Bought H2O - Received Garbage

kobayashi · 01-22-2015, 10:32 PM

Brand new H2O from Chapters that arrived with the top half of the reader peeling away from the bottom half. You can easily look into the guts of the device and see the LED.

Too bad because the screen and customization options are great but the hardware is pure junk. Now I have to wait for Kobo to pay for return shipping and send me out a new one. The horror stories on Kobo quality are true.

UPDATE: Was able to get a 3-way call to Chapters with my credit card company. They agreed to send out a replacement unit but first wanted me to pay return shipping. That wasn't going to happen so they agreed to pay for return shipping and emailed a label. The new one will be here in two more weeks and the junk one goes back when the new one arrives.

Called Kobo next to let them know about the issue and they made an incident ticket for management to look at. Seemed utterly unconcerned about the whole thing. I guess defects are relatively common.

meeera · 01-22-2015, 10:34 PM

I've never heard of this issue. Was it damaged in shipping? Keen to see a photo.

PeterT · 01-22-2015, 10:45 PM

Why should Kobo pay for the return? Surely this was a faulty item from Chapters and they should cover the replacement.

kobayashi · 01-22-2015, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meeera

I've never heard of this issue. Was it damaged in shipping? Keen to see a photo.

No damage at all. Just Kobo built quality shining through.

JSWolf · 01-22-2015, 10:50 PM

This is the first time I've ever read about a Kobo arriving falling apart.

I'd contact Chapters CS to get them to replace it on their cost.

JSWolf · 01-22-2015, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kobayashi

No damage at all. Just Kobo built quality shining through.

And if the H2O was that badly built, we would have heard/read about this more then just your post. Mine is in pristine condition.

darryl · 01-22-2015, 10:52 PM

I'd be very annoyed too if this happened to me. Probably more so. But in fairness it sounds like you were unlucky and received a unit damaged in transit. My H2O made it to Australia in perfect condition, and continues to work well. I have no complaints about the quality of the hardware so far.

kobayashi · 01-22-2015, 10:57 PM

There was no damage to the external or internal packaging. This baby was manufactured poorly. Already put credit card charge into dispute and will contact Chapters and Kobo tomorrow. I certainly won't be spending a single penny on this thing.

Only wasted two weeks so far, what's another couple of weeks?

JSWolf · 01-22-2015, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kobayashi

There was no damage to the external or internal packaging. This baby was manufactured poorly. Already put credit card charge into dispute and will contact Chapters and Kobo tomorrow. I certainly won't be spending a single penny on this thing.

Only wasted two weeks so far, what's another couple of weeks?

Disputing the credit card charge so soon is not the way to handle this. Just because there is a problem with ONE unit does not mean it's how every H2O is. If the H2O had that as a flaw, we'd have read about it from other users. Did you contact Chapters CS?

I think you are going overboard and taking this too far. It happens. Not often, but no electronic device has a 100% record for no defects out of the box.

darryl · 01-22-2015, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kobayashi

There was no damage to the external or internal packaging. This baby was manufactured poorly. Already put credit card charge into dispute and will contact Chapters and Kobo tomorrow. I certainly won't be spending a single penny on this thing.

Only wasted two weeks so far, what's another couple of weeks?

Please don't let your anger cloud your judgement. You quite simply cannot know with any reasonable degree of certainty that the problem is build quality. And the fact that there have been no other reports of this type of problem on these forums strongly suggests build quality is not the issue.

I found Chapters Indigo excellent to deal with. Whatever the reason, this should not have happened to you, but give them a chance to fix it. Kobo is not without its problems, but this is the first time I've heard allegations of poor build quality.

Athropos · 01-23-2015, 01:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kobayashi

No damage at all. Just Kobo built quality shining through.

Not sure about the waterproofness of your unit, maybe you shouldn't try to use it in your bath until you get a new one.

soulfuldog · 01-23-2015, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Athropos

Not sure about the waterproofness of your unit, maybe you shouldn't try to use it in your bath until you get a new one.

Good luck with your replacement kobayashi, but why the need to be so down on Kobo just because you've been unlucky with one purchase. Why not wait and see how your replacement is handled. It's not like there is a huge problem with the build quality of the H2O's, most people are pretty happy with theirs?

kobayashi · 01-23-2015, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Athropos

Not sure about the waterproofness of your unit, maybe you shouldn't try to use it in your bath until you get a new one.

Exactly my thoughts. Updated first post after talking to Chapters and Kobo.

frostschutz · 01-23-2015, 10:05 PM

My Kobo looks a bit like that, but that's because I opened it and was too lazy to replace the glue. It still works fine, but of course it's not waterproof that way. Yours looks like someone else had their hands on it first...

That said, I would not risk it to water even in pristine condition. All that's between the water and a dead device is a little bit of glue.

But that's not what I bought the device for so I don't have a problem with it.

JSWolf · 01-23-2015, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kobayashi

0Called Kobo next to let them know about the issue and they made an incident ticket for management to look at. Seemed utterly unconcerned about the whole thing. I guess defects are relatively common.

I don't think it's not concerned. I think it's that the issue is already being handled by Chapters. Also, defects like yours are uncommon or we would have read of them already. Yours is the first reported on MR. And I tried to search on Google for anyone else posting someplace about a similar issue. I found nothing at all.

01-22-2015, 10:32 PM	#1
kobayashi Groupie Posts: 176 Karma: 100000 Join Date: Jan 2015 Device: KA1	Bought H2O - Received Garbage Brand new H2O from Chapters that arrived with the top half of the reader peeling away from the bottom half. You can easily look into the guts of the device and see the LED. Too bad because the screen and customization options are great but the hardware is pure junk. Now I have to wait for Kobo to pay for return shipping and send me out a new one. The horror stories on Kobo quality are true. UPDATE: Was able to get a 3-way call to Chapters with my credit card company. They agreed to send out a replacement unit but first wanted me to pay return shipping. That wasn't going to happen so they agreed to pay for return shipping and emailed a label. The new one will be here in two more weeks and the junk one goes back when the new one arrives. Called Kobo next to let them know about the issue and they made an incident ticket for management to look at. Seemed utterly unconcerned about the whole thing. I guess defects are relatively common. Last edited by kobayashi; 01-23-2015 at 09:24 AM.

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01-22-2015, 10:34 PM	#2
meeera Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,809 Karma: 68407974 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Libra 2, iPadMini4, iPad4, MBP; support other Kobo/Kindles	I've never heard of this issue. Was it damaged in shipping? Keen to see a photo.

01-22-2015, 10:45 PM	#3
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,458 Karma: 78880114 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	Why should Kobo pay for the return? Surely this was a faulty item from Chapters and they should cover the replacement.

01-22-2015, 10:50 PM	#5
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,625 Karma: 145864617 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	This is the first time I've ever read about a Kobo arriving falling apart. I'd contact Chapters CS to get them to replace it on their cost.

01-22-2015, 10:52 PM	#7
darryl Wizard Posts: 3,108 Karma: 60231510 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura H2O, Kindle Oasis, Huwei Ascend Mate 7	I'd be very annoyed too if this happened to me. Probably more so. But in fairness it sounds like you were unlucky and received a unit damaged in transit. My H2O made it to Australia in perfect condition, and continues to work well. I have no complaints about the quality of the hardware so far.

01-22-2015, 10:57 PM	#8
kobayashi Groupie Posts: 176 Karma: 100000 Join Date: Jan 2015 Device: KA1	There was no damage to the external or internal packaging. This baby was manufactured poorly. Already put credit card charge into dispute and will contact Chapters and Kobo tomorrow. I certainly won't be spending a single penny on this thing. Only wasted two weeks so far, what's another couple of weeks?

01-23-2015, 10:05 PM	#14
frostschutz Linux User Posts: 2,282 Karma: 6123806 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Heidelberg, Germany Device: none	My Kobo looks a bit like that, but that's because I opened it and was too lazy to replace the glue. It still works fine, but of course it's not waterproof that way. Yours looks like someone else had their hands on it first... That said, I would not risk it to water even in pristine condition. All that's between the water and a dead device is a little bit of glue. But that's not what I bought the device for so I don't have a problem with it.

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