reading!

Ummm.... since you asked for access to my account, I have not
tried to buy or order any books. PLEASE tell me that you were working on my troubles and placed this preorder and that I have not actually bought this book! Because if you did not, then my account has been hacked.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Kobo to me;
Thank you for getting back to us. We are currently still in the process of investigating the issue in your account. It is strange that you received a notice for a pre-order. This wasn't actively created by us. We have cancelled it. Please let us know if you receive any other notices like that one. We will be keeping you updated on the progress of your issue as well. Our apologies for the inconvenience caused by this issue or the pre-order.

Sincerely,

Me to Kobo!
I am REALLY worried! I also received another email asking me to take a second look at L L Bartlett's Room at the Inn. If I did not try to buy this book or preorder the other book AND you did not do this, then who did??? Now I'm worried that my information has been hacked. I changed my passcode before I gave you access to my account, so however my information has been lost it has only happened since you had access to it. Please contact me and let me know what you are doing to protect my information (identity) as well as fix my issues.


HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I never give out my passcodes, so when an IT dept requests access I change my information before informing them. SO I know this access happened AFTER Kobo received it!
My husband says I should totally close that account and forget about my library (800 books). Has anyone else had any issues with email notices about phantom books? or have any advice on whether I should even keep my Kobo account?

[JSWolf]

Change your email address and your password. Then you don't have to close the account and it will once again be safe.

[beckybug3]

As soon as Kobo is done 'fixing' my account I will be changing the log in information back to what it was before I gave Kobo access. I am just VERY concerned that someone accessed my account while Kobo had sole control of my account.

[jersysman]

My question would be why they would need your account information at all to fix an issue that had been reported by numerous people. I would have done what JSWolf suggested and immediately change login information.

Any update on the situation?

[beckybug3]

Jerseyman when you have a 'super-sized' issue, Kobo asks to have access to your account so they can recreate the issue.

I finally got a resolution! Oh Happy Days! Kobo used my account to test the latest update. I took a few days to verify that everything is now working. It is! I can read again! YES!!!!!!!

I hate that it took almost 1 month, but I am so glad that everything is working again.

[jersysman]

I am glad that you got it fixed, but I still don't give anyone account information that could possibly have a CC attached to it.