Sunday, October 12, 2014

My Kobo purchase...is not a success

[Cross-posted from BookLikes]

So I just bought my very first book from Kobo. I used Dear Author's tips for making sure I knew what I was downloading. DRM-free EPUB, great! I bought it, downloaded it, checked it out in Calibre, and...it was not the right book.

What I was trying to buy was Silently and Very Fast by Catherynne M. Valente, one of the works I learned about while constructing my "Sci Fi/Fantasy Written by Women" list [located on BookLikes, and currently containing over 170 books]. It has an AI in it and sounds fabulous. What I actually got was Myths of Origin by Catherynne M. Valente. Right author, wrong title.

I've contacted Kobo's customer service, but I'm a little confused about what happens next, since the form I filled out directed me to a page instructing me to call between 9 AM and 9 PM from Sunday to Saturday (does that mean seven days a week?). I thought the point of filling out a form was that I wouldn't have to call, and would simply be emailed when the problem was fixed. I'm a little confused.

As a first Kobo shopping experience, I can say I was not impressed.

2 comments:

  1. Interesting. My Canadian friends swear by Kobo, but I never heard of anyone getting the wrong book on Kindle or Nook. And making you fill out a form to find out the phone number seems like discouraging the customer rather than helping. What country are you in?

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    1. I'm in the US. They did eventually contact me by email several days later.They said it's a publisher error and they can't give me the correct book, which is very odd considering the ebook I wanted (Silently and Very Fast) is still listed on their site as though it's available, while the ebook I received (Myths of Origin) isn't listed at all. I can at least get a refund, although it feels weird since I did receive an ebook, just not the right one.

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