The Kobo E-Reader is having Lots of Problems

Kobo really, really sucks! I have a Kindle and there is no comparison. I can read a whole book on Kindle without recharging, but the Kobo is constantly running out of power – a total nusiance. I will ditch it and get another Kindle (my husband uses the other one all the time:):):)

It depends on how fast or slow you read. My Kobo lasts about a month without being recharged in which time I can read 4 or 5 books.

yes, 2 different kobos have had to go back, they looked like bar codes across the screens, the first one just across the bottom, the second one the entire screen.  then, I had one that would hold no charge whatsoever. my kobo’s are carried in a laptop bag, kept on my dresser when not in use at home, not used by kids, etc, but i was told that normally, this happens due to misuse.  AS IF. and now, they are sending me refurbished units, which I think is completely bogus, I paid for a brand new unit.

i bought my kobo a month ago and have never even read a book on it – it’s screen is completely pixelated – having bought it from borders who are now closed down – I can’t even take it back – worst buy ever

When the price went down to $60 a few weeks ago, I decided to spend my gift cards. Those plus $20 on my credit card bought me a KOBO wireless, or so I thought. When it finally came (from Borders.com) after 2 weeks, it turned out to be an original KOBO, not the wireless. I called. The customer service supervisor was apologetic, agreed to refund my gift cards and cancel my credit card charge and send me a $10 gift card in addition, for my trouble. I thought that was really decent. After I hung up, I realized that nothing had been said about returning this long discontinued item. Apparently no current wireless version was available. Where the oiginal came from was also unknown. So after waiting a couple of days, I determined that the cards had been reinstated and the credit card charge canceled. I got no call to return the item (what would they have done with it?). I had some trouble with upating the firmware, but a KOBO technician helped me with that and understanding some features and how they worked. Reading this forum and others I discovered CALIBRE and on online conversion program and ADE and even a program to remove DRM. I didn’t really need the WI-FI because I had no intention of buying any books given the intensive restrictions on “leasing” them. I had already discovered the sites offering access to downloads of almost any book imaginable in mulitiple formats. Also the KOBO wi-fi, unlike that of  KINDLE and NOOK, only goes to the KOBO books website. Otherwise it is non-functional (unless someone out there has discovered a user-friendly hack). I’ve been using the ORIGINAL KOBO EREADER for a few weeks. So far so good. To add EPUBS or PDFs you only have to drag them to the drive letter in MY COMPUTER or load them on a SD card and insert it. I’ve read a couple of PD books and some other stuff I obtained and some conversions. Haven’t tried to do a library book yet. So far so good. Thought you would find my story interesting….

I have had a horrible experience with this machine. I bought it from Borders just as they went under and was unable to replace it.
The customer service is woeful. DO NOT buy this product .

Just bought it last night and it’s going back tonight.  Soooo many problems.  The firmware that’s supposed to be on it is totally missing:  the user manual, the Windows installation files, the 100 “included” free books.  I could never get it to connect to my wifi router even though it found it after scanning.  This is a total FAIL!

I had my first kobo (the wi-fi edition) for several months with no problems at all. I have not used it for about a week and always keep it in a protective case and am super gentle with it. Today I turned it on and the screen flashed and had a spasm. It returned me to the powered off screen with grey horizontal and vertical lines running all over the bottom half of the screen. I have tried re-setting it several times with no success. I took photos and sent an email to kobo customer support. I checked the status of my request and it is still waiting to be assigned to a kobo help desk technician. To me this is outrageous!!! I sent that email early this morning and it has not even been looked at!!!! Purchased the new touch screen kobo but am worried about registering it because I don’t want to lose my current e-library. Any suggestions?

Took our Kobo back…it sucks.

I have had my Kobo for about 4 months and had no problems until last night. I went to turn it on to continue reading a book and instead of it starting up as usual, it started “Setting back to factory settings”!! Thankfully all I had to do was sync back all my ‘lost’ books, but WHY did it do that just by turning it on?! I went on Kobo’s technical site to ask this question and they wanted $30?! All I want to know is how come it happened

I want to read pdf”s on my kobo, I can not seem to increase the size of my font.  I heard that I should get a download from epub in order to be able to manipulate the downloaded pdf”s.  Where do I find that?

Phone the 1-800 number on the Kobo website. I also waited for days for an answer to my email. I called and they sent me a box for the Kobo to be returned right away. Within 10 days they had sent me a refurbished Kobo and it works great. No receipt or anything was required.

You just don’t know how to use, download, transfer e-book from the website>PC>Kobo and you blame KOBO. huh.. For me, its just as easy as pie… all my ebook is free from library unlike Kindle…mind you.. and from different website..  here’s how…
1.all my downloaded ebook goes to temporary folder…go to start>search the title>open the file location>from there drag the ebook to KOBO in ADOBE Digital Edition ..Presto.. done..
as simple as that..

There is a problem with the Kobo. The screen goes crazy with horizontal or vertical lines running through it and this has been a big problem for many Kobo readers.  I don’t want an Ipad, I loved my Kobo but I don’t know what happened to the screen.  So there may not be a downloading problem but there is definitely a problem.

I am dealling with a similar problem and have sent 3 messages to Customer Care and have yet to hear from them how to fix the problem.
Getting discouraged and will likely buy a Kindle or I pad

have had my reader for 9 months now ……i’ve loved it up until about a month ago….nothind but problems trying to sync books onto my reader,constantly having to delete and download a new desktop…..now i have grey lines all over the bottom half and the reader is now unreadable!!!

Have had my Kobo for 3 months but it has suddenly developed a line down the right side.
Is there a solution?  It doesn’t actually affect the reading.

Having the same problem, the screen was good but after packing it up and travelling with it when I turned it on it had gray lines all over the screen and was totally unreadable. Not sure what happened because I am always careful with it and there is no physical damage to see. If these units are so fragile that you can’t travel with them, isn’t that what they were made for, then Kobo has a lot of work to do in their design. I have a request into Kobo service to see what they will do for me and all I can say is they are very slow in getting back to me. I am not impressed and I would not recommend buying a Kobo ereader.

I haven’t been able to download my newspaper subscriptions since November 2nd  (today is the 10th)  customer service keeps promising to fix it, but so far, no luck.  Anybody else having this problem?

I love the Kobo touch,,have not had any problems with it, I have a good antivirus program that scans frequently, I havent noticed any bugs in the system,
I love the fact that I can download books from my public library onto it, FOR FREE and take it anywhere without alot of big books being carted around,,
As for the font size , with the touch I bring up the menu by tapping the middle of the screen and change the font size to where I want it ,,,no problems,

Thats what happend to my e reader and the lines kept spreading until you couldn’t read anything on the screen.

I can only hope that Kobo will be relegated to the dustbin of history. It is a very poor product. I’ve paid for books on their website that refuse to download properly, but the most disturbing problem is the lousy screen, crossed with black lines. Customer services, as many have pointed out, is slow and has never solved my problems. I’m leaving this piece of junk behind and going to buy a Nook color!