Kobo BooksReviews 74

Twice in recent years I've examined Kobo to see if I wanted to use it. It still has one of the worst commercial web sites I can remember. It's definitely the worst of the audiobook sites I've used or considered using.

There is nothing at all on the Kobo audiobook help page about downloading the file to a Mac. I sent an email to customer service and received instructions about how to download an app to do that. If it is possible, why is nothing mentioned on the web site?

Can I keep the audiobooks I buy forever, even if I can cancel my account? What exactly is a "subscription"? Is that the same as buying credits, like at some competing sites? Do the files have DRM?

I've spent way too long trying to figure out the answers to those questions, and that is a clue that Kobo is a merchant to avoid. Why does Walmart put its name on this shady site?

I received email to gain 10 us dollars discount on my first book, in one condition the book price is over 10 dollars, my choice was book its price 10.99 $, when i tried ti check out the price changed at the moment order confirmation! The book price became 8.99$ so it got out the promo! I tried another book with the same price but the price changed too to became 14.99$! So i have to pay 4.99$, i made contact with live customer service, she treated me as a fool by trying persuading me to check out and paying the changed price as it and she will refund me 10$, how can i trust the site while they are changing the price up and down at the check out! So i said only good by and gone for ever, i have to thank them to doing that at the first :)

The e-reader I got is a piece of $#*!. It doesn't detect wi-fi at my house even though all other devices do. I set it up through Kobo desktop. I bought books on Kobo desktop and they didn't appear on my e-reader after synching. I then saw that there was no eject button to eject the e-reader and it wasn't even showing up in my computer. I tried doing a factory reset for the 4th time and now I'm stuck on the window where it says to connect Kobo to your computer. My $#*!ing Kobo has been connected to the computer. I'm sending this lemon back ASAP and I want Kobo to pay for my return postage, reshipping, and new kobo e-reader. From reviews here I'm guessing it will be a struggle.

I referred a friend who made a purchase more than $5. But I didn't receive the $10 credit store. When I chatted online with the online chat I was told because the purchase was for multiple books each under 5 I was not eligible for the credit.
This is not in the terms and condition that's on their website.
This is the 3rd time I get a promotion from Kobo but I actually don't receive it because of some weird unwritten rule that they have.
I'm going to buy from other book stores who are not trying to scam their customers into buying with false promotions. I've been a customer for a long time but I don't believe I would anymore.

Let me start by saying that I am having an issue over an account I didn't even make.

I was emailed about a purchase I did not make (on a card that wasn't mine) linked to my email. After failing to get it resolved, or even attempted to be resolved via e-mail, I was forced to call.

After a series of events, I finally got a human on the line to cancel this account I did not create nor want. I was told they couldn't because they didn't have enough information to inform the creator they'd be closing it.

So I argued that I don't want to be receiving emails from them, and it was clearly my email account as I had read not only the ticket # from my attempt to resolve it through email but information about the purchase as well.

Being put on hold several times and providing more information they told me I needed to *screenshot* my email from them and attach it rather than forward. I had to argue that they have no need for a screenshot that would provide them with browser information irrelevant to the case at hand. To which she said it wouldn't but obviously unless you crop just the email it would show the open browser window including open tabs, bookmarks, information of my email account (folders, contacts etc).

After more arguing they "allowed" me to just forward them the purchase receipt so I could cancel the account for the email I own and have proved I own, made by someone who is not me.

This place is a joke.

Apparently I managed to remove my email from my account, and then sometime later logged out and couldn't get back in. Kobo asked for a receipt and were able to see my account and told me there was no longer an email associated. Despite themselves seeing what the problem was, and despite me having receipts for every purchase and credit card details, they said they could not fix my account and that they also would not transfer the ebooks I had purchased to a new account that I COULD access. They suggested I REPURCHASE $100+ worth of ebooks instead. On top of this, to get this completely unhelpful and money hungry response, I had to use their painful and clearly at least partially automated customer service chat line. I got disconnected and had to repeat the whole thing to an entirely unhelpful Delray M who showed no recognition of my previous disconnection less than five minutes before. Pretty sure it is a made up username to give us the illusion we are speaking to a genuine human who can help
Stay the heck away from this company if you value your sanity and ebooks. Literally any ebook company has got to be better. Kindle has a far better range anyway.

They make good hardware. They sell e-books. All fine until you need to contact them in any way, with any issue whatsoever.

I placed an order for a reader with them, and needed to cancel the same day. The only way to cancel - in 2016! - is to go online, fill out a form, which then gives you a number to call. Wait for upwards of ten minutes to get through to someone. This person then went to speak to a member of staff, and said someone will be in contact via email 'soon'.

What?

I just wanted to cancel an order I'd placed. How about, first of all, even acknowledging the order in my online Kobo account, not just the email confirmation, because it was missing. And, er... how about a big button that says 'cancel order'. You know, like every web store since 1998. I'm 90% resigned to the idea that this person will never get in touch, and I will receive the order and have to mess around returning it.

Why? Because I've dealt with them before on a software issue. In which I was bandied around from one 'software support specialist' to the next, endlessly over five months, with week-long waits between email replies, which never went anywhere because they repeated the same questions I'd already answered months ago, months later.

I simply have no idea how these guys are still in business.

After numerous attempts to find a purchase I made to Kobo and then to finally get a refund I must say that the process was beyond frustrating. The chat line is a joke as you keep getting disconnected, each person you chat with has no background in previous chats even though there is a history. Promised emails are never sent and you have to start again. Finally after incredible frustration and numerous contacts I was promised 75 % off my next purchase. Again the code was not sent in a promised email. I again had to contact Kobo and then I was told this 75%? Off was on selected books only. What a joke! I have spent thousands of dollars on books through Kobo. Likely I will not anymore.