Kobo BooksReviews 74

Been trying to sign up for an account for two weeks. Online software refuses to accept my account data for payments, which is of zero importance since these are all promotional giveaways. Was referred to an email link for help. 6 days later I got a response and an offer to stuff the data in manually from their side; I send the information. Another week has passed with no response of any sort. Does not bode well for those trying to does real business through this bunch.

Similar to some other reviewers, I received a HOARD of promo codes as soon as I made an account on Kobo (I chose Kobo because I have a Sony Reader and they switched their on reader store to Kobo). Every time I went to check out, with or without the promo code, I received an 'oops something went wrong' message. Funny thing is, my card was being charged anyway. When I noticed the charges, I called Kobo customer service and was told to send them a photo of my statement (12/3/16). I did this. I received a response email telling me to download some dodgy app onto my Macbook and then onto my brand new ereader so they could 'assess the problem'. I refused to do this and called them again (16/3/16). Now they tell me my photo wasn't good enough because the charges were pending. So I wait for the charges to go through and send them another photo (23/3/16). Waiting, waiting, waiting. I call them AGAIN and get told the photo never got sent to the refund department (31/3/16). Wonderful. The person I spoke with said they would send it and I should expect a response within 24-48 business hours. I wait a bit longer because by now I know I'm dealing with the stupidest people on earth. Still haven't received my refund so I called them again today, 6/4/16, and get told the last person sent it to the WRONG DEPARTMENT. So I'm STILL owed a refund for multiple purchases totalling $30 (enough for a poor uni student to fight to get back) and I've been dealing with these idiots for almost a month now. SAVE YOURSELF. DO NOT PURCHASE BOOKS FROM KOBO.

Kobo books must be the worst on-line book store. Have tried on 3 occasions to purchase books using Promo codes. On each occasion I was actually charged for the books. It took days to sort out the first 2 stuff ups and receive credits. I don't think I'll bother with the third: would take too much time out of my life to recover $12.99. However, I'll not ever use Kobo books again, and would never recommend Kobobooks to anyone. I'll stick to kindle or IBooks from now on.

I'm pretty new to Kobo (bought a Glo HD last month), but had already two problems with ebooks (the first had false content, the other I just wanted to give back). In both cases I contacted the costumer service via contact form, and in both cases the support was not only helpful but they refunded the amounts without any problems at all.

Maybe sometimes something goes awry and they can't satisfy a customer but that's not my experience and that's what this site is all about: subjective experiences. I love the idea of a website which only offers ebooks ereading content, and nothing else.

I think the kobo desktop software and the shop on the e-reader itself is too simpel regarding searching for specific kind of ebooks and so on. And the ebooks (at least in English, which I prefer although I'm German) are a little more expensive compared to Amazon. Most of the time anyway not always.

So, in my opinion, there are a few bugs (not to mention the strange differences between kepub and epub formattings which occasionally occur) and they are the reason for removing one star but I won't go back to Kindle and Amazon.

These people are the worst. Just the worst. I bought a book. They charged me. When I went to read, no book. Tried to contact their customer service and kept getting referred to a nonworking phone number. Then I kept getting emails telling me that my problem was solved. My problem was not solved. No matter how many times I try to get it solved [other than telling the credit card company not to give them any money] it's not solved. Meanwhile, I'm on their spam list so I keep getting emails from them trying to get me to buy more from them. That'll be the day!

I received an email offering 70% off select eBooks valid Friday to Midnight Monday. First mistake! I had my credit card details on file and had the default debit on Buy Now. I bought a book for $4.99, as shown under the book. So I ticked Buy Now but when I received my invoice I was charged the full price of $21.99. Here my nightmare started. The customer care (I state that with baited breath) was very sympathetic but couldn't recreate my problem as she couldn't access the Australian site and hers showed full price in CAD. She asked me to send me the link or screen print so she could see it. This was after a lengthy time on hold whilst she referred the matter to her supervisor. I told her that I had to leave as I had an appointment which she assured me she would keep an eye out for it. Due to various reasons I didn't check my desktop till Tuesday morning and found no response. So I called again and again and was told that I should email through a scanned copy of the book showing the discounted price. Each time they claimed they couldn't read it as it wasn't clear enough. I told the rep that I could no longer recreate the price as the offer had lapsed, and had it been looked at on the day or any day till Monday they would have seen the discounted price. They ignored these comments and despite me stating that I couldn't get a clearer copy though it was clear enough to me, they WOULDN"T do anything about it. So do you think that they just had stalling tactics so that I couldn't prove I was right? I do. Long and short of it is, I will download my new book and all my purchases and NEVER BUY from KOBO Again. I will block their emails so that I don't get any more offers and I will shout loud and clear What thieves KOBO is! There are plenty of other book providers out there.

If Satan decided to go into business, Kobo Books is what he would have produced. In the history of dealing with absolutely incompetent, indifferent, and inept customer service (including Rogers wireless and every company with which I hold a credit card), I have never ever come across a system so badly designed. Or maybe it's a brilliant design if the intent is to drive customers towards unassisted suicide. Thank god for strict gun control laws in Canada because you people have driven me so far to the edge of despair that if I had to choose between dealing with you or dealing with Rob Ford after a party in his sister's basement, I'd totally take my chances with RoFo. According to my iPhone, I have burned through about 5 hours of talk time, yes FIVE HOURS, trying to chase down a refund that Kobo (aka Rakutan - does this translate into "we don't give a hot f*ck"?) insists was processed over a month ago. I also have about 15 emails with various ticket numbers attached to them. I've been told three times now that my issue has been escalated to "supervisors" (I was put on hold for 40 minutes waiting to talk to one). I have been told about "tier one" versus "tier two" and that tier two doesn't trust tier one. The only GOOD advice I've received so far has been from a sympathetic agent (props to you Nicholas H.!) who suggested I get a good stiff drink. And this refund is just the tip of the iceberg of pain that I have dealt with since buying this little piece of $#*! eReader (all of my old books are locked and I've downloaded several other books that were not compatible with my eReader - and their excuse? "Oh, it's the publisher's fault").

Well Kobo, rest assured that if I ever get my money back, it's going towards a new eReader, or maybe I'll just go back to buying good old paper - because once I'm done reading the book, I'll have something I can set on fire and then hurl at your head office.

If you're going to sell books that can only be read under certain conditions, then say that up front! Bought12 books as I have in the past. Everything was great. But two of them couldn't be downloaded. Submitted a help request. They used to e-mail you their answers, but now you have to phone them AFTER submitting the help request. Discovered that these two books "stream from the Cloud". In other words, no wireless, no books. Not helpful on airplanes and beaches. If they had said anywhere on the purchase page these conditions apply, I wouldn't have bought them. Only way to tell, customer "support" told me, was to count the number of devices listed as being supported. If there are fewer than seven, it's a Cloud book. Duh! Maybe it would be easier if on the sales page for the book, you said "only available when you have wireless"? Kobo used to be okay. Sony was good. Kobo bought Sony, and now what we are left with is unhelpful nonsense. UNIMPRESSIVE, KOBO.

I purchased a book on Kobo Books to read on my iPad. It never showed up in the App. After a week of emails back and forth I was told it was only available as a PDF. Phoned support and sat on hold for 15 minutes. Then, they tried a variety of different things to get it on my iPads. Nothing worked so they gave me a store credit which I will never use! As far as I am concerned it is a piece of junk software for an unreliable company. Buyer Beware!

Twice I have tried to download a book from Kobo on the sony ereader and it failed to download. When I called Kobo they informed me that certain books could only be downloaded via wireless system. Really, shouldn't you state this on your site before it is purchased? Why can I not simply download it thru my computer? After 20 minutes on the phone they credited back the money. BFD. Now i went to order another book and the same problem just occurred. I called their customer service # only to get that you must now "email" them. They are the absolute worst company. I am throwing my wife's ereader away and buying her something that kobo is not involved with. I can not state how i strongly I feel about this Piece Of Sh-t company. DON"T BUY ANYTHING THAT YOU MUST USE KOBO. You will regret it...

I've used Kobobooks before though I prefer other ebook retailers. Why I chose to shop here today, I beat myself for it. Bought 3 books, able to download 2. The 3rd book offered no download option. Customer service desk apparently contacted me ONCE but failed to get a hold of me, so sent me an email saying that they tried and have marked my ticket as "SOLVED." I apparently can contact them directly (how I don't know cos there is no contact number on their help site), or I can re-submit another request... How is it "solved" when a customer paid $10 for an ebook and didn't receive it? $10 for no book and 2 hours of aggravation still trying to get what I paid for.

I will NEVER EVER shop here again.

I've used kobobooks and when everything goes well its fine, but when something goes wrong like paying for an ebook and not receiving it, there is no service. Ibought a book, i didn't get it and after calling (and being put on hold twice for more than 20 minutes without speaking to someone) i wrote two complaints to the helpdesk. A month further i still haven't gotten a reply, the problem is not fixed. They are fast in taking you money but offer NO ASSISTANCE at all. It's a horrible company and i'll never buy another book in their and i would strongly advise others to skip kobobooks.

I started using kobo bookstore when I got a samsung galaxy pad2. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the bookstore to indicate compatability of downloads with the e-reader you are using, so many books fail to download automatically & you have to jump through all sorts of hoops to get to them. There are plenty of other providers all of whom seem better than kobo, so they have lost my business as I got fed-up browsing books, buying them & then not getting them without a fight... They don't seem to realise that ease of use is key.

The last book I ordered & didn't get took 5 days to sort out - who can be bothered with that when the book was about £5 & I got another copy in minutes somewhere else for £4...

I order an eBook online from Bookworld.com.au, which directed me to the Kobobooks site for purchase. I didn't receive it. Not particularly happy to find that I was not purchasing the book via an Australian website, as it appears that Kobo is in the USA! I have been in email correspondence with Kobo for almost 2 weeks, and still nothing... The Customer support doesn't want to help and appear to be toying with me, so I decided to lodge a dispute via PayPal. Kobo told me that I would not receive a credit back... Not sure they even know what they are talking about! Stay away from KoboBooks, the experience is not worth it.