Posted in: Comics | Tagged: amazon, comixology, kindle

Will Amazon Give ComiXology Users A Full Refund If They Wish?

Published Thu, 17 Feb 2022 13:16:09 -0600

Another day, more ComiXology complaints to join the litany that Bleeding Cool has been reporting in recent days. Are you, like me, someone who had sought to ward off the perils of the new ComiXology App 4.0 Update, by refusing to accept any updates? I am so sorry, but already our time is up. Cisco Roque tells us "Comixology app on iOS (pre-4.0) is now forcing the update through the app. It will no longer let you access your library until the app is updated. The rolling apocalypse continues." Cornelius Stuyvesant adds "Seems like turning on airplane mode and shutting off wifi does not help either. It just sits at the loading screen. This is a total disaster for anyone traveling at the moment and wanting to read." Cisco Roque confirms, "First thing I tried. Really can't believe they were so eager to force this on the users who hadn't updated yet. It's almost a crime for them to say you can use your Comixology or Kindle app to read your books, when they're pretty much the same app now."

Twitter user Kay Weebe tried to contact ComiXology Support over one issue (no reply so far), discovering that they couldn't find Sex Criminals on the new app. "A comic that's on Comixology Unlimited can't be found through search in the new app. Also at least one of these results is just pirated manga with the pages turned sideways and split in half"

Oh dear. ComiXology reader Jonathon Standfield told me "So like most people I've lost thousands of comics in the changeover to the horrible app. I got ahold of Comixology customer service who told me that I needed to talk to Amazon customer service. Called them and explained my issue and was placed on hold for 30 minutes and then hung up on. Called back and spoke with a supervisor who after I again explained my issue told me that I had to speak with ComiXology support. I told her that I did and they told me to talk to her. At which point she told me that Comixology is not a part of Amazon so she can't help me. I explained to her that I know that was not true so she said: "Well yes it is a part of Amazon, but we have nothing to do with the new app". I again explained to her that I also know that to not be true not only is the new app based around the Kindle app, but the word Amazon shows up all over the app. At this point, the lady knew that she wasn't going to get rid of me and would just repeat that I had to talk to Comixology. SOOOOOO meanwhile I'm currently out of thousands of dollars in comic books. I just wanted to share this with you as you have been covering this problem. Been following you for years and you're the best!"

Very kind, But Bleeding Cool is not the only website covering issues. Indeed, Screen Rant's earlier article, when posted on Twitter had quite the intriguing accolade.

Stanfield did get a response today, "They said that the missing books need to be restored and they are unable to do it and I would have to get a hold of Comixology and ask them too. I bought over 3500 books from comixology, but according to the upgraded app I only own 139. So I sent a message to comixology and their response was that I had to wait a few minutes for my library to load. I responded with the fact that I've waited days and there's no sign of them. So FINALLY I got ahold of someone at Amazon who didn't jerk me around and is actually acknowledging the issue and created a ticket to get it sorted. So I would maybe recommend to other people who are missing large amounts of books that waiting it out probably isn't going to work. Unfortunately they'll more than likely have to go thru the nightmare that I did…… that still hasn't been resolved."

The complaints continue to flood in. One anonymous user told me "Ugh I just updated ComiXology by mistake. Midway through reading something and I can see the quality difference instantly. And yet somehow the file is bigger in the new version????? So I've found a workaround that lets me download two versions on my Kindle Fire. The Amazon store updated it but the Google Play store let me download the previous one. So I have two versions of ComiXology, each has the same book downloaded. One is 413mb. That's the old ComiXology, the book is HD quality. The new version is 704mb and looks sh-te. The app itself is monstrously bigger. I don't understand how they've turned a very simple efficient app into something that eats up storage and yet does less. Old version on android 20.83mb. New one 183mb."

But one concept I have heard raised is an intriguing one. Would ComiXology issue a full refund to every ComiXology customer who wishes one, who is unhappy with the current state of play? It may not replace the desired service, but for those who have sunk hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of dollars into "buying" digital comic books, now unable to access them in the fashion they desire, might a full refund of everything they have ever spent on the service ease the pain? You would lose access to all the comics you paid to download – but for some that's the current state of play anyway. Welcome To The ComiXapocalypse…

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