Microsoft issues apology for Surface issues
- Thread starter ericspt
- Start date
Wayne Orwig
Active Member
That is a good thing, IMHO.
Niterider4
Active Member
Taking responsibility is always a good thing.
Revolution
New Member
i really appreciate this. After several years i really enjoyed the quality of the Surface 2 and 3. The first SP4 experience is bit like a bummer. However with the latest display drivers things look stable again.
Now just give me the touch friendly metro gestures from 8.1 back and i'm a happy camper again
Now just give me the touch friendly metro gestures from 8.1 back and i'm a happy camper again
Admittedly, I'm a 20 year Apple guy. I'm here because Apple let me down when they launched the iPad Pro with iOS. Microsoft has proven the market exists with the SP and SB product lines. So after 20 years, I came back to MS because they're offering products (SB & SP4) that meet my needs.
What I didn't expect was the flawed launch of SB and SP4. After 20 years in IT, I know what's acceptable and the customer experience for SP4 and SB is far below any definition of "acceptable". Any sales people willing to be honest will tell you the return rate exceeds anyone's definition of "acceptable". The customer experience just plain sucks. So while it's nice to read an apology, it doesn't make up for the hours I've spent with MS Support, only to end up with a bricked machine.
On the plus side, MS has responded to launch issues in a timely manner. Weekly fixes continue to roll out and the end user experience improves a little with each passing update.
Twenty years ago I left MS because I was worn out from flawed launches. Twenty years later, the experience remains largely the same. But I'm back with MS, hoping for an improved customer experience from here on out.
What I didn't expect was the flawed launch of SB and SP4. After 20 years in IT, I know what's acceptable and the customer experience for SP4 and SB is far below any definition of "acceptable". Any sales people willing to be honest will tell you the return rate exceeds anyone's definition of "acceptable". The customer experience just plain sucks. So while it's nice to read an apology, it doesn't make up for the hours I've spent with MS Support, only to end up with a bricked machine.
On the plus side, MS has responded to launch issues in a timely manner. Weekly fixes continue to roll out and the end user experience improves a little with each passing update.
Twenty years ago I left MS because I was worn out from flawed launches. Twenty years later, the experience remains largely the same. But I'm back with MS, hoping for an improved customer experience from here on out.
Niterider4
Active Member
My SB has been much more stable recently, thanks goodness. I would be REALLY upset if things had not improved since it was first delivered (when it was basically more trouble than it was worth). Apologies are better than no apologies, but getting it right in the first place is infinitely better than an apology.
I get that technology has glitches and I recognize that there are many moving parts that need to be meshed in order to get something like the SB ready for prime time. But I am very disappointed in the difference between the aggressive and boastful claims that were made by Microsoft about the Surface Book (not to mention the price point) compared to the real life performance of the device (which is pretty mediocre).
My Surface Book is like Donald Trump - it would be so great if it was half as great as Microsoft keeps saying it is. But, sadly, it isn't.
I get that technology has glitches and I recognize that there are many moving parts that need to be meshed in order to get something like the SB ready for prime time. But I am very disappointed in the difference between the aggressive and boastful claims that were made by Microsoft about the Surface Book (not to mention the price point) compared to the real life performance of the device (which is pretty mediocre).
My Surface Book is like Donald Trump - it would be so great if it was half as great as Microsoft keeps saying it is. But, sadly, it isn't.
Hi everyone,
I'm new here, but just wanted to chime in. Am I just lucky? I've had very few of the issues people are experiencing. Yes, on the sleep issue...turned hibernate on and no more issues. Before I did that, I was just turning it off and that was fine too. This thing boots up so fast it's an easy work around.
I do wish the battery drain was better, but I disabled the western digital software (that I installed) and it's improved by 10% per hour while awake and in use.
I love my SP4.
I'm new here, but just wanted to chime in. Am I just lucky? I've had very few of the issues people are experiencing. Yes, on the sleep issue...turned hibernate on and no more issues. Before I did that, I was just turning it off and that was fine too. This thing boots up so fast it's an easy work around.
I do wish the battery drain was better, but I disabled the western digital software (that I installed) and it's improved by 10% per hour while awake and in use.
I love my SP4.
Nuspieds
Active Member
Apologies are great when that's all you need to resolve an issue:
So they apologized; okay, so my sleep and external monitor/Dock issues have now disappeared and I can move on?
Take back the apology and issue an acknowledgement of the various issues and include a planned timeframe for their fixes and that would suit me so much better than just an apology. Better yet, include the planned timeframe with your apology and you'll be pleasing a much, much larger crowd.
For the money I've spent, telling me just "sorry" isn't going to cut it.
- "I'm so sorry I hurt your feelings because you misunderstood and that's not what I meant at all. What I meant was..."
So they apologized; okay, so my sleep and external monitor/Dock issues have now disappeared and I can move on?
Take back the apology and issue an acknowledgement of the various issues and include a planned timeframe for their fixes and that would suit me so much better than just an apology. Better yet, include the planned timeframe with your apology and you'll be pleasing a much, much larger crowd.
For the money I've spent, telling me just "sorry" isn't going to cut it.
Seneleron
Active Member
Completely understand where you're coming from, but I think you're being a little rough on MS. Granted, they seem to have a history of not doing enough real world product testing before launch, but they've been on top of pushing out updates to get issues resolved, and no matter how good their team is they can only move so fast. Giving a time frame on a fix is. . .not an easy thing. First they have to isolate what's wrong, then they have to resolve it WITHOUT BREAKING ANYTHING ELSE, and then thoroughly TEST it to VERIFY that it not only fixed the original problem but didn't create 3 more in the process (or fix the other three issues that popped up).
At the end of the day, new products have issues, REGARDLESS of manufacturer. The SB issues are a little more unique due to it's design.
At the end of the day, new products have issues, REGARDLESS of manufacturer. The SB issues are a little more unique due to it's design.
Nuspieds
Active Member
Microsoft was hell-bent on releasing Windows 10 in July. All that could be done was done to meet that milestone and they did.
Microsoft was hell-bent on releasing the new Surface products in October. All that could be done was done to meet that milestone and they did.
If Microsoft wants to be hell-bent on fixing a given issue by a given timeframe, they can do it. Notice in my original post and this one I used the term timeframe, not date. So, yes, they could go as specific as a specific date or as general "by the end of 2016," for example.
I'm in IT and I have to provide estimates to my customers; I just can't tell them "I don't know when." I have to give them some idea. Of course, we are all humans and things happen and we make mistakes; so, we need to monitor our estimates and as we see things changing, we update our customers with the new estimates.
The physical design of the SB has nothing to do with the OS/firmware issues and even if it did, once again, an apology alone does me nothing because my device issues are still not resolved nor do I have any timeframe of when I can expect them to be resolved.
Even if there are OS/firmware issues related to the design of product, it is still up to the manufacturer to address those issues because they should have properly tested in the first place. But, of course, if they are hell-bent on bringing a product to market by a given date, then corners will be cut.
Defects are not resolved by apologies; rather, they are resolved by tangible fixes. One may not know exactly when a fix will be ready, but there has to be at least some sort of planned objective (i.e., timeframe) to make the fix ready and that's what customers want and need to know, not just "I'm sorry."
Microsoft was hell-bent on releasing the new Surface products in October. All that could be done was done to meet that milestone and they did.
If Microsoft wants to be hell-bent on fixing a given issue by a given timeframe, they can do it. Notice in my original post and this one I used the term timeframe, not date. So, yes, they could go as specific as a specific date or as general "by the end of 2016," for example.
I'm in IT and I have to provide estimates to my customers; I just can't tell them "I don't know when." I have to give them some idea. Of course, we are all humans and things happen and we make mistakes; so, we need to monitor our estimates and as we see things changing, we update our customers with the new estimates.
The physical design of the SB has nothing to do with the OS/firmware issues and even if it did, once again, an apology alone does me nothing because my device issues are still not resolved nor do I have any timeframe of when I can expect them to be resolved.
Even if there are OS/firmware issues related to the design of product, it is still up to the manufacturer to address those issues because they should have properly tested in the first place. But, of course, if they are hell-bent on bringing a product to market by a given date, then corners will be cut.
Defects are not resolved by apologies; rather, they are resolved by tangible fixes. One may not know exactly when a fix will be ready, but there has to be at least some sort of planned objective (i.e., timeframe) to make the fix ready and that's what customers want and need to know, not just "I'm sorry."
jrioux
Active Member
That sure beats Apple which never has any problems that it will admit to: Apple is ignoring a major problem with MacBook screen stains | Apple | Geek.com
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