Kobo Touch eReader & Customer Support

Above is a picture of my Kobo Touch eReader. On wednesday last week I decided to upload the second Hunger Games trilogy book 'Catching Fire' to my Kobo eReader. I got my Kobo for Christmas 2011 from my mother in law. She bought it at the Chapters location in Langley. The Hunger Games book was the third ebook that I had installed on my Kobo. I was slowly getting used to the idea of reading books on the eReader. I had a protective case for it and was thinking of completing my New Jersey Housewife motif by getting a new Zebra print cover.

I am an avid reader and am always ording books of chapters.ca and amazon.ca & amazon.com.

So imagine my horror when instead of reading about Katniss and Peeta I was met with this screen!
Here is a copy of the email exchange between me & Kobo customer Service. They didn't even bother to spell check the Please Fuck Off response:


Recently you requested personal assistance from our on-line support center. Below is a summary of your request and our response.

If this issue is not resolved to your satisfaction, you may reopen it within the next 10 days.

Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.


Subject
RMA - Kobo Touch

Discussion Thread
Response Via Email (Chantelle S) 04/09/2012 02:35 PM
Hi Anastasia,

We apologize that you feel this way, but according to our warranty:

"You eReader must be shipped, prepaid and insured by you, in its original packaging, together with proof of purchase (i.e., a dated purchase or gift receipt) and the RMA number provided by Kobo, to the address specified by Kobo. If you purchased the Extended Protection Plan Limited Warranty, Kobo will be responsible for the cost of shipping your eReader to Kobo from within Canada or the United States."

"When Kobo receives your eReader, it will examine it and determine whether it is covered by this Limited Warranty. If, upon examination, Kobo determines that your eReader is covered by this Limited Warranty and an advance replacement eReader has not already been provided to your, Kobo will, within a reasonable period of time, at its option, do one of the following: (i) replace your eReader with a new or refurbished model of equal or greater value; or (ii) repair your eReader using new or refurbished parts. If your eReader is covered by this Limited Warranty, Kobo will send the replacement or repaired eReader to you within Canada or the United States, at Kobo’s cost and by Kobo’s choice of carrier."

Because you do not have the Extended Warranty purcahsed, you are responsible for paying the shipping fees. As well, seeing as the device was not purchased through Kobo, we are unable to organize an exchange for you at Chapters.

We sincerely apologize for any inconveniences caused but these are our policies that we must follow.

Sincerely,
The Kobo Team

Customer By Email (Anastasia Redekop) 04/09/2012 01:46 AM
I want to be very clear that you are asking me to pay to ship and insure my broken Kobo to you so that you 'work on it' and return it to me within 3 weeks?
I have owned this Kobo touch since Deceber 2011. It has 3 books loaded onto it - it has not been heavily used.
When I purchased the third book (Catching Fire) and tried to load it onto the Kobo I was instructed to complete a Kobo 'update'. The book finally loaded and I was able to read three chapters. I turned the device off, and when I returned to it the following day the screen was displaying 'Restoring your Device to Factry Defaults... - this will take several minutes'. The screen did not change. I took it to the Chapters store where it was purchased and they in turn contacted Kono customer service.
I did not damage the Kobo and this appears to be a defective Kobo.
Obviously I am not impressed with this offer to 'fix' the Kobo. I want to exchange the Kobo that I have for a new one right away at the point to sale location (Chapters in Langley). If that is not possible I want Kobo to provide me with a shipping label and PO number to ship the Kobo back to you in Ontario (at your cost) and once my defective Kobo is received I want a new one couriered to me immediately.
I am a blogger, and an active member in my community. I will talk, tweet, status update and blog about this experience if it is not rectified to my satisfaction.
Sincerely, Anastasia Redekop

From: help@kobobooks.com
To: anastasiaredekop@hotmail.com
Date: Sat, 7
Apr 2012 17:13:39 -0400
Subject: RMA - Kobo Touch [Incident: 120405-000685]
Response Via Email (Chantelle S) 04/07/2012 05:13 PM
Hi Anastasia,

Your Kobo eReader appears to be defective or damaged and will need to be exchanged. Per the terms and conditions of the STANDARD LIMITED WARRANTY you will be required to ship and insure your defective Kobo eReader to the following address:

*** Please be advised that in-person deliveries from Kobo customers to Ingram Micro will not be accepted under any circumstances ***

Kobo c/o Ingram Micro Logistics
Branch 40 - CATO
88 Foster Cr - Dock 9
Mississauga, ON, Canada L5R4A1

Please be sure to clearly indicate the letters "RMA" and your help ticket number which is 120405-000685 on package or it will not be accepted.

Please do not place any accessories in the package (eReader manuals, receipts, Gela skins, etc.). THESE ITEMS WILL NOT BE RETURNED SHOULD THEY BE INCLUDED.

Once you have mailed the device, please provide us with the name of the shipping company you used, and the tracking number they provided to you via response to this email.

Upon receipt and inspection of the device we will send you a replacement.

Please allow 3 weeks from the date you ship your defective unit to receive your replacement.

For more information about the Standard Limited Warranty visit:
http://download.kobobooks.com/learnmore/touch_userguides/Kobo_eReader_Touch_Warranty.pdf

Sincerely,
The Kobo Team
Response Via Email (Real M) 04/05/2012 01:14 PM
Hi Anastasia,

Unfortunately, your Kobo eReader may need to be repaired or exchanged. Please provide the answers to ALL questions below in order to proceed with a claim.

Part 1 - Your Contact Information
Name:
Street Name and #:
Apt/Suite/Unit # (if applicable):
Intercom/Entrance Code (if applicable):
City:
State/Province/Territory:
Country:
Zip/Post Code:

Primary Telephone #:
Secondary Telephone #:
Email address of your Kobo Account:

Part 2 – Your Kobo eReader Information

Model of the Kobo eReader (Kobo Original, Kobo WiFi, Kobo Touch, or Kobo Vox):
Colour (On the Kobo Original, Kobo WiFi, and Kobo Touch please look at quilted back. On the Kobo Vox, please look at the sides.):
Purchase date of your Kobo eReader:
Purchase location of your Kobo eReader:
Serial Number located on the bottom of the eReader:
Did you also purchase a Bronze/Silver/Gold extended protection plan from Kobo?:

Once your information has been reviewed, our level 2 support will contact you with options and/or information regarding next steps.

Sincerely,
The Kobo Team

Customer By Phone (Entered by Real M) 04/05/2012 01:04 PM
Customer called in Kobo is frozen basic reset did nothing and could not complete factory reset.

Question Reference #120405-000685
Product Level 1: Kobo Touch
Category Level 1: Return
Date Created: 04/05/2012 01:04 PM
Last Updated: 04/09/2012 02:35 PM

Troubleshooting.

UPDATE July 6, 2012
Kobo did eventually relent once I bumped up my complaint to Management. I was given a PO number and a shipment waybill for FedEx. New Kobo is in hand but to be honest the excitement of eReading has worn off. I am back to ordering real books that I can hold in my hands and not the ebooks that can be held hostage by my Kobo.

Grrrr.

SAHMs

I used to think that working shift work would be the Great Parenting Equaliser. I would continue to be Uber Mom during the day and HWSNBN would be the Best Dad he could be during the night.

But as I sit here with a body that doesn't know if it is night or day, eczema crawling up my hands and a bad case of the midnight munchies, I wonder who is having the last laugh.

I work full time. I have three kids. I have a live in caregiver who is amazing and makes all of this possible. Ditto for HWSNBN. I could not do this to myself without their help. But when 'THIS' turns into a body that is itchy, twitchy and fat I wonder if it is all worth it.

If I did not work full time we would probably be living in a townhouse somewhere. And that would not be good news because I don't get along well with others and I tend to be a 'yeller'.

If I did not work my kids would have me around all the time. Which is actually not a great thing as I am not stay at home mom material. My husband's paygrade on his own would not allow me the Housewives lifestyle that I would need and I get into enough scraps with the limited 'free time I have'.

I do a lot of the same things SAHMs do (I can't express how much I LOATH that acronym - especially when women who are 'stay at home moms' because they are unskilled and unable to work outside of the home in any capacity except for menial work... so really you stay at home because you are not employable by anyone other than your progeny). I cook dinner, I make lunches, I drive my kids to school, I sign them up for activities, I volunteer to be the 'Soccer mom', I meet with doctors and dentists, I volunteer at school, I pick my kdis up, I host playdates with other kids (who thankfully are well behaved little beings otherwise that would something I would cross off my list). I help with homework, I shop for clothing, I organise birthday parties, etc.

BUT I also manage to put in 35 hours a week in a demanding profession...

I guess what I am saying is that even though I thought that it would even up our family responsibilities, HWSNBN and I are not EVEN. We are possibly as close to even as we will ever be - but the chores are not evenly distributed. He believes that we are beyond even and perhaps he is actually doing 'more'.

I like my job. Dare I say I actually love it. I am a professional and feel like I am actually at an experience level that I feel confident that I can deal with almost any child welfare issue that may arise.

So that is it - I do this so that I can be the psuedo Stay At Home Mom. I do this because I love my kids and my job. I do this because I love my husband. I don't have time to kick the phony SAHMs to death because I am too busy trying to work in exercise and extra curriculars for the monkeys.

So there it is - the pee in the pool. I loath the SAHMs. I can always tell who the 'working' moms are at school. They are the ones who either look fabulous or ridden hard and put away wet. The are rarely in the Lululemon uni that the SAHMs are in. They are either dressed up or in a typical pair of jeans and t-shirt just trying to make sure they get all the kids into the car and to swimming, soccer, ballet, tutoring, before their shift starts on the Renal ward or the local police detachment.

Lets be clear - there are moms who 'stay at home with their children' who are not infected with the holier than thou attitude that the self stated SAHMs have. Many of these moms are my friends and they don't need to blast it to the world that they are stay at home moms. Because they know that they are good enough and don't need to ram it down anyone's throat or clog my facebook / twitter feeds with their masturbatory self proclamations. In the end we are all parents and the relationship we develop with our children is what matters. It doesn't matter if we worked outside the home, 'stayed at home' or did a little of both. What matters is that you are present when you are with your children.

Often times those of us who are 'pretend' stay at homers do not get to see the working moms who work during regular hours. We see them on weekends at soccer jamborees and evening PAC meetings. We high five at birthday parties and share emails in the middle of the night about the kid with the reoccuring lice. We have hurried conversations about nightime wakefullness and out general feelings of anxiety that we are forgetting something. These are my people.

I love my family, I love my caregiver, I love my job, I love my life. Rinse, repeat.

Kobo - my hated ereader

Ahem. I have never claimed to love technology although I do use it once I figure it out.. although my Nano is still lost after I could not figure out how to turn it off.....

Now onto my Kobo. I think that I did my due dilligence in trying to find the right ereader to meet my Luddite abilities and my practical realities....

But now the f&cker is frozen after 3 months... more specifically it froze on chapter 7 of 'Catching Fire: The Hunger Games part 2'. Why this did not happen while I was reading the painfully slow and inconsistent Incredibly Loud and Extremely Close (or something like that) I have no idea... except maybe Karma.

I went on youtube thinking that the genius that did the comparison to the Kindle which helped me decide on the Kobo would be there to help me through this 'hurdle'. However there are very few problem shooting videos on there for the Kobo... Maybe I should have gone with the Kindle - at least then I could call Amazon and yell at one their employees.

Instead I am looking at this paperweight and realising that my first instinct was right - ereaders SUCK and no matter how fancy pants they get - they can never replace the actual feeling of a book in my hand where th eonly bad thing that can stop me from reading is a screaming child or a misplaced book.

Damn you Kobo for wreaking my 5 free minutes!!!!