Big Cliff Posted October 30, 2011 Report Posted October 30, 2011 I bought Sue a Kobo for Christmas last year and she loves it. About two weeks ago they came out with a new unit with a lot more features on it than the one she now has so I decided to get her the new one for this Christmas. They even have a deal on where if you owned one of the older units you'd get $10.00 off the new one if you ordered it before Oct. 28. That's when the fun started. We went on line and ordered the new one on Oct. 19 but never got a conformation from them that the order had been received so last week Sue tried to phone them. Their customer service has changed, what use to be fantastic customer services with polite knowledgable English speeking people has now been farmed out to India or somewhere. Sue did her best to try to communicate with the lady on the other end but got no where and ended up hanging up in frustration. Next Sue sent their customer support Dept. an email explaining her problem and her dissatisfaction at the new customer support system. She got an automated email back telling her that her question had now been upgraded to teir II support and someone would respond within 24-48 hours, that was 4 days ago and still no response. I have tried to find an alternate contact for Kobo on line without any success, every phone number I find ultimately leads me back to their off shore support team (for lack of a better description) and am hoping that someone on here either works for or knows someone that works for Kobo or can help me. Sue loves her Ereader but she sure isn't very pleased with their changes to customer service.
lew Posted October 30, 2011 Report Posted October 30, 2011 Pretty darned sad what's happening lately, eh Cliff ??
Big Cliff Posted October 30, 2011 Author Report Posted October 30, 2011 It sure is Lew, they have a wonderful product and Sue loves the fact that she can download books directly from the library for free right over the internet. She really appreciated the fact that if she had a problem or a question she could actually talk to someone that would help her and that she could understand. Saddly, her last comment was "if there was an alternative where she could down load the books from the library, she'd change". Unfortunatly as far as I can tell Kobo is the only manufacturer that offers that feature right now.
mercman Posted October 30, 2011 Report Posted October 30, 2011 Keep your eye on your Credit card bill. You can actually call the card company and cancel the transaction too if you want. You can buy a Kobo reader from Chapters, Future Shop and Best Buy also Cliff.
mercman Posted October 30, 2011 Report Posted October 30, 2011 http://www.epubbooks.com/ http://www.bookshare.org/_/promo/2010/10/adwords2?gclid=CMS2xpvIkKwCFUKo4AodQxK0oA http://www.getfreeebooks.com/ a few the wife has found.
cram Posted October 30, 2011 Report Posted October 30, 2011 Cliff - if you go into any indigo store there`s a deal for $10 off, whether you had an ereader previously or not. I just upgraded to the kobo touch as well. Looks like they have a new colour one coming out next week - so maybe should have waited!
grt1 Posted October 30, 2011 Report Posted October 30, 2011 my wife got me one for my birthday last week and so far i've put 5 books on it , read 1 of them and i'm sure it is going to keep me very happy at work , especially the long midnight shifts. I haven't had any need to contact the customer service as it appears easy to operate
Pikeslayer8 Posted October 30, 2011 Report Posted October 30, 2011 Any time you call an 800 number (for a credit card, banking, charter communications, health and other insurance, computer help desk, etc) and you find that you're talking to a foreign customer service representative (perhaps in India, Philippines, etc), please consider doing the following: After you connect and you realize that the customer service representative is not from the USA (you can always ask if you are not sure about the accent), please, very politely (this is not about trashing other cultures) say, "I'd like to speak to a customer service representative in the United States of America." The rep might suggest talking to his/her manager, but, again, politely say, "Thank you, but I'd like to speak to a customer service representative in the USA ." YOU WILL BE IMMEDIATELY CONNECTED TO A REP IN THE USA . That's the rule and the LAW. Hope this helps
camillj Posted October 30, 2011 Report Posted October 30, 2011 I Got my 2 daughters and the Mrs each a Kindle (3G wi-fi) last year for Christmas and they all loved them ... only problem is that some newer books aren't available in Canada (but they are on Kobo - go figure - BUT there is a way you can buy a Kobo book and convert it for the Kindle so its all good ) .... anyhow ... havent seen the new Kindle fire (or the new Kobo yet) ... and they arent complaining ... actually seem pretty happy with the old B&W ... and the battery seems to last a LONG time so we will leave good enough alone for now at least. But let us know how the new Kobo stacks up Cliff.
Pikeslayer8 Posted October 30, 2011 Report Posted October 30, 2011 Any time you call an 800 number (for a credit card, banking, charter communications, health and other insurance, computer help desk, etc) and you find that you're talking to a foreign customer service representative (perhaps in India, Philippines, etc), please consider doing the following: After you connect and you realize that the customer service representative is not from the USA (you can always ask if you are not sure about the accent), please, very politely (this is not about trashing other cultures) say, "I'd like to speak to a customer service representative in the United States of America." The rep might suggest talking to his/her manager, but, again, politely say, "Thank you, but I'd like to speak to a customer service representative in the USA ." YOU WILL BE IMMEDIATELY CONNECTED TO A REP IN THE USA . That's the rule and the LAW. Hope this helps Imagine what would happen if every US or Canadian citizen insisted on talking to only US phone reps from this day on. Imagine how that would ultimately impact the number of US or Canadian jobs that would need to be created ASAP. If I tell 10 people to consider this and you tell 10 people to consider doing this - see what I mean...it becomes an exercise in viral marketing 101. Remember - the goal here is to restore jobs back here at home - not to be abrupt or rude to a foreign phone rep. You may even get correct answers, good advice, and solutions to your problem - in real English.
Big Cliff Posted October 30, 2011 Author Report Posted October 30, 2011 Well, I just called Kobo's customer service again. I ended up talking to a very nice young lady who couldn't do anything to help me except escaliate it to Tier II. I explained that it had been escalated to tier II twice now and four days later we still didn't have an answer. (Tier II is supposed to respond within 24-48 hours) I then asked to speak to a supervisor, I was told that none were available. I asked to speak to someone in Canada, (Kobo is a Canadian Company) I was again told that no one was available. So there you go, try to buy Canadian and support our economy and this is what you get. Finally after a lot of searching I found a Toronto phone number for Kobo, I'll be calling them tomorrow morning. In the meantime Sue is going to check with the library and see if they support the Sony or any other Ereaders. Too bad, Sue loved her Kobo but this has really turned her off of dealing with the company.
mercman Posted October 30, 2011 Report Posted October 30, 2011 Cliff, any device which can read EPub format can be used as a reader.Most ebooks are in either EPub or PDF format.
Big Cliff Posted October 30, 2011 Author Report Posted October 30, 2011 Cliff, any device which can read EPub format can be used as a reader.Most ebooks are in either EPub or PDF format. Thanks Paul, I don't know much about them. Apparently the Kindle can't down load books from the library so I wasn't sure if any of the others could or not.
Tdel Posted October 30, 2011 Report Posted October 30, 2011 Any time you call an 800 number (for a credit card, banking, charter communications, health and other insurance, computer help desk, etc) and you find that you're talking to a foreign customer service representative (perhaps in India, Philippines, etc), please consider doing the following: After you connect and you realize that the customer service representative is not from the USA (you can always ask if you are not sure about the accent), please, very politely (this is not about trashing other cultures) say, "I'd like to speak to a customer service representative in the United States of America." The rep might suggest talking to his/her manager, but, again, politely say, "Thank you, but I'd like to speak to a customer service representative in the USA ." YOU WILL BE IMMEDIATELY CONNECTED TO A REP IN THE USA . That's the rule and the LAW. Hope this helps Pikeslayeer8, the above info is taken from an email that is considered a hoax and not true by Snopes. Here is a link to the Snopes website. http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/servicerep.asp Tom
Pikeslayer8 Posted October 30, 2011 Report Posted October 30, 2011 Pikeslayeer8, the above info is taken from an email that is considered a hoax and not true by Snopes. Here is a link to the Snopes website. http://www.snopes.co.../servicerep.asp Tom Gee thanks Tom My bad, sorry Cliff for that extra call I wish it were true as dealing overseas is
vance Posted October 30, 2011 Report Posted October 30, 2011 Tell them you speak french canadian then you are sure to get some one in canada. vance
DRIFTER_016 Posted October 30, 2011 Report Posted October 30, 2011 Tell them you speak french canadian then you are sure to get some one in canada. vance Or someone speaking broken French with an Indian accent.
cram Posted October 30, 2011 Report Posted October 30, 2011 Cliff - does your credit card show a transaction? Did they charge you and aren't delivering????
Big Cliff Posted October 31, 2011 Author Report Posted October 31, 2011 Cliff - does your credit card show a transaction? Did they charge you and aren't delivering???? No, it hasn't gone through on our credit card, if it had, then I would consider it proof that they had received the order.
cram Posted October 31, 2011 Report Posted October 31, 2011 No, it hasn't gone through on our credit card, if it had, then I would consider it proof that they had received the order. I get an email receipt from them every time I order a book. When you combine that with no credit card transaction, and CSRs who can't find your order......i'd say it just never went through.
Big Cliff Posted October 31, 2011 Author Report Posted October 31, 2011 Oh it just keeps getting better, I called head office this morning in Toronto, all I could get was a voice mail so I left a message outlining the situation and my number and asked for someone to call me back. That was 4 hours ago and still no call back. Nice to see a Canadian company that cares so much about their customers! I can tell you one thing, Sue will be getting a new Ereader for Christmas and it won't be a Kobo!
Pikeslayer8 Posted November 1, 2011 Report Posted November 1, 2011 BIG CLIFF, I really felt bad about the bad information I gave you earlier. Thanks again Tom for letting me know. Class act! I have a Kindle that I got for X-mas last year. Within 2 weeks, I broke it(had it in my coat pocket and broke open the seal) When I called customer service and told them how I broke it and I was being completely honest. Told them it was my incompetence and I need a replacement. 79.99$ for my 2nd one. It was this point when I ordered my lit case. This I love, has a pull out light for reading in the dark so not to disturb.
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