Kobo BooksReviews 74

I bought a Kobo reader because it had really good reviews. And it is really good. But the website and PC app that you can use to buy books are both a complete waste of time.

I spent over an hour this evening trying to purchase 4 different books. I was a little annoyed that they are available for cheaper in paperback, but I decided to buy the ebooks as I wouldn't have to wait for them to be delivered.

The problem is that when I try to buy through the website, I just get an error message. Perhaps my payment details are incorrect, so I check them. Same problem occurs. Ok, let's try a different card - same error. Ok, let's try the Paypal option - same error.

Ok, perhaps it's the web browser that I'm using (Google Chrome isn't always compatible with all websites). Try Internet explorer - same error. Try Firefox - same error.

Ok, perhaps I should just use the Kobo Windows app that I have installed. It's a little more awkward to use, but maybe it's worth it if it allows me to buy the books I want. No, same error!

If anybody from Kobo is interested, the useful error message says "Sorry, but we couldn't complete your order because an unexpected error occurred. Please try again later.".

I haven't logged in to Kobo for about a year as I think I had problems last time I tried. Perhaps I'll give it a go next year. Or perhaps not.

I was given a Kobo Glo reader as a gift and I really like the concept of reading in bed without needing a light and the fact that if I fall asleep it goes out automatically.

The software on the device is pretty lame and lacking and "touchy"... if you roll over or the cat walks by and flicks it with his tail, it will fly through dozens of pages and there's no easy way to find where you were unless you bookmark every page and look for the latest one every time.

BUYING BOOKS from Kobo.com using their software and/or their website is a joke but trying to find books to go on your Kobo from somewhere else is near impossible. Amazon only sells Kindle, Chapters automatically re routes you to Kobo so you're hooped. They advertise they have hundreds of FREE books. But hat's a huge lie... you may get 2-3 actual semi-readable books after spend hours scrolling through "flash fiction" and "fan fiction" and "introductions" and "coverless crap.

If you buy one book, they "automatically" download a pile of books to your reader that you don't want. They keep popping up suggesting you buy NOW. Books they think you might like based on one book you may have bought and hated.

You can't list any books you may have bought or downloaded from anywhere else in the Kobo software... every book you buy goes to their software by default which is most definitely NOT user friendly. It's very primitive. It's not easy to get a book OFF your Kobo either.

I was online looking to buy The fifty shades trilology set of books. My enitial idea was to order pay and pick up from wh smith, i went on their website and made my order i was then forwarded to kobo books i thought this was normal and i paid for my books only to be told opon paying that "i can now download my book from a kobo app, i don't have a laptop or i pad or android/ i phone so could not even download let alone open. I am 10 pound out of pocket. I was led to believe i was buying a paper back. They didn't tell me until after i had paid DO NOT USE THIS SITE!

Placed order for Kobo Mini Ereader and received a credit card error message. I tried again and same thing happened. I tried the next day with the same results. I never got and e-mail from Kobo confirming a purchase had been made or a confirmation # from the website. Come to find out Kobo US INC had charged my card numerous times. Called my credit card company to cancel the extra charges and also called Kobo customer service to tell them. They had no record of any purchase, yet they had billed my card numerous times. Had to open a ticket with Kobo to resolve the problem. In the meantime no Ereader. Kobo knows this is an ongoing problem, yet they dont seem to want to fix it.

As others have said, customer service is useless. They don't seem to read or understand what you tell them, they don't acknowledge receiving any information.

Ordering an eReader from their site was buggy. Customer service could not find any record of my order.

After trying to cancel the order, CS kept responding as if I hadn't said anything, saying they were processing the order. They shipped the eReader after I sent two separate messages saying cancel the order, and do not ship. I am now having to dispute the charge.

Stay away from this site. Even if you can buy the Kobo reader locally, even if you buy eBooks elsewhere, you may have to deal with their CS for hardware support.

FYI - kobobooks is a ebook-ONLY site. I searched the internet for a specific book and found it on kobobooks, everything looked good but I didn't realize you have to scroll down to the bottom of the page below the "you might also like" that everyone ignores to discover its a ebook only. Now I have a book I had hoped to read in bed that I can only read on my computer.

On the plus side, after trying to squint through the pale teal on white login screen, the windows app installed easily and ran well. It gives me what I need, the ability to change font size and to read my book

Purchased ebook on website, could not get app to work with my tablet and was never able to download my ebook, have written numerous emails and called twice trying to get refund for a ebook that I could not download. Company reps say that they can't give refund unless ebook download is messed up, seems like not being able to download book is messed up, I am very disappointed in customer service and would not deal with this company again. I have been trying to get refund since 12/18/2011 and posted this review 01/21/2012 without any satisfaction on my issue.

Your typical online bookstore for eReaders or iPad, similar to Amazon.com. When I got my iPad I got a coupons for 20% of my first purchase. I was very excited to use it, however when I went to make my purchase the site told me it couldn't be applied to that book - or many of the other current and popular books due to publisher restrictions. Very disappointing. Also, random, but after my purchase, I got a call from my credit card who suspected a fraudulent charge because the company is based on Canada.