Cave Kobo

The story you are about to read is true. All transcripts are verbatim, but may be edited for length. No names have been changed.

Subscribers recall that I mentioned in this blog my first purchase of an e-book - Fat Sugar Salt - and, although I didn't remark on it at the time, I was pretty happy with how the whole transaction went.

As things had gone smoothly, I didn't think twice about ordering from Kobo an interesting but hard to find book called Purity and Danger by Mary Douglas. If you are not familiar with this book, you should get your hands on a copy, but not, if you can help it at all, by way of Kobo.

This is what happened when I tried that: I searched Kobo, found Purity and Danger, paid with my credit card and hit the download button. The book, however, failed to download. Stumped, I sent the following e-mail to the fancifully-named "customer care" link:

Hi:

I just paid for "Purity and Danger" and it is not loading onto my iPad. I click on the ADOBE DRM PDF button (there is no "Download PDF" button) then I get a brief flash of a page that says I am buying a PDF and then the page changes to a 1KB file "PurityandDanger.acsm and a button that says "open in kobo". When I click on the button, I open kobo, but the book is not there.

You have my money. I would really like my book, please.

Many thanks

Karen Clark

This is the response I got:

Response Via Email (Maria E)	04/13/2013 10:34 AM
Hi Karen,

Thank You for contacting Kobo Customer Care. We are very sorry about this inconvenience, and we'd be glad to assist you. 

Based on the information that you have provided us, that the book that you have purchased is not compatible with Apple devices, since it is a PDF format book. 

We'd like to inform you that you can see if your device supports a certain book, by scrolling down to the bottom right at www.kobobooks.com when looking at a book's page, before clicking on "Buy Now". You will notice a section that says Book's information, where you see on what devices the book can be read on, and on what format it downloads. 

Also, on a side note please remember that you can always read on other devices the same book with Kobo, and to know more information on that please click on the following link:

http://www.kobobooks.com/apps

If you need further help with this issue, simply respond to this email. A member of our Customer Care team will be happy to help you.

Sincerely,
The Kobo Team

This is the message I sent back:

Thanks very much for your response. I have downloaded a PDF format book onto my iPad before, so I had no reason to believe this attempt would not work. 
This leaves me with the problem I originally brought to your attention. 
You have my money but I don't have a book. 
I would like my money refunded/the charge to my credit card cancelled. 
The receipt number for the transaction is 26968140. 


If you're interested in how I feel I have been treated as a Kobo customer, I would say: not well. It really doesn't do me any good to receive a response that basically suggests I was stupid for ordering the book and then simply refuses to acknowledge that Kobo took my money and gave me nothing in return. 

I would be very grateful if someone could get back to me and confirm the charge to my credit card has been cancelled. 


And, I'm done with Kobo. 


Karen Clark

This is the reply they sent me:

Response Via Email (Maria E)

04/13/2013 12:27 PM

Hi Karen, Thank You for contacting Kobo Customer Care. We are very sorry about this inconvenience, and we'd be glad to assist you. We understand how frustrating this is for you, and we deeply apologize for all the inconvenience. However, we'd like to inform you that in order to be able to read PDF files with your iPad you will need to use and you can gather more information on this next link http://www.overdrive.com/ As well, for future reference please remember that you can see if your device supports a certain book, by scrolling down to the bottom right at www.kobobooks.com when looking at a book's page, before clicking on "Buy Now". You will notice a section that says Book's information, where you see on what devices the book can be read on, and on what format it downloads. Now, a refund has been requested for you and if accepted, the billing department will contact you with more information within 48 hours. And you will receive an email confirmation upon completion. Again, thank you for contacting Kobo today and if you have any further issues, please contact us via email, phone, or chat. Sincerely, The Kobo Team A few days later, I got this final message: Response Via Email (Sanae T) 04/16/2013 04:40 PM Hi Karen, We have provided you with a Kobo store credit of $21.12 CAD. To verify that your Kobo account has been credited 1. Go to the www.kobo.com website and sign into your Kobo account. 2. Click MY ACCOUNT 3. Click on Payment information To use your store credit 1. When you’re ready to purchase an eBook, click BUY NOW 2. You’ll be taken to the secure checkout page and any Kobo store credit you have in your Kobo account will be automatically applied to your purchase. * Note that you will only be able to apply store credit while on the www.kobo.com website, the BlackBerry PlayBook app, the Kobo Desktop App or the Kobo Touch eReader web store. You will not have the ability to use store credit while using the BlackBerry mobile apps, Kobo Wireless eReader, or the Literati Reader We’ve provided you a working solution that we’re confident has resolved the issue you had been encountering. To reopen this ticket, simply respond to this email and a member of our Tier 2 Customer Care team will be happy to help you. Sincerely, The Kobo Team For the record, the alleged "compatibility with your device" information for Purity and Danger, the book I couldn't download, is exactly the same as the information for Fat Sugar Salt, the book I did download. This means, unless you like the idea of throwing $20 away every once in a while (and if that's true you should just buy a lottery ticket), beware Kobo. ********************************************************* I was on Yonge Street on April 27, looking for interesting juxtapositions of Toronto architecture. I found this: Have a great week! Karen