Complaint about quality

[MarkLlew]

I bought my Surface Pro in March 2013. In the Fall of 2014 I had a serious problem with the display (the right half was black, non-functional). I returned the Surface Pro, at a cost of $300 and the loss of a few weeks with the device. They sent me a refurbished replacement Surface Pro.

A few months later, I again had display problems, but this time the device was still usable. So... since I didn't want to spend ANOTHER $300, I put up with it. Today, the device won't boot. It's just a brick.

I've been buying Dell computers for nearly 30 years, and I've NEVER had one that didn't give me at least 3 years trouble free service -- in fact almost ALL of them never gave me ANY problems at all. That's probably in the neighbourhood of 20 computers. Yet the first product I buy from Microsoft lasted only 18 months before it was unusable. The replacement also lasted only about 12 months before IT was unusable.

How can Microsoft think that it can get away with selling such shoddy products?

 

[leeshor]

Welcome to the forum

Based on my experience with customers who have "finally" sworn off Dell computers I'm guessing you were one of the fortunate ones. I have had customers buy Dell laptops where components didn't work on the first day.

I have inside info from a leasing customer of mine that Dell's overall return rate on new equipment is in excess of 30%

 

[leeshor]

I must add one more thing. Because of other posts about "problems" I frequently ask a friend, who is the IT manger for a software firm here in Atlanta if they have had any problems with the 30+ Surface Pros they have. I think he is getting tired of me asking and him saying no.

 

[MarkLlew]

Hi Leeshor, thanks for your comments -- good to know this stuff gets read!

But you can see my problem -- based on my own experience (the last Dell desktop that I bought was about 6 months ago)... I could never buy another Surface Pro. In fact, I'm obliged to tell people what happened when I hear that they're thinking of buying any kind of Surface.

I guess I'll be looking at the new Dell product, rather than the Surface Book (which I would dearly have loved to buy. But I just can't trust it)

 

[MarkLlew]

Thinking about your comment re your friend's 30+ no-problem Surfaces... if true, then I guess what you're suggesting is that I got a 'lemon'.

I'm surprised that Microsoft doesn't have a lemon policy in place.

Another thought. I have many friends who are Apple fans and scores of business colleagues who use Apples. I have never heard of any of them having this kind of experience with their iPads. If Apple can build it right......

 

[daniielrp]

Also a Dell fan here! Though I've never used their PCs, but their monitors are fantastic!

 

[malberttoo]

Thinking about your comment re your friend's 30+ no-problem Surfaces... if true, then I guess what you're suggesting is that I got a 'lemon'.

I'm surprised that Microsoft doesn't have a lemon policy in place.

Another thought. I have many friends who are Apple fans and scores of business colleagues who use Apples. I have never heard of any of them having this kind of experience with their iPads. If Apple can build it right......

I think the lemon policy mostly applies to devices that are still under warranty. Which is, "we want to be able to repair the thing x number of times before we replace it with a new one". For almost every device, once the manufacturer's warranty is up (1 year for Surfaces), you're stuck.

I definitely sympathize. I do believe the first couple generations of Surfaces had abysmal quality control. My Surface Pro 3 had dead WiFi out of the box.

Sorry it sounds like yours had more issues than most.

 

[jnjroach]

We have over 80 Surface Pro 3 devices deployed most of our problems have more to do with IT's image than the devices...

 

[leeshor]

I've had my own computer business full time since 1989 and long ago I found that I have to work on the law of averages. If I'm selling a computer to someone and I have a component failure of greater than 1 in 100 in the first year I'm doing something wrong and will need to change.

Of the 60 regular clients I have, several have Surface Pros and none have admitted to having any problem. The friend with 30+ deployed and more on the way has a mix of the original Surface Pro all the way up to the Pro 3 and hasn't had any issues. He IS the IT director, so he should know. You pretty much can't go into their offices and not see anyone walking from one office to another across the hall without their Surface in tow.

Will there be a bad one at some point, sure, it's bound to happen, but so far so good.

 

[jrioux]

...I do believe the first couple generations of Surfaces had abysmal quality control....

I have an original Surface RT and it's still going strong. I figure that some percentage of all tech products fail. I always hope that my purchases are not among those that fail.

 

[GreyFox7]

I have an original Surface RT and it's still going strong. I figure that some percentage of all tech products fail. I always hope that my purchases are not among those that fail.

Yep, mine is still in good shape also ... used the Surface 2 almost every day for 18+ months until the Surface 3 came out.

 

[revmike]

My SP2 which I bought in October 2013 is still functioning and being used everyday without an issue.