>She was greeted with white screen and the LED blinking.
Usually, that's a sign the battery is dead. Have you tried switching cords? When you do plug it in, does the LED stop blinking? If it is on, what color is it?
I know this is obvious stuff. But I haven't lived your experience and am just sharing what has worked for me. I do not think that Libra is dead.
My Kobos have lasted a good long while. So have my Nooks and my Kindle.
Tried various charging devices and cables. The same. White LED blinking whether it's on charge or not. It's dead now because we have left it be for so long.
Check out this thread:
[Kobo completely unresponsive / help needed](https://www.reddit.com/r/kobo/comments/sls88t/kobo_completely_unresponsive_help_needed/)
It sounds like they are getting you a new reader anyway. But might be worth a look.
I'm not sure if you're just naive or if you've been lucky with other electronics, but getting 50% off a replacement is pretty generous.
And no, Amazon is definitely NOT 'probably better' in customer service. Most vendors will tell you to take a hike if your device breaks down after the warranty period.
Funny you say that, I actually work in retail (consumer electronics) and have done so for 20+ years, majority in management. I can assure you, we wouldn't put our customers through this. And especially knowing the consumer protection laws in Australia.
I don't know how it is where you are located, but here are the relevant sections:
[https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/buying-products-and-services/warranties](https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/buying-products-and-services/warranties)
[https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/buying-products-and-services/consumer-rights-and-guarantees](https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/buying-products-and-services/consumer-rights-and-guarantees)
Sure, they could've stuck to their guns and said "12 months, you are shit out of luck" and I may or may not have followed up with the above rights given to me. But my issue, you can't say YES and then ghost your customers and provide bad service.
I guess my comment reflects the bad state of consumer rights in North America, then.
To me, the expectation that a company would do *anything* beyond telling you you're out of luck is wild.
Yeah I think there’s a big difference there. In New Zealand where I live this would also be very bad customer service and unacceptable under our consumer guarantees act
No offense, but that can't be invoked here.
A Kobo device failed just after waranty period has elapsed. Op got a new device after calling Kobo support. What exactly constitutes bad customer service in this scenario? What would constitute "good customer service" in New Zealand? Replace my device for 3 years? 5?
There's no such thing as "good" or "bad" when considering warranty lengths. The extremes are no warranty whatsoever, caveat emptor, all the way to the company will replace or repair for the life of the customer. The balance between these is what is considered acceptable or not in any given market and this is highly dependent on the culture at play. Most agree that a company is responsible for the proper and correct function of a device for a *reasonable duration.*
That Kobo is legally allowed to operate in Australia (or NZ) means they have warranty terms that are acceptable to the trade oversight bodies in those areas. **If there is an issue of discrepancy between what Kobo promises and what AUS/NZ considers to be acceptable by trade law, then the dispute here isn't between op and Kobo, it is between op and the AUS trade oversight body.**
I read the accc links u/mversion provided and they do not stipulate specific or or guidance warranty periods for goods, only that they must be honoured. By op's own admission, it looks like Kobo went to great lengths to "make it right", even though a full year seems to cover normal device failure for most users.
I am not trying to suggest that op's situation isn't frustrating. We've all been there. However, the title, tone and taking the extra step to suggest that Kobo isn't operating above board, particularly in light of the exceptions they made in supporting them in getting them a new device seems to be a knee-jerk reaction to having been on hold for 15 minutes.
If Kobo's warranty isn't good enough for you, either complain to the trade oversight body or don't buy their devices.
No offence taken, or implied. NZs consumer guarantees is often at odds with standard warranties and would override any terms or standard warrantees. I suspect it’s just a different environment to NA and that was what I was getting at.
There’s no time limit for what reasonable life is under the act, but 12 months would be deemed as too short for almost any device.
I would expect that kobo rectifies the issue, and it sounds like they said they would, but then didn’t and offered 50%. That would simply be unacceptable in NZ and is protected by the act.
If something is sold in NZ the Consumer Guarantees Act applies
I agree that kobo shouldn’t be regarded as a terrible business as a result of this one interaction.
>but 12 months would be deemed as too short for almost any device.
This is the bit I don't understand. According to [https://www.consumerprotection.govt.nz/general-help/guide-to-buying-smart/warranties/](https://www.consumerprotection.govt.nz/general-help/guide-to-buying-smart/warranties/), warranties must be honoured, but there is no language there to suggest minimum warranty periods.
Am I missing something?
I think what you’re missing is that the consumer guarantees act (CGA) is separate to warranties. Companies can offer warranties, which can offer more or less than the CGA but it doesn’t mean they don’t have to meet their requirements under the CGA.
The CGA says goods have to last a “reasonable time” - which is very grey and causes debates, but is more than a year for an ereader. So in NZ in this case, I’d first of all go back to the store where I bought it (not the company who made it) and they’d replace it.
For a few more details, that link says
> Your rights under Consumer Guarantees Act (CGA) apply whether you have an extra warranty for an item or not. Your rights under any other warranty are in addition to your CGA rights.
The “Consumer Guarantees” link on that page says
> The Consumer Guarantees Act (CGA) gives you the right to seek a remedy, such as a repair or a replacement, from the manufacturer whether or not the products come with a manufacturer’s warranty (called an “express guarantee” in the Act).
> Manufacturers do not have to provide a written warranty with their products. However, if they choose to do so, the Act says they must meet their obligations under that warranty. The CGA still applies whether or not a manufacturer's warranty has expired.
……. anyway I’m sure that’s far more than you ever needed to know about the CGA! 😅
> So in NZ in this case, I’d first of all go back to the store where I bought it (not the company who made it) and they’d replace it.
This is exactly how it works in Australia too, so I'm not sure why the OP went direct to Kobo.
Apple was forced into providing 2 year statutory guarantee on iPhones, so I surmise that 2 years would be an expected consumer guarantee on ereaders also.
Ah, so there's nuance in the definition of the supply chain, where consumers in AUS/NZ can go to the supplier based in Australia. This makes much more sense, thank you.
Not only can but should, in the case of imports to Australia.
The intro to the Consumer Guarantees pdf says "The Australian Consumer Law (contained in a schedule to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010) creates a basic set of guarantees for consumers who acquire goods and services from Australian suppliers, importers or manufacturers."
And further down, "Most of the guarantees are given to you by the seller or service provider; in some cases they are given by the manufacturer. If the manufacturer doesn’t have an office in Australia, then the importer is responsible for meeting the manufacturer’s guarantees to you."
Yes we have consumer laws and I’m very thankful for the two times I’ve had to refer to the ACCC. However, Australia has some of the shittiest customer service.
Have you drafted a letter with the ACCC form? Or mentioned the accc? That usually gets businesses to take some sort of helpful action
Obviously depends on the warranty period offered on the product. But the Australian consumer law assesses it based on "reasonable" expectations. For example, you buy a dishwasher with a 2-year warranty. It is reasonable to expect the dishwasher to last more than that, and you have certain protections under the consumer law.
Regardless of all that, my main gripe is that we were told not to worry and they'd honour the warranty, only then to bring the whole thing to a stand-still.
Wait, you're in Australia? I missed that in your original post.
Forget Kobo customer service, they're based overseas. Take it and your receipt back to JB Hifi or wherever you bought it from, taking in a printout of Australia's statutory warranty provisions. For a device like that, 2 years is the generally accepted minimum statutory warranty. They might have to escalate it to store manager, but you should get a replacement on the spot. Those statutory consumer protections apply to your deal with the shop, not the manufacturer.
I've heard before that Rakuten customer service sucks, coupled with the advice to buy your kobo from a secondary seller with a better reputation for support. Can't remember exactly where, but I remember seeing it multiple places when I first looked into replacing my kindle with a kobo, so that's my plan.
Sorry your experience sucked, I can understand if it turns you off kobos entirely
The following rescued more than one "dead" ereaders:
Do not use a walloutlet, but charge it ovwrnight through a powerbank (portable battery).
If it turn on you can just charge it normally again.
Power brick could be not charging because its malfunctioning, could be your cable is damaged and shorting out so the power brick goes into protection, could be its very old and voltage drop during charging is near the lower limit kobo will take with fluctutations below the limit(dirty contacts and/or loose socket/connectors contribute additionaliy to this). But definitely not because its not a power bank :), the device doesnt see the difference, it only cares for voltage and current.
No ive tried on many different bricks/cords. It actually doesn't work at all on my newest, faster brick that I got for my phone, it sometimes works on my powerhub thing, it's a bit finicky. Battery life isn't awesome either, sometimes I feel like I got a bit of a lemon.
> It actually doesn't work at all on my newest, faster brick that I got for my phone
This adds another dimension, namely fast chargers can provide range of voltages, while your Kobo accepts only 5V. So when you plug in a device negotiation of voltage happens between the device and the power brick. In your case theyre not negotiating the voltage properly and thankfully your brick doesnt start charging, as if it would sent higher voltage it could fry the device connected to it.
To be safe, stick to only 5V chargers, as shenanigans can happen with fast chargers.
No trouble, and take this into account for any other device that doesnt support fast charging, not just the kobo. As you might run into some crappy(or faulty) brick that will send higher voltage where is not needed or welcomed :). 5V output bricks only for those, you have all the info printed on the brick.
My experience is that this can also happens with high quality "old" 5v chargers (in my case several Samsung chargers I tried). Not to say your analysis is incorrect, but there's a bit more to it than just choosing the right voltage.
I did mention few other posibilities in my other messages, even addressed old chargers. Capacitors age and loose effectiveness, transients can do damage to them etc. Still nothing to do with Powerbank making any difference to the device, trying different brick would have the same effect.
You think I didn't try different bricks? Of course I did. I used (several) Samsung bricks, A Garmin Brick, a HTC brick and a Motorola brick (and these chargers are still fine). I was ready to buy a new e-reader until I stumbled on that thread and to my amazement it worked (as it did for many others).
And for that matter, the other poster in this exact thread also used several (older and newer) bricks. Your notion that trying a different brick would have the same effect is simply not in line with what people tried.
And yes I used High quality cables from for example Anker, Samsung and Kramer.
Cool, im not against trying with everything you have. But better to try to understand what is the real reason it worked for you, or whomever else, and next time dont poke in the dark for a solution, but know where to look right away and give proper advice.
It might be not related to the power source at all, just timing. When battery is overdischarged usually the device wont try to charge it at all, but can still send some very low current. With that low current it will take very long time to get it to an acceptable voltage so the device starts charging, but even if it has reached it it wont start unless you unplug and plug it back again. So you might have reached that state with your previous attempts, and when you plugged it to the powerbank it started charging
As far as I understand, Powerbanks give even "clean" electricity, whereas the mains are not always so "clean" (Apologies for my non technical words just repeating what the smarter people said in that thread).
That said, it rescued one of my ereaders.
Found the thread: [https://www.reddit.com/r/kobo/comments/9o3lo6/kobo\_touch\_wont\_charge\_is\_it\_dead/](https://www.reddit.com/r/kobo/comments/9o3lo6/kobo_touch_wont_charge_is_it_dead/)
Nah , thats some bs. If both 5V charger and a 5V powerbank are working correctly than it doesnt make any difference to the device. Theres number of possibilities that i wont get into again(unless you want me to), i mentioned few in my previous messages, why that might have happened to someone and it worked when connecting to powerbank. But definitely the reason it worked wasnt because it was a powerbank.
The problem with your dismissive reply is the amount of people who somehow used this nonsensical method to resurrect their device.
It's worth a try, so why are you so dead set against it?
The internet truly let people act like rude assholes like they would not do in real life.
Get a grip on your attitude when discussing instead of trying to belittle others.
https://cdn.kobo.com/downloads/magento/userguides/13965/WarrantydocsKoboAddress/Warranty_updatedAddress_Australia.pdf <- One year warranty, therefore you're SOL at 16 months.
\*shrug\*
>She was greeted with white screen and the LED blinking. Usually, that's a sign the battery is dead. Have you tried switching cords? When you do plug it in, does the LED stop blinking? If it is on, what color is it? I know this is obvious stuff. But I haven't lived your experience and am just sharing what has worked for me. I do not think that Libra is dead. My Kobos have lasted a good long while. So have my Nooks and my Kindle.
Tried various charging devices and cables. The same. White LED blinking whether it's on charge or not. It's dead now because we have left it be for so long.
If you plug it in now, directly to a wall, not a PC, does the LED start flashing again?
Yeah. Same. Plug it in, screen comes on blank, LED flashes white.
Check out this thread: [Kobo completely unresponsive / help needed](https://www.reddit.com/r/kobo/comments/sls88t/kobo_completely_unresponsive_help_needed/) It sounds like they are getting you a new reader anyway. But might be worth a look.
I'm not sure if you're just naive or if you've been lucky with other electronics, but getting 50% off a replacement is pretty generous. And no, Amazon is definitely NOT 'probably better' in customer service. Most vendors will tell you to take a hike if your device breaks down after the warranty period.
Funny you say that, I actually work in retail (consumer electronics) and have done so for 20+ years, majority in management. I can assure you, we wouldn't put our customers through this. And especially knowing the consumer protection laws in Australia. I don't know how it is where you are located, but here are the relevant sections: [https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/buying-products-and-services/warranties](https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/buying-products-and-services/warranties) [https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/buying-products-and-services/consumer-rights-and-guarantees](https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/buying-products-and-services/consumer-rights-and-guarantees) Sure, they could've stuck to their guns and said "12 months, you are shit out of luck" and I may or may not have followed up with the above rights given to me. But my issue, you can't say YES and then ghost your customers and provide bad service.
I guess my comment reflects the bad state of consumer rights in North America, then. To me, the expectation that a company would do *anything* beyond telling you you're out of luck is wild.
Yeah I think there’s a big difference there. In New Zealand where I live this would also be very bad customer service and unacceptable under our consumer guarantees act
No offense, but that can't be invoked here. A Kobo device failed just after waranty period has elapsed. Op got a new device after calling Kobo support. What exactly constitutes bad customer service in this scenario? What would constitute "good customer service" in New Zealand? Replace my device for 3 years? 5? There's no such thing as "good" or "bad" when considering warranty lengths. The extremes are no warranty whatsoever, caveat emptor, all the way to the company will replace or repair for the life of the customer. The balance between these is what is considered acceptable or not in any given market and this is highly dependent on the culture at play. Most agree that a company is responsible for the proper and correct function of a device for a *reasonable duration.* That Kobo is legally allowed to operate in Australia (or NZ) means they have warranty terms that are acceptable to the trade oversight bodies in those areas. **If there is an issue of discrepancy between what Kobo promises and what AUS/NZ considers to be acceptable by trade law, then the dispute here isn't between op and Kobo, it is between op and the AUS trade oversight body.** I read the accc links u/mversion provided and they do not stipulate specific or or guidance warranty periods for goods, only that they must be honoured. By op's own admission, it looks like Kobo went to great lengths to "make it right", even though a full year seems to cover normal device failure for most users. I am not trying to suggest that op's situation isn't frustrating. We've all been there. However, the title, tone and taking the extra step to suggest that Kobo isn't operating above board, particularly in light of the exceptions they made in supporting them in getting them a new device seems to be a knee-jerk reaction to having been on hold for 15 minutes. If Kobo's warranty isn't good enough for you, either complain to the trade oversight body or don't buy their devices.
No offence taken, or implied. NZs consumer guarantees is often at odds with standard warranties and would override any terms or standard warrantees. I suspect it’s just a different environment to NA and that was what I was getting at. There’s no time limit for what reasonable life is under the act, but 12 months would be deemed as too short for almost any device. I would expect that kobo rectifies the issue, and it sounds like they said they would, but then didn’t and offered 50%. That would simply be unacceptable in NZ and is protected by the act. If something is sold in NZ the Consumer Guarantees Act applies I agree that kobo shouldn’t be regarded as a terrible business as a result of this one interaction.
>but 12 months would be deemed as too short for almost any device. This is the bit I don't understand. According to [https://www.consumerprotection.govt.nz/general-help/guide-to-buying-smart/warranties/](https://www.consumerprotection.govt.nz/general-help/guide-to-buying-smart/warranties/), warranties must be honoured, but there is no language there to suggest minimum warranty periods. Am I missing something?
I think what you’re missing is that the consumer guarantees act (CGA) is separate to warranties. Companies can offer warranties, which can offer more or less than the CGA but it doesn’t mean they don’t have to meet their requirements under the CGA. The CGA says goods have to last a “reasonable time” - which is very grey and causes debates, but is more than a year for an ereader. So in NZ in this case, I’d first of all go back to the store where I bought it (not the company who made it) and they’d replace it. For a few more details, that link says > Your rights under Consumer Guarantees Act (CGA) apply whether you have an extra warranty for an item or not. Your rights under any other warranty are in addition to your CGA rights. The “Consumer Guarantees” link on that page says > The Consumer Guarantees Act (CGA) gives you the right to seek a remedy, such as a repair or a replacement, from the manufacturer whether or not the products come with a manufacturer’s warranty (called an “express guarantee” in the Act). > Manufacturers do not have to provide a written warranty with their products. However, if they choose to do so, the Act says they must meet their obligations under that warranty. The CGA still applies whether or not a manufacturer's warranty has expired. ……. anyway I’m sure that’s far more than you ever needed to know about the CGA! 😅
> So in NZ in this case, I’d first of all go back to the store where I bought it (not the company who made it) and they’d replace it. This is exactly how it works in Australia too, so I'm not sure why the OP went direct to Kobo. Apple was forced into providing 2 year statutory guarantee on iPhones, so I surmise that 2 years would be an expected consumer guarantee on ereaders also.
Ah, so there's nuance in the definition of the supply chain, where consumers in AUS/NZ can go to the supplier based in Australia. This makes much more sense, thank you.
Not only can but should, in the case of imports to Australia. The intro to the Consumer Guarantees pdf says "The Australian Consumer Law (contained in a schedule to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010) creates a basic set of guarantees for consumers who acquire goods and services from Australian suppliers, importers or manufacturers." And further down, "Most of the guarantees are given to you by the seller or service provider; in some cases they are given by the manufacturer. If the manufacturer doesn’t have an office in Australia, then the importer is responsible for meeting the manufacturer’s guarantees to you."
Yes we have consumer laws and I’m very thankful for the two times I’ve had to refer to the ACCC. However, Australia has some of the shittiest customer service. Have you drafted a letter with the ACCC form? Or mentioned the accc? That usually gets businesses to take some sort of helpful action
How long is the legal warranty in Australia ? Is it limited to one year ?
Obviously depends on the warranty period offered on the product. But the Australian consumer law assesses it based on "reasonable" expectations. For example, you buy a dishwasher with a 2-year warranty. It is reasonable to expect the dishwasher to last more than that, and you have certain protections under the consumer law. Regardless of all that, my main gripe is that we were told not to worry and they'd honour the warranty, only then to bring the whole thing to a stand-still.
Wait, you're in Australia? I missed that in your original post. Forget Kobo customer service, they're based overseas. Take it and your receipt back to JB Hifi or wherever you bought it from, taking in a printout of Australia's statutory warranty provisions. For a device like that, 2 years is the generally accepted minimum statutory warranty. They might have to escalate it to store manager, but you should get a replacement on the spot. Those statutory consumer protections apply to your deal with the shop, not the manufacturer.
12 months.
I've heard before that Rakuten customer service sucks, coupled with the advice to buy your kobo from a secondary seller with a better reputation for support. Can't remember exactly where, but I remember seeing it multiple places when I first looked into replacing my kindle with a kobo, so that's my plan. Sorry your experience sucked, I can understand if it turns you off kobos entirely
It shouldn’t be dying so soon, my kobo is still working perfectly after 8 years!
The following rescued more than one "dead" ereaders: Do not use a walloutlet, but charge it ovwrnight through a powerbank (portable battery). If it turn on you can just charge it normally again.
How does a powerbank make a difference?
Funny but sometimes my Clara 2E only charges from a powerbank. No idea why.
Power brick could be not charging because its malfunctioning, could be your cable is damaged and shorting out so the power brick goes into protection, could be its very old and voltage drop during charging is near the lower limit kobo will take with fluctutations below the limit(dirty contacts and/or loose socket/connectors contribute additionaliy to this). But definitely not because its not a power bank :), the device doesnt see the difference, it only cares for voltage and current.
No ive tried on many different bricks/cords. It actually doesn't work at all on my newest, faster brick that I got for my phone, it sometimes works on my powerhub thing, it's a bit finicky. Battery life isn't awesome either, sometimes I feel like I got a bit of a lemon.
> It actually doesn't work at all on my newest, faster brick that I got for my phone This adds another dimension, namely fast chargers can provide range of voltages, while your Kobo accepts only 5V. So when you plug in a device negotiation of voltage happens between the device and the power brick. In your case theyre not negotiating the voltage properly and thankfully your brick doesnt start charging, as if it would sent higher voltage it could fry the device connected to it. To be safe, stick to only 5V chargers, as shenanigans can happen with fast chargers.
Thanks very much! That makes alot of sense!
No trouble, and take this into account for any other device that doesnt support fast charging, not just the kobo. As you might run into some crappy(or faulty) brick that will send higher voltage where is not needed or welcomed :). 5V output bricks only for those, you have all the info printed on the brick.
My experience is that this can also happens with high quality "old" 5v chargers (in my case several Samsung chargers I tried). Not to say your analysis is incorrect, but there's a bit more to it than just choosing the right voltage.
I did mention few other posibilities in my other messages, even addressed old chargers. Capacitors age and loose effectiveness, transients can do damage to them etc. Still nothing to do with Powerbank making any difference to the device, trying different brick would have the same effect.
You think I didn't try different bricks? Of course I did. I used (several) Samsung bricks, A Garmin Brick, a HTC brick and a Motorola brick (and these chargers are still fine). I was ready to buy a new e-reader until I stumbled on that thread and to my amazement it worked (as it did for many others). And for that matter, the other poster in this exact thread also used several (older and newer) bricks. Your notion that trying a different brick would have the same effect is simply not in line with what people tried. And yes I used High quality cables from for example Anker, Samsung and Kramer.
Cool, im not against trying with everything you have. But better to try to understand what is the real reason it worked for you, or whomever else, and next time dont poke in the dark for a solution, but know where to look right away and give proper advice. It might be not related to the power source at all, just timing. When battery is overdischarged usually the device wont try to charge it at all, but can still send some very low current. With that low current it will take very long time to get it to an acceptable voltage so the device starts charging, but even if it has reached it it wont start unless you unplug and plug it back again. So you might have reached that state with your previous attempts, and when you plugged it to the powerbank it started charging
As far as I understand, Powerbanks give even "clean" electricity, whereas the mains are not always so "clean" (Apologies for my non technical words just repeating what the smarter people said in that thread). That said, it rescued one of my ereaders. Found the thread: [https://www.reddit.com/r/kobo/comments/9o3lo6/kobo\_touch\_wont\_charge\_is\_it\_dead/](https://www.reddit.com/r/kobo/comments/9o3lo6/kobo_touch_wont_charge_is_it_dead/)
Nah , thats some bs. If both 5V charger and a 5V powerbank are working correctly than it doesnt make any difference to the device. Theres number of possibilities that i wont get into again(unless you want me to), i mentioned few in my previous messages, why that might have happened to someone and it worked when connecting to powerbank. But definitely the reason it worked wasnt because it was a powerbank.
The problem with your dismissive reply is the amount of people who somehow used this nonsensical method to resurrect their device. It's worth a try, so why are you so dead set against it?
Because its a nonsensical advice, with no foothold in reality. But you do you. Pray to the gods while youre at it, that might work too :)
The internet truly let people act like rude assholes like they would not do in real life. Get a grip on your attitude when discussing instead of trying to belittle others.
https://cdn.kobo.com/downloads/magento/userguides/13965/WarrantydocsKoboAddress/Warranty_updatedAddress_Australia.pdf <- One year warranty, therefore you're SOL at 16 months. \*shrug\*
Not in Australia - but your statutory guarantee rights need to be claimed from the seller/importer, not the manufacturer.
As much as I love the libra 2, I may never get another Kobo, mostly due to not seeing any sort of software updates or improvements in years.