When I contacted BooksOnBoard and explained what had happened, I was told they were creating an Accidental Damage Plan for their customers who were in my situation – which they obviously did not have to do. They allowed me to purchase the plan retroactively (again… something they didn’t have to do). For the price of purchasing the Accidental Damage Plan, the deductible and the cost of shipping my damaged Cybook to BooksOnBoard I have a new Cybook (the one I broke had to be replaced).

The BooksOnBoard staff who originally responded to my request stayed in contact with me throughout the process with updates and answers to my questions. I have never received better customer service from any company/business and highly recommend BooksOnBoard to others.

Now I have my Cybook again and am enjoying it wherever I go.

(1) BooksOnBoard does, in fact, accept opened product back as a return in spite of Jacob’s unfounded claim to the contrary. There is a 7 day refund policy, but it is very flexible in consideration of customer concerns. Had Jacob’s product arrived in our offices defective, we would certainly have entertained giving him a refund, but he still had not sent it 37 days after receiving it.
(2) BooksOnBoard tried to get the product back from Jacob to evaluate for repair, replacement or refund, but he insisted that BooksOnBoard not only pay the return shipment – which almost no retailer does – but on paying import duties from Israel where Jacob had traveled from Florida with the Cybook before “discovering” it was broken almost a month after receiving it.
(3) Jacob also insisted on a refund without returning the product and when told that could not be considered without BooksOnBoard or Bookeen seeing the product, he filed an action for a full refund through PayPal on April 22nd – seeking another way to get money back while still holding the product.
(4) Late on April 22, Jacob requested a refund – 34 days after first receiving the product – outside even the most generous electronics return policies. BooksOnBoard responded with the following: “Thank you for contacting us regarding the warranty return of your Bookeen Cybook. BooksOnBoard is happy to receive the return of your Cybook device and submit it to Bookeen Paris for evaluation of whether the necessary repairs are covered by the Bookeen Standard Warranty for their product. Our support staff has received forwarded emails from you that Bookeen has already communicated to you that they are willing to take shipment. We are the authorized Bookeen Cybook dealer for the United States and Canada. We do not ship Bookeen Cybook to additional international locations and therefore cannot assume liability for import tariffs which may be incurred by customers who transport the device outside of the United States. Again, BooksOnBoard is happy to receive and return your Bookeen Cybook for repairs under the conditions stated in our returns policy. We will happily pay return postage to ship the repaired Cybook to any U.S. or Canadian address. However, we do not offer refunds on Bookeen Cybook for situations that are covered by their product warranty.”
(5) On April 23rd, Jacob responded to the above: “So effectively you are telling me that you won’t help… As I am sure you understand, your suggested solution doesn’t solve my problem – I am abroad, not in the US, so how exactly does your solution help?”
(6) On April 24, BooksOnBoard, consistent with prior correspondence, wrote to Jacob: “We encourage you to return your unit either to Paris or to us… Once the unit has been seen and evaluated by Bookeen, we will all have more complete data to review options for resolution.”
(7) After persuading Jacob to return the device to Bookeen in Paris, Bookeen wrote Jacob on April 24: “Dear Sir, Here is the Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) procedure to follow. Please note that our team will do its best to replace your device as soon as we receive it.”

It is clear from the correspondence that both repair and replacement were never ruled out by either BooksOnBoard or Bookeen, even 37 days after Jacob first received the product. Instead, when the product finally arrived for evaluation in Paris, it turned out to have a smashed screen, having the clear characteristics of accident or mishandling since Jacob first received it, possibly in his travels between the US and Israel. (While Jacob gave us a Florida address for shipping, we subsequently learned his phone number is in Israel and that he transported the product there with him before requesting support for the first time 24 days after receiving the product. ) Nowhere in his prior correspondence does Jacob mention a problem with the screen, instead referring to an issue with the buttons. Of approximately 300 Cybooks shipped by BooksOnBoard, only 3 have had screen issues: one was covered by the optional BooksOnBoard Accidental Damage policy; in another case, the customer acknowledged inadvertently crushing it; and the third is Jacob’s.

BooksOnBoard has over 1,500 customer testimonials in the last 18 months. Jacob’s is an unusual case and we’re sorry it came down to his angry blogs and emails. We remain available to help Jacob, possibly doing something through our Accidental Damage Policy, but he has chosen instead to rage though email and blogs, foreclosing options for us to do the kinds of extraordinary things we try to do to help customers.
We hope that consumers will review the above data and judge the facts for themselves. We remain committed to outstanding customer service and fairness. When customers work with us, we work with them, going out of our way 7 days a week to help through our email support.

Bests,

–tr