Warning About Problems with Kobo Customer Service

[Suave]

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to you about potential problems you might run into if you purchase a Kobo eBook reader.

My girlfriend received one as a gift for Christmas and it died after about 30 days. I contacted customer support and they got me to perform some basic troubleshooting over the phone (I did all of this by myself before even calling them because you can find instructions about this easily online). Since none of this worked, they noted my contact info and said that someone from the technical support team would contact me during the next week. No one ever called or emailed me back.

So I called customer support back 2 weeks later a filed a complaint. They again said that I would hear from someone on the tech support team within a week. About a week later I finally received an email saying that I'll have to ship the Kobo reader back to them and they will fix or replace it. Why did it take 3 weeks, 2 phone calls and an email to determine something that was obvious during the first phone call? Because Kobo customer / technical support is absoltely horrible!

To make things even more interesting... 2 days after I shipped the Kobo for repairs, I received an email from tech support suggesting various troubleshooting steps (all of which we tried during the first phone call).

There is only one conclusion to this - do yourself a favour and stay away from Kobo.

[Suave]

During my woes with the Kobo I ran across this article (source: http://www.moneyville.ca/blog/post/1...stomer-service)

"Electronic readers are a hot holiday gift. I recently wrote about two brands I'd tried (Kobo and Sony) and about the new $200 Kobo tablet.

Then, I started hearing from readers who had been trying and failing to contact Kobo. They said the company's customer service needed a shakeup.

CEO Mike Serbinis, eager to talk before, was incommunicado. I kept asking if he was available for an interview and kept being told he was out of town or too busy. (Kobo was acquired by a Japanese company during that time.)

Late last week, Kobo published a note on its blog, announcing improvements to customer service and promising to do better.

Customer care vice president Mark Stevens never said "we're sorry" or "we apologize" for the challenges some customers faced. But he did say they could expect shorter phone wait times and less delayed email responses.

So, what's going on at Kobo? Wish I knew. But I can tell you what my readers are saying.

Pavel Muller bought a Kobo Touch e-reader in July. It stopped working in November. He tried sending email, making phone calls and contacting the Kobo CEO on Twitter and Facebook. He got nowhere. Zilch. Nada.

"The service turns out to be somewhere between poor and non-existent," Muller said in an email, using the subject line "glacial service from Kobo."

John Turnbull's Kobo Touch e-reader stopped working after three months. He was told to deal with the manufacturer, but he ended up frustrated.

"Every email I've sent them comes back with a message that it has been sent to Tier 2. They asked me twice to send a picture of the bill of sale and the frozen unit. Twice.I have complied.

"I am unable to get in touch with them. Their phone lines only put me on hold, saying all their agents are busy due to higher than normal call volume."

Gord MacLean couldn't reach Kobo to replace his granddaughter's Christmas gift from last year. Soon, the one-year warranty was about to expire. Later, he thanked me for pushing the right button to resolve the impasse.

Rita Matsumoto-Kemball didn't get a response to her email to Serbinis. Kobo's help desk didn't return her calls.Even after she contacted me, she heard nothing.

Going to the Indigo store and speaking to the manager did the trick. She was given a replacement that worked properly.

"I am extremely disappointed in the Kobo help desk and Michael Serbinis. I now have second thoughts about buying these as gifts for Christmas," she said.

I'm not alone in fielding these complaints. I found others in online forums such as Good E-Reader and MobileRead, for example.

Is Kobo's pledge to repair its dysfunctional service coming too late?

I've owned a Sony Reader for three years and I've had to call customer service a few times. The agents I spoke to in El Salvador (South America) were courteous and helpful. I never had to wait.

I hope Kobo gets its act together.There's nothing worse than to be left dangling in the middle of an exciting book, unable to read further or to contact anyone who can help.

And if I ever get an answer to my interview request, I'll let you know."

[Suave]

A replacement Kobo finally arrived last week - after nearly 2.5 months. It is a refurbished unit, not a new one.

What a massive disappointment it was dealing with Kobo about this - for a "Canadian" company to offer this lousy of a service is just shamefull. The only thing I can say at the end of the day is... do yourself a favoure and stay away from Kobo products altogether. Get yourself a Kindle instead

[gmcdonald072]

I just had to post my recent experience with Kobo customer service,
I pre-ordered my Kobo Touch last May. Did not receive it until the end of June. The screen totally scrambled the day before yesterday.
I e-mailed customer service and they told me to try a factory reset. Did that and nothing happened! I then sent them a scan of what the screen looked like.
They sent me a list of particulars that they needed including the place and date of purchase. They then said sorry, there's nothing we can do, over
the year warranty period. What? barely 2 weeks over and they would do absolutely nothing. I purchased all my books from their website ( over 50 )
and there's nothing they can do?? I just want to let people know about my experience so they can be better informed before they purchase anything
from Kobo. The only good thing was that customer service was very prompt in answering my e-mails. (small comfort)

[Suave]

Welcome to the forum gmcdonald and thank you for sharing your experience with Kobo. I know that there are many more of you with terrible experiences with this company... and I encourage everyone to share their thoughts on this forum. After all, it's forums like this that have a great influence on what brands/products consumers choose. Together we can avoid spending our hard-earned money on crappy products

It'd be great if you introduced yourself in this thread gmcdonald:
http://canadahifi.com/forum/forumdis...ideo-interests

[gmcdonald072]

I just thought I'd update everyone on my problem with Kobo.
After being very frustrated by customer service repeatedly very
politely saying they could'nt help me, I decided to tryr the executive
route. Wow! I couldn't believe how fast they got back to me.
Klaas Knieriem called and left me an apologetic message and informed
me that of course they were going to replace my Kobo Touch! He also
sent me an e mail saying the same thing. I should have my new Kobo Touch
in 5-7 business days! I guess it does pay to be the squeaky wheel! I am
impressed, and will continue to be a customer.

So to everyone that has a problem with any of these electronics: Don't be afraid
to make some noise!

[SoundGame]

I missed this thread the first time around - thanks for sharing the experience Suave - I'll be sure to stay away from Kobo - not that I'm into readers - I'm still old fashioned and prefer to get my hands on hardcopies of books and audio mags.

[Suave]

I'm glad to hear that everything worked out for you gmcdonald072. However in my opinion... if you have to "make some noise" in order to get proper customer service Kobo is not a company I'd ever want to deal with again.

[aurorasoma]

I would like to know who you spoke with ti get an answer. My daughters kobo will not load more then 21 books! We have a couple in the family and I have put on MANY with no issues. I received an email stating you will here from us within 24 to 48 hours! That was 2 weeks ago!!

[Suave]

I experienced exactly the same thing aurorasoma. It took Kobo forever to get back to me on any emails. I would resend my email after not getting an answer for about 4 days. I was very kind to them through email... until the issue was finally resolved and I expressed just how disappointed I was with their service.

Keep pestering their through email and you should hopefully eventually receive an answer.