My horror story with Micosoft's service so far

[tony8154]

Moral of the story is, it's hard as hell to get satisfying results when the support center is in another country.

Funny thing is though, I waited till 3 in the morning here to call the US customer support to file a complaint and guess where the call center is located? Yup, the Philippines. Same robot answers with false hopes and wasting two hours of my time for them to tell me "there's nothing we can do from here"

I swear these people don't even listen to your questions half the time and just say what they need to say that's already scripted for them, because I'd ask a detailed question and they'd give me a totally irrelevant answer. I had to interrupt their "supervisor that's the best that I've seen" just to ask him if he even listened to my question in the first place.

Yeah, I got them in threes as well

When I was in Korea they'd send me 3 at a time too. I'm still waiting on my shipment for the tips and this time I have no idea how many they might have sent me.

Are you in Hong Kong?

Yes.

 

[tony8154]

Update #4

Here's the e-mail that I received recently.


This is Josh with the Surface CARE team. I understand that you refused the initial replacement Surface device on June 11th, however, another order was made on June 19th for a Surface device, however, this time it was in warranty as you had already paid the out of warranty replacement fee. It appears a replacement device was provided to you on June 22nd with serial number XXXXXXXXXXX.


As the Surface device you walked out of the store with on June 11th still had a cracked screen, the device was still out of warranty. Because you had already paid for a replacement and did not receive a working replacement a new order was made under Service Request XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX on June 19th to have a replacement given to you for free as you had already previously paid for the replacement.


As you have already previously paid for a replacement device, you were not charged again to have that same device replaced. Unless you were charged two amounts of 3200.00 HKD, no refund will be made as a replacement device was eventually given to you on June 22nd.


I thank you for your understanding and hope you have a nice day.




OK WHAT.

Nodoby told me anything about a second product being sent out!!

I didn't receive an e-mail or a phone call or text message. Nothing.

Also, the only reason I was trying to talk to this guy about a refund was because MS support wouldn't let me get another device without cancelling my order and charging me again. They wouldn't transfer the credit to the second order.

So as soon as I read the e-mail I send out a response:



"It appears a replacement device was provided to you on June 22nd with serial number 052169543753."

NO.

I was never informed of this.

I never received a work order number.

Nobody e-mailed me regarding details about any of this, and I definitely did not receive a phone call either.

Nobody informed me that a replacement was ready.

Obviously I wouln't be contacting you with moot questions and comments if I have already received a replacement, don't you think so?

how about you have someone call me now.
Hong Kong: +852-xxxx-xxxx




aaaand nobody calls.


So once I heard about the replacement product being sent out I call the exchange center the next day and guess what. It's been sitting there for days. So once again I drop everything and head over.

Aaaaaaaaand the refurb is in terrible condition AGAIN. This one's screen is evern worse than before. Pics included for reference.

I'm not sure if it's bad glue or something but there's a smudge under the glass panel, and there's already deep gashes in the glass.

Even the employee who took it out looked at and said "oh my god. No Good. You get another one"

So I'm standing there staring at the refurb wishing to hurl it across the room, but he tells me to just use it. I was like oh hell no no way. But he says use it FOR NOW, since my own's screen is cracked and unusable, so use this, WHILE I request for another one? I never knew that was possible. So as of now I'm using the refurb, and will contact MS again tomorrow morning to issue another one to be sent out.

 

[tony8154]

Just sent out this e-mail to the rep.



You know, the only reason why I'm even e-mailing you about a refund is because your service reps wouldn't let me issue another order without cancelling the first charge and then having to charge me again. If your system would allow me to just transfer my credits toward the second refurb, then you and I wouldn't even be speaking.



Which brings me to my second point. If I reject the refurb because of such a poor condition, shouldn't the second one be in better shape than the first one, and not in a WORSE condition? You seriously have quality control issues with your refurb department.



Pics are included for reference. These were taken at the exchange center as soon as I saw it.



Now unless you're going to offer me Microsoft Complete FREE OF CHARGE, there's no way I'm going to accept a refurb with the screen integrity that's already been compromised. If you analyze the pics, you'll notice there's a smudge on the screen which happens to be UNDER the screen, and also a deep gash on the top, which is tangible by running your nail across it.

 

[yonghong]

That's why, you know Chinese people don't trust Chinese people, I'm Chinese, I immigrant to Canada, that's the big difference about trust, in Canada people always trust you. I don't know other countries, Canada MS support are the best, they will exchange my sp3 soon, and I got a charge&pen free.even I can keep the old one.

 

[Johnny365]

Technically your replacement was never implied to be in great condition, barely used, etc. The one you got is working and it'll get the job done. Since you're out of warranty and had to pay $400, I'd say that's as good as it'll get unless you want to get a heart attack.

 

[yonghong]

how come his SP3 is out of warrenty, I remember Sp3 was coming out on Jun 20,2014.

Technically your replacement was never implied to be in great condition, barely used, etc. The one you got is working and it'll get the job done. Since you're out of warranty and had to pay $400, I'd say that's as good as it'll get unless you want to get a heart attack.

 

[Johnny365]

how come his SP3 is out of warrenty, I remember Sp3 was coming out on Jun 20,2014.

The 1 year warranty is LIMITED. Doesn't cover accidental damage. That's what Microsoft Complete is for (within 45 days of buying a product NEW). If he had that, there would be no question about returning a damaged SP3 at a store for a new one, without paying a dime.

When you don't have it, the $400 is for a refurb that can be in varying degrees of wear and use. As long as the screen and components work, cosmetics shouldn't matter.

Edit: 45 days

 

[malberttoo]

...within 14 days of buying a product NEW

45 days. https://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/surface-warranty

 

[Johnny365]

Okay 45 days. I wish I got Complete, but I didn't and am taking a risk for moving it around a lot. Point is, the OP had the chance of buying Complete for well under the costs of a replacement, but didn't.

 

[malberttoo]

Okay 45 days. I wish I got Complete, but I didn't and am taking a risk for moving it around a lot. Point is, the OP had the chance of buying Complete for well under the costs of a replacement, but didn't.

True, I personally wouldn't buy a Surface without Complete. It added a little value when I sold my SP1, to be able to say it had accidental damage warranty on it for quite a while yet.

On the other hand, I was surprised at the number of people coming to this forum after buying their Surfaces, that had never heard of it. It wasn't advertised in any way at Best Buy, the Microsoft Stores weren't pushing it, and for the first many weeks, it wasn't showing up in the accessories of the Surface Pro 3 order page. So the OP may just not have known about it.

 

[yonghong]

45 days. https://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/surface-warranty

I saw the rules is that MS will check your Sp3 first, then you can buy complete, I don't think they saw a broken screen , they will let you buy complete.I'm that kind of person never buy insurance, if you lose, you are unlucky, don't want to pay any more except Sp3

 

[tony8154]

That's why, you know Chinese people don't trust Chinese people, I'm Chinese, I immigrant to Canada, that's the big difference about trust, in Canada people always trust you. I don't know other countries, Canada MS support are the best, they will exchange my sp3 soon, and I got a charge&pen free.even I can keep the old one.

I'm not sure what you mean here, as the service call center is in the Philippines...? Are you talking about the the walk in center in HK?

Technically your replacement was never implied to be in great condition, barely used, etc. The one you got is working and it'll get the job done. Since you're out of warranty and had to pay $400, I'd say that's as good as it'll get unless you want to get a heart attack.

Well all the reps keep saying to me they'll do their best to send me a flawless one etc etc. I did come to the conclusion that it won't be in absolute mint condition, but I should at least have one that has 0 imperfections on the screen, considering that's the reason why I'm getting a replacement. Deep gashes on the screen already compromises the screen's integrity, and needs less force to crack. No thanks.

Okay 45 days. I wish I got Complete, but I didn't and am taking a risk for moving it around a lot. Point is, the OP had the chance of buying Complete for well under the costs of a replacement, but didn't.

Yeah I wish I got complete too. I have no idea that such a program existed, as the sales rep when I first purchased the product didn't even mention such a thing existed.

True, I personally wouldn't buy a Surface without Complete. It added a little value when I sold my SP1, to be able to say it had accidental damage warranty on it for quite a while yet.

On the other hand, I was surprised at the number of people coming to this forum after buying their Surfaces, that had never heard of it. It wasn't advertised in any way at Best Buy, the Microsoft Stores weren't pushing it, and for the first many weeks, it wasn't showing up in the accessories of the Surface Pro 3 order page. So the OP may just not have known about it.

Yeah same for me.

I saw the rules is that MS will check your Sp3 first, then you can buy complete, I don't think they saw a broken screen , they will let you buy complete.I'm that kind of person never buy insurance, if you lose, you are unlucky, don't want to pay any more except Sp3

This is when the product is still new I believe, within the 45 day period.

I just called in for another replacement, and the order has been made.
Interestingly though, I checked to see how many days were left with my original warranty, and they said your warranty expires August 2016....? How is that possible? It's like they've added another year on top of my original warranty. So I asked about being able to purchase MS complete after I get the replacement, and they said it was possible. I guess I'll have to wait and see about that. If it's possible, and considering how brittle these screens are, it might be worth it.