WARNING: Do NOT Buy Onyx BOOX. $500 Note Air5 C turned into a DEAD BRICK in less than a month, and support has completely GHOSTED me.
Hey everyone,
I am writing this post to share my absolutely abysmal experience with Onyx BOOX's terrible product quality and their completely irresponsible customer service. If you are planning to spend $500+ on their devices, please read my story and think twice.
I bought the BOOX Note Air5 C for $503.50 USD. It was delivered on April 20. In less than a month, this expensive device has completely broken down, and their customer support has gone completely radio silent after giving me a massive runaround.
Here is the exact timeline of how they treat a cooperative customer:
- April 20: Received the brand new device.
- May 4 (Just 14 days later): A major hardware defect appeared. When writing on the top right corner of the screen, the actual ink had a massive 0.5 - 0.7 cm offset from the pen tip. It completely ruined the writing experience. I immediately sent a video proof to support. Agent Daej replied saying it was forwarded to the tech team.
- May 9: The device collapsed further. The physical volume button got completely stuck/broken, which locked up the system and prevented me from entering my lock screen password. Agent Zac told me to remove my magnetic case to troubleshoot. As a reasonable customer, I did exactly as told, managed to temporarily bypass it, and thoroughly answered all of their follow-up questions.
- The Ghosting Begins: Right after I fully cooperated and gave them all the answers, they completely stopped replying. No follow-up, no solution, just left me stranded.
- May 10 - May 13: Because they went completely silent, I had to repeatedly chase them. Instead of giving me a real answer, they kept switching agents (Paula on May 10, Isaac on May 13) just to copy-paste the same generic BS: "Our relevant team is looking into this... please allow us more time to check."
- May 16: The hardware completely gave up. The device is now completely dead and no longer powering on at all. Their support even acknowledged this fact in the email. Out of patience, I gave them a final ultimatum: provide a prepaid return label by Monday, or I will expose this on social media.
- May 18 - May 20 (Today, Wednesday): Total radio silence. Over the past few days, I contacted their website live chat 3 separate times. Human chat agents repeatedly promised and guaranteed that my issue would be resolved within 24 hours. I also submitted 3 different tickets.
- Result: Absolutely NOTHING. They have completely ghosted me.
Why I am absolutely furious:
I did not cause any physical damage to this device. I paid over $500 for a premium e-reader that didn't even last a month. I was an extremely patient and cooperative customer—I followed their troubleshooting steps, removed my case, and answered every single question promptly. My reward for being a cooperative consumer? Being ignored, lied to by live chat agents, and left with a $500 paperweight.
Onyx BOOX Support / Public Relations: If your team is reading this, I demand a prepaid return label and a FULL REFUND immediately. My original ticket request number is still sitting in your inbox unanswered.
