On 21 Sep 2012 at 9:31pm lovely lady wrote:
i bought a kobo in whsmith and it is awful it does not provide me with the service i require, i returned it to whsmith to make enquiries how i could get a refund
i was told i had to send it back to the manufactors for repair
i even rang head office in canada who told me to take it back to the shop
why wont they listen in lewes i dont want the rubbidh kobo i want a refund not another kobo
On 21 Sep 2012 at 9:52pm Southover Queen wrote:
Hi Lovely Lady
When you bought the Kobo, did you specify certain things that the Kobo must do? Did you, for instance, say that you wanted to be able to download books from the internet, or that it should behave like a tablet computer? If you did tell the vendor that it had to perform certain functions which it now turns out it can't do, then you can insist on a refund under the Sale of Goods Act 1979. The key is that it can't do what you told the seller you wanted it to do.
It does depend a bit on how long ago you made the purchase and whether you tried to return the goods in a timely fashion. Whatever the case though, I'm fairly certain that your contract is with the shop and not the manufacturer, even if it's developed a fault, and it's up to them to resolve the matter.
On 21 Sep 2012 at 10:05pm lovely lady wrote:
southover queen ty for your reply
we explained in the shop all what we wanted the kobo to do?
it cost us between £4 to £6 for to download books all of the books they said that was free turned out to be pure rubbish
i have been going back and forward for at least 6months to the shop
but they still refuse to help
i went to uckfield branch and they offered to refund my money but on that day i did not have the kobo with me
i want to sort this out and i am feeling really pixxxx off now
On 21 Sep 2012 at 10:50pm Southover Queen wrote:
Well, the most important thing is that the responsibility for sorting out your problems (and from the sound of it refunding you the cost of the machine) lies with the shop not the manufacturer. If they're telling you something else they're giving you the runaround.
Who are you talking to in the local WH Smiths? Are you talking to the shop manager? Don't be fobbed off: talk to him or her. Point out to him/her that the contract of sale is between you and the vendor, not the manufacturer, and that the item does not meet your expectations. It's important that you made it clear to the vendor when you bought it that it must do certain things which it turns out it can't do after all - that's your case under the Sale of Goods Act. Also I think it's important that the Uckfield store offered you your money back.
I'm not a lawyer, but that's the argument I'd use. I think if you've been messed around so much, your best bet is to go to the Citizens Advice Bureau and ask them to help. Good luck!
On 22 Sep 2012 at 7:34am Clifford wrote:
Southover Queen is correct on consumer law. Never, ever let a shop get away with telling you to deal directly with the manufacturer. The contract is between the customer and the shop.
Lovely Lady - print the page on this link off and take it with you to the shop.
Check it out here »
On 22 Sep 2012 at 9:09am TDA wrote:
What is a kobo?
On 22 Sep 2012 at 9:10am king cnut wrote:
I bought a kobo and consider it far superior to the kindle simply because of the wider choice of books available. Make sure you have the latest firmware (v2 I think) as this is a big improvement. Also, use the free Calibri software, you'll be amazed at what is free to download and if you read a lot of web pages then use Instapaper to copy them to your Kobo. Not only that but a Google search will show you thousands of free (legal) books to read.
It took awhile to get used to tapping to turn a page (I have Kobo Touch). My only complaint is the price of ebooks, whether its Kindle or Kobo, is very expensive but you can get free promotions (amazon do this).
Also, Kobo has a very basic internet connection if you are desperate and soduko, all in experimental stage.
On 22 Sep 2012 at 10:27am Sussex Jim wrote:
I think the lesson to learn from this episode is to buy anything complex or unfamiliar from a specialist shop,preferably local. You may have to pay slightly more, but it is worth it to have someone knowledgeable to deal with.
I bought a television from C***t, and when it failed (under guarantee) I spent half an hour with a call centre to book a technician who failed to turn up, resulting in another half hour at premium rate on the phone, and loss of TV for a week. It was eventually replaced with a new one from a local independent supplier who answers his phone immediately and can visit the same or next day.
On 22 Sep 2012 at 2:15pm lovely lady wrote:
thank you all for your messages i certainly will take alll information with me and try again
On 22 Sep 2012 at 2:22pm Southover Queen wrote:
Good luck, Lovely Lady!
One last thing: you can get ebooks for nothing from the library, and you can even download them from the internet. Maybe you'll fall in love with your Kobo after all! (I have a Kindle which I love, but I was annoyed to discover that I can't read ebooks on it - I use my iPad for that now)
On 23 Sep 2012 at 7:48am Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
I was given a Kindle for my birthday and I was rather surprised by the price of downloads. Some were £5 or £6 when the book itself was only £3.99 in some shops. I'm sure the downloads were cheaper when they first came out.
It will still be invaluable for saving space when travelling, and I like the idea of being able to get hold of something I want to read almost instantly, but I can't see myself giving up paper books entirely.
On 23 Sep 2012 at 12:39pm Southover Queen wrote:
ACT, I agree that the price seems high when much of the cost of a book must lie in typesetting, printing and distributing a physical book. I've got into the habit of keeping an eye on Amazon's kindle store and picking up stuff on special offer - you can often get top class authors/titles for a quid or two. (I got Tom Paine's complete works for about £1 a few weeks back!)
What I miss is being able to pass on a book I've really enjoyed to someone else, which of course you can't do with a Kindle book. I don't tend to reread books, so I'd be quite happy to pass on the electronic file and licence to others, and indeed pay a small fee to do so, but at the moment it doesn't seem to be an option.
On 23 Sep 2012 at 12:49pm Wife Of Bath wrote:
Yes some electric books are rather expensive however I have got into downloading free books from Apple Store (iPad and iPhone) This has been great as I've started working my way thru lots of classics! I've just read RLS's Treasure Island (jim lad!) and Kidnapped. Books I've not read since I was a child.
On 23 Sep 2012 at 11:16pm grafterb wrote:
I have kindle on my phone which is fine,can't see the point of buying another one. Also I download free audiobooks from the library to listen to while I work. A lot less annoying than Radio 4. I have worked my way through most of the 100 or so that I am remotely interested in though. I agree that the best kindle books are the free classics. Basically they are better than almost anything being published today so why bother to pay.For modern books I tend to download a free sample on kindle and if I think it is interesting then order it from the library for 60p. I am amazed that people still spend £8.99 or more on a book they could read for nothing.
On 24 Sep 2012 at 8:24am king cnut wrote:
Or you could try Project Gutenburg, over 40,000 classic books for free download. Should add that Kobo can be installed on many devices and books shared across these.
For cheap 'real' books try AbeBooks. Happy reading!
On 24 Sep 2012 at 1:45pm Pete wrote:
Isn't a Kobo like a Kindle, only it's for tramps ?
On 26 Sep 2012 at 10:49am Cllr Ashley Price wrote:
I have a Kobo (yes it is like the Kindle & gets very good reviews on the internet) and have been very happy with it.
Yes there are a lot of rubbish free books but you can find classics like Dickens, Jane Austin, the Brontes, etc., for free (not just from the Kobo/WH Smith website, however, look for the Gutenburg website (link below)).
The prices for downloading most books, however, are often significantly cheaper than their paper counterparts.
Check it out here »