Switch And Bait

 I've had a Kobo Mini ereader for years, I use it almost every day and it's one of my favorite toys. It's really, really tiny so it fits in my purse, pocket, etc... But due to it's constant use I've noticed the battery is starting to tire. Now, Kobo stopped producing the Mini a few years ago (it doesn't hold a lot of books) and I had given up hope. But a week or so ago they were having a 3 day sale ONLY, it was an updated version with a sleep cover, not badly priced either. I ordered it straight off of course and began to wait for the alloted 7 to 10 business days to be over. The other day I got a weird email apologizing for a order error that was caused by their shipping  software, I would not be getting the grey cover but a ruby silicon back. They would discount me $10 back if I took it - I thought about it and emailed back no, I wanted what I ordered. I got another email that they had recieved my "request for assistance" and would contact me when they knew something.

 That was just weird.

I emailed them again that I wanted what I had ordered and got another email stating they got my request for assistance - and they had refunded my money in full - emailed again stating I just wanted what I ordered. I got my Kobo the next day and not only was it the wrong cover, but there was a bunch of stuff blacked out on the back of the box. The Kobo itself was not white, but black and looked nothing like the one on the website. I went back to the internet and found an article about this - apparently EVERYONE got the ruby silicon cover. Because there were never any grey covers. The reason being was these were 3 year old Kobo Mini.... demos. The ones they use as displays I think when you go to the store. Which was what was blacked out on the back of the boxes - Kobo is doing frantic damage control and are still claiming it was some weird sort of error. But really? How do you "accidently" black the word Demo out on  every item you send out? Or accidently send out an entirely different cover and then admit the one you had promoted doesn't even exist? So, am I mad? Nope! Because in a novel effort to avoid lawsuits, reporting and disgruntled book worms (seriously - you're going to piss off an entire legion of science fiction fans - we're not right in the head to start with!) Kobo sent everyone that ordered a mini a letter that a) stated I would be getting a full refund including shipping costs and b) keep the Mini for free! Because you can't sue for a free item, can you? So, I have my money and my Kobo, sort of like having your cake and eating it too, isn't it?