Positive (eventually) tale of Microsoft support

[everalm]

I, for work, float between the US and the UK and for cost reasons bought my SB in the US. All well and good until about 6 months later when I started to get bad yellow tinting around the edge of the screen whenever it started to warm up.

OK, MS (by this time) were selling the SB in the UK, I registered it in the UK with a UK address, so should not be a problem getting support...should there, after all, global company, global warranty, same components, only difference is the keyboard is US not UK.

Ohhhhhh no....... call support in the UK, they tell me "No support for you, go talk to the US", talk to the US..."No support for you in the UK you have to come to the US"......

We then enter the world of call centre pass the parcel where I go on extended hold to a call centre in the Philippines to be told "NO, tough, and no I will not let you talk to a supervisor."

Not a happy puppy as you can imagine, particularly as based on UK (kit registered for warranty) and New Jersey (where the kit was bought) consumer protection law means Microsoft HAVE to support their warranty.

So, other than taking them to small claims court what to do...?

Called MS's corporate office in the UK, ask to be transferred to the press office and informed the duty PR that as a courtesy I was calling to let them know that due to my experience I would be contacting the Money Mail to see if they would be interested in running a story on MS's apparent breach of the law on customer protection.

The lady took my details, gave me her name and direct line number, told me she would be personally escalating it and would have someone from Escalation support contact me within 24 hours.

Good as her word, less than 24 hours later I had a call, emailed UPS voucher, kit on it's way to Germany and within 4 working days an effectively new "returned" replacement SB was on it's way back to me. MS support emailed me at every step to make sure all was as it should be. A diametrically opposite experience to my start.

Very happy with this but shows that sometimes you need to push to get past the scripting of offshored support that can leave a nasty taste in the mouth around an otherwise exceptional piece of kit.

 

[hughlle]

Glad to hear it all got sorted eventually. On the whole I've had nothing but success with MS support, but like any large company, it is going to go wrong somewhere. I imagine that support just follow an on-screen if-then process, and to go to a superior for advice might seem "poor form" in their eyes, and just follow the book. I could be totally wrong, but support is generally support, and you're not typically talking to a lawyer or engineer so they just follow what their system tells them, which is nope, sorry!

 

[Nosediver]

I am not sure if this is a positive story or not. After all you had to go via the PR!! department to get help which should not be the case. I am in the same situation currently and still arguing with the help desk in the US.

 

[Wayne Orwig]

Generally in the end my contact with them has worked out also. But as you point out, it is like visiting a dentist. You get your teeth fixed, but the process is going to be painful.

 

[Seneleron]

As someone who has in the past been on the other end of the tier I support phone line:

I am BY NO MEANS trying to defend their customer phone support. A lot of these guys are underpaid, timed, and reading from a script. They deal with BOB KNOWS how many frustrated customers a day.

That said, this story has a strong odor of "I called up very upset and belligerent and they refused to help me". I have heard of people refusing to help. I have heard of SUPERVISORS refusing to help. I don't think I've ever heard of someone refusing to escalate the buck to supervisor/next tier. Honestly, the more belligerent a customer is, the more willing tier I is to pass it on: They don't make enough to deal with those kinds of calls.

Conversely, you could have simply called back and ask to speak to a supervisor without giving specific details. Of course, that's neither here nor there. You called up PR, threatened them, and got the response you wanted.

It's a tactic, and it DOES work. It also has it's place. . . as a last resort. Typically a lot of patience and understanding will get you much farther much faster than threats and shouting will ESPECIALLY in a situation like this where you are expecting service above and beyond what they are required to provide:

From MS Warranty faq:

What if my unit was purchased in one country, but is now located in a
different country (example – US unit located in Europe)? Am I still
eligible for in-warranty support?
Yes, but you must return your unit to the country of purchase to be eligible for in-warranty support.
Microsoft will not be responsible for any associated transportation or shipping costs.
If you do not wish to return the unit to the country of purchase, Microsoft will evaluate if you are eligible
for paid on-site repair services, subject to the following conditions:
• The Surface unit is located in a supported geography where on-site support services are available
• Microsoft was notified (via Business Desk ([email protected]) of the new unit location in
advance of the repair incident.

Microsoft Surface warranty FAQ | How long is Surface warranty


Just some food for thought.

 

[everalm]

As someone who has in the past been on the other end of the tier I support phone line:

I am BY NO MEANS trying to defend their customer phone support. A lot of these guys are underpaid, timed, and reading from a script. They deal with BOB KNOWS how many frustrated customers a day.

That said, this story has a strong odor of "I called up very upset and belligerent and they refused to help me". I have heard of people refusing to help. I have heard of SUPERVISORS refusing to help. I don't think I've ever heard of someone refusing to escalate the buck to supervisor/next tier. Honestly, the more belligerent a customer is, the more willing tier I is to pass it on: They don't make enough to deal with those kinds of calls.

Conversely, you could have simply called back and ask to speak to a supervisor without giving specific details. Of course, that's neither here nor there. You called up PR, threatened them, and got the response you wanted.

It's a tactic, and it DOES work. It also has it's place. . . as a last resort. Typically a lot of patience and understanding will get you much farther much faster than threats and shouting will ESPECIALLY in a situation like this where you are expecting service above and beyond what they are required to provide:

From MS Warranty faq:



Microsoft Surface warranty FAQ | How long is Surface warranty


Just some food for thought.

A awful lot of inaccurate assumptions on your part their "seneleron"

First of all you really have no grasp of the consumer protection law in NJ or the UK which cares not one whit what MS wants to or does not want to do.

In both jurisdictions, the law mandates that MS provide hardware warranty support for faults or failures in the hardware irrespective of the T's and C's so long as it is in the warranty period. The only out for MS in the UK would have been if they did not sell the product in the country.

Then the assumption you make is I called up "upset" and "belligerent", nope, not even close. Whenever I call a support function I ensure I remain fact based, polite and explain the matter carefully and accurately.

The simple fact is, the support function script is quite plain as to the escalation process when the script doesn't meet the requirements. The fact the employee refused to follow the process is their fault and responsibility.

So, do tell, as I had called on a number of occasions to both geographic locations with no satisfactory response and an outright refusal to escalate, precisely how calling again and blindly asking for a supervisor is expected to accomplish something..?

A definition of insanity is repetitively repeating the same action and expecting different results.

 

[Seneleron]

Promise, it'll be our secret!

Anyway, hope you're enjoying the replacement SB, it really is an awesome piece of kit

 

[Orlbuckeye]

I'm not sure if MS is even repairing the systems sent back at least until after all the SP's are off the year factory warranty. I think they are just approving then sending the replacement.