buying from microsoft store online vs pc world (uk)

[sean_scouser]

Hi i am currently waiting to buy my surface 3 when i get home from work in about 3 weeks

am undecided as to buy it from the microsoft store online or in Pc world the actual shop

whats the microsoft store like with returns if product is faulty , how long will it take to get my surface back etc

am thinking if i buy from a actual store i have somewere to take it back to if i get problems and get a replacement straight away

at moment am waiting for the i5 8gb 256gb to come back in stock in pc world they seem to be sold out everywere in uk apart from microsoft online store

 

[malberttoo]

Hi i am currently waiting to buy my surface 3 when i get home from work in about 3 weeks

am undecided as to buy it from the microsoft store online or in Pc world the actual shop

whats the microsoft store like with returns if product is faulty , how long will it take to get my surface back etc

am thinking if i buy from a actual store i have somewere to take it back to if i get problems and get a replacement straight away

at moment am waiting for the i5 8gb 256gb to come back in stock in pc world they seem to be sold out everywere in uk apart from microsoft online store

Microsoft offers a one-year standard warranty. I strongly encourage you though to look into Microsoft's Complete, which gives you an additional year of warranty and also (and most importantly) gives you 2 full years of accidental damage. It's $149 in the US, I don't know how much in the UK. You get 2 incidents, at $50 per incident. Basically, your SP3 can be damaged in almost any way, except obvious abuse, and Microsoft will replace it. Most of the members here agree that it is practically a no-brainer.

As far as the question about where to buy from, all I can say about that is that I know many UK members bought their SP3's through services that offered cash back of some kind, or certain stores offered their own in-house warranty that was superior to what Microsoft was offering.

Hopefully the UK'ers will give you the story...

 

[sean_scouser]

yeh i was deffo going to look in to microsoft complete or some kind or insurance for it with me working abroad six months a year i do alot of travelling , so theres more chance of me breaking damaging my surface

 

[sean_scouser]

i think it will not matter were i buy the surface from if i am buying the microsoft complete i will have to send it back to microsoft what ever happens

 

[gtext]

I think the same as the MS store Australia purchasing in the UK MS store gives the option to return for a refund over 14 days if your not happy with the purchase for any reason what so ever.
Not sure if a retail store gives you the same 14 days. Worth checking.
Either way of course you still get the manufacturer warranty for any problems.

 

[DeltaXray]

I had the same dilemma and in the end went with PC world for a couple of reasons.

- MS Store was 3-5day shipping, PCW I could either pay for next day or get free next day collect-from-store
- PCW gives you a physical presence you can bring your device back to should you have any issues
- Most importantly, PCW are offering £100 cash back on the SP3. To get that from MS you need to go via Quidco and that's not very reliable.

It seems like the SP3 is quite popular in the UK. They have gone out of stock several times at PCW so appears they are selling them as fast as they can get them in. Yesterday only 2 of the 4 available models were in stock and today only one is.

 

[Liam2349]

I went for Microsoft Store because of the student discount, but MS Store also allows refunds for used products within 14 days if you aren't happy with it, so long as you haven't damaged the device. Remember that with Microsoft Complete, you will get a refurbished device as a replacement.

If it weren't for the student discount, I would absolutely have gone John Lewis as I think their warranty is superior, and they have lots of physical stores - however, they do not stock the i5/256, which is the model I wanted.

PC World has physical locations to visit, but I would go for Microsoft Store over them.

 

[lbtaylor1984]

Depends what model you have in mind, at the moment they don't have the high spec i5 or either of the i7 in stock

 

[everalm]

Best bet would be John Lewis, great on response, good turn around times and they beef up the warranty to 3 years for no charge

 

[lbtaylor1984]

Should have said John Lewis but again no stock atm
I bought from MS store, however i'm doing a exchange atm due to a scratch so, in hindsight, from John Lewis when stock available.

 

[mark8900]

Yeah John Lewis is a good bet but the PC World care plan (cant remember what its called ) is excellent. i have had laptops for around 14 years and i have bought each one from pc world. I have had about 5 replacements from pc world due to accidental damage.

 

[Daniel Edwards]

I ordered my Surface Pro 3 on 23rd May. Got excited when I got an email to say it had shipped to then be told that PC World had were doing a £100 cash-back. That's the cost of the keyboard (almost) so it was a bit of a moment to collect from my local PC World store and have 2 of them sitting in my house (before UPS collected the Microsoft Store one that went back for a refund). I did then order the red keyboard (only available from MS) and the Maroo case which I have to say is brilliant.