So how long does it REALLY take for replacement unit to arrive?

[tkmmusician]

Hi T64. We'll, it's February 11. I first chatted with a Microsoft tech and got the assurances about the Advance Exchange program on February 1. On the same day, I see my case number on the myservice.surface.com site, and it says that the order is in progress, so I thought that all was well.

On February 6, I had heard nothing, and no changes on my status on the website. I chatted with another Microsoft tech, this time here in France where I live, and she (Servane) cheerily promised me that she would take care of it personally! She was apologetic and reassured me that, while she couldn't give me a delivery date, she would turn this case over to a "specialized team" that would make things happen.

On February 10, nothing had happened. No change in status on the website. I chatted this time with a Microsoft tech named Kathleen (odd name for France, but whatever). She said ... can you guess? Right! She would personally take care of it! I told her, that's exactly what the last person said. She added that she would have a "specialized team" look into it and fix it pronto. She did send me an email just afterwards, saying that I could contact her via this email if things didn't work out. They also changed my case number.

So this morning, February 11, no change on the website. I sent Kathleen an email saying, should I be worried that there is no change in status on the website and the new case number doesn't even work? No answer.

So that's three techs (actually four, there were two on the first chat session), three promises, three failures, two case numbers, one angry and frustrated customer, and no Surface 2.

I hope someone at Microsoft Support reads this. Your division should really be ashamed of itself. You do not jerk otherwise loyal customers around like this if you want to maintain loyalty. I have stuck with MS through thick and thin, but this is really too much.

What I deserve is a new (not refurb) Surface 2, 32Gb like the one I had (though I wouldn't argue if they bent a bit and sent me one with 64Gb). I don't need more gigabytes on Skydrive, thank you, or minutes on Skype.

Really really upset about this.

I will add this, in case anyone doubts this story: I can and will post both my support case numbers, AND the transcripts of all three chat sessions (though beware, the last two are in French). You can see quite clearly that much is being promised but absolutely nothing is happening.

 

[tarrant64]

Thanks for updating! I'm in a similar boat myself. I was told Friday that after receiving my defective refurb unit that my case was escalated up to a "special" team that would take care of my case. I was told 2-3 business days so I guess I'll hold out to tomorrow but I'm starting to think they won't even call. I opened up a new chat with MS Support last night regarding my case and naturally was assured someone would get back to me.

I'm not really upset yet, but I do think that support has fallen a little to the wayside. For a 2-3 day wait on someone just to contact you I would hope that this person really will have spent those 2-3 days coming up with a solution that will please everyone in the end. Right now - my viewpoint on "special" teams is that it's just a code word for "we need another week to figure this out".

I half expected them to just say "hey - send the defective refurb back and we'll try again". The fact that I have 2 broken Surface's on my desk right now is kind of giving me the impression they don't care what they are doing with the units. Just an impression though, I'm not sure what I'll think until someone contacts me back with resolution. So expect an update from me tomorrow.

Don't need to see the proof, I believe ya. Experiencing it all myself. I'm actually almost glad I did the advanced exchange instead of the normal one. Who knows what kind of boat you'd be in if you sent it in first then had to wait several days (if not weeks) for a replacement. however, it's becoming obvious the "advanced" exchange is not so advanced, and in the end due to the slow pace of support it doesn't actually save time. At all.

 

[tarrant64]

Even better - MS puts a "hold" (or at least they did for me) on your credit card (I can see it pending in my bank) for sending you advanced exchange. We should be able to do the same when sending in our own units for repair or exchange. That way - if something happens and you never do get a replacement unit in a timely manner you can just replace it yourself.

If only...

 

[paesan]

Called CSR about the "yellow line on the right side issue" for my surface pro on 2/8, chose the advanced replacement option and received my new surface pro on 2/11. It was shipped overnight. That is about as fast as one could expect. The shipped unit looks new to me, there is not any scratches, etc on it. I got extremely lucky because I purchased the SP last year on 2/12/2013 and only had 4 days remaining on the warranty. The CSR laughed and said that was cutting it close. The new unit that shipped has a new warranty that is good until 4/2015. Great service by Microsoft.

 

[tarrant64]

Called CSR about the "yellow line on the right side issue" for my surface pro on 2/8, chose the advanced replacement option and received my new surface pro on 2/11. It was shipped overnight. That is about as fast as one could expect. The shipped unit looks new to me, there is not any scratches, etc on it. I got extremely lucky because I purchased the SP last year on 2/12 and only had 4 days remaining on the warranty. The CSR laughed and said that was cutting it close. The new unit that shipped has a new warranty that is good until 4/15. Great service by Microsoft.

Awesome! That's been my past experience with Microsoft truly. Like I said, crap can happen and I'm not really upset yet. I was told 2-3 additional days for resolution so I'm giving them today to come up with something. *crossing fingers*

 

[tarrant64]

OK - Now I'm upset. Special "CARE" team really...didn't do anything special.

Feb. 4th - initiated my advanced exchange.
Feb. 7th - received a defective refurb. Immediately contacted Surface support team and my case was escalated to Surface special "Care" team for resolution.
Feb. 12th - after contacting MS at least once a day, someone in support took the initiative to find out why I hadn't heard from the special team yet. I'm told someone will contact me back soon, and thankfully, someone did from the special care team.

So it's Feb 12th, and the only thing they are managing to do is ask me to send the defective unit back, wait 2 weeks for everything to process, then do another advanced exchange. So if I'm lucky, I'll see something in March. MARCH! Not really....advanced exchange. And the process isn't any different than what normal support has done, so I'm not sure what the deal is with "special care" teams. Nothing special about the process.

So yes...I waited to hear something great from special teams, or that hey, we'll fix this up in 1-2 days. But no. Instead, I'm told I need to wait longer. At least 2 weeks.

 

[tkmmusician]

OK, so last Tuesday the Microsoft tech service rep "Kathleen" emailed me and said that she had only just found out that the problem underlying Microsoft's inability to replace my Surface 2 was ... it's out of stock in France. Not only that, but I looked around, and it's out of stock in the UK as well. I hope that's a good sign ... So now that I know what's going on, I calm down, and I can wait. I was just angry at being told 2-3 days turnaround time by four different MS reps and have nothing happen and no contact without my initiating it. Kathleen actually did something, though.

And then today: an email from MS saying that my replacement unit had shipped! I damn near fell over. This was followed in a couple of hours by an email from Kathleen saying the same thing, and that she was keeping an eye on things (in French, of course).

Well, I'm thrilled ... cautiously. We'll see when it arrives and if it's new or refurb (or if I can even tell). It has a UPS tracking number already, though...

 

[tarrant64]

OK, so last Tuesday the Microsoft tech service rep "Kathleen" emailed me and said that she had only just found out that the problem underlying Microsoft's inability to replace my Surface 2 was ... it's out of stock in France. Not only that, but I looked around, and it's out of stock in the UK as well. I hope that's a good sign ... So now that I know what's going on, I calm down, and I can wait. I was just angry at being told 2-3 days turnaround time by four different MS reps and have nothing happen and no contact without my initiating it. Kathleen actually did something, though.

And then today: an email from MS saying that my replacement unit had shipped! I damn near fell over. This was followed in a couple of hours by an email from Kathleen saying the same thing, and that she was keeping an eye on things (in French, of course).

Well, I'm thrilled ... cautiously. We'll see when it arrives and if it's new or refurb (or if I can even tell). It has a UPS tracking number already, though...

Good news for you!

My defective refurb unit is out for delivery today (back to Microsoft that is). So I'm expecting to hopefully start another advanced exchange and get something done this week rather than letting it drag out. I think if I'm lucky and this "CARE" representative is on top of it like he says he is then it may actually take less than the 2 weeks proposed.

 

[tkmmusician]

got it

Good news for you!

My defective refurb unit is out for delivery today (back to Microsoft that is). So I'm expecting to hopefully start another advanced exchange and get something done this week rather than letting it drag out. I think if I'm lucky and this "CARE" representative is on top of it like he says he is then it may actually take less than the 2 weeks proposed.

My new S2 arrived yesterday afternoon via UPS, and I'm typing this message on it.

So let it be said: once the right person got hold of the situation, she stayed on it, kept me informed, and was sending me emails yesterday confirming delivery, etc ... bravo to Kathleen.

The unit shipped from the Netherlands. I can't tell if it's a refurb or new, but it's perfectly clean and unmarked. So I guess I don't care too much as long as I get the full warranty as if new.

T64 best of luck on yours!

 

[tarrant64]

Well...the update I got today was they used the wrong serial number in the request, so they had to close it, and do another one - basically losing a day or 2.

So I probably won't see my unit until next week...assuming there are no more hiccups. Is what it is, but it's just irritating, I started this whole process more than 2 weeks ago, on the 4th.

 

[Nuspieds]

On Sunday, February 9th, as I was preparing for a coast-to-coast trip, my SP2 started to boot into Repair mode only.

I take system image backups, so I immediately attempted to boot via USB, but no luck! I tried the "Battery Out" reset numerous times (i.e., holding the power button and volume down for 20 secs, etc.), but it just would not boot from USB.

I even tried to delete and re-install the default Secure Boot keys, but I got an error message when I tried to install them. So I eventually gave up and decided to call Support Monday morning at the airport because it was already too late Sunday night.

Monday morning before my flight, I called and described my problem. The agent told me that once I arrived, to call back and that he'd then try searching for a store to do an over-the-counter exchange instead. When I arrived, I spoke to a different agent, but he searched and could not find any. He told me that the soonest it would arrive would be 3-5 business days.

That was a problem for me because I was returning back at the end of the week and then leaving for another trip. I didn't want to chance sending it at home, but I also didn't want it to arrive in 4-5 business days, because I would have already left. I ended up taking a chance while on my trip, as the agent said that the earliest it would get to me is Wednesday (it was Monday afternoon while I was on the phone with him).

On Tuesday, the original agent called me back and he did a search and found a store that had the SP2 256GB and they agreed to do the over-the-counter exchange. I jumped on the offer! :big smile:

So I went and did the exchange...quite a breeze, actually, and I was very happy. However, I still had the $1,049 hold only credit card because the advanced exchange order had already been started. When I called Support back, they told me just to do a return to sender.

The SP2 from the MS Store finally showed up on Thursday evening. So, problem reported Monday, shipment "received" Thursday; that's 3 business days.

In the end, Thursday would have been fine for me, but I'm glad I did the over-the-counter exchange instead, as it provided me with more time to restore my backup image, etc.

All in all, great support from MS.

 

[tarrant64]

On Sunday, February 9th, as I was preparing for a coast-to-coast trip, my SP2 started to boot into Repair mode only.

I take system image backups, so I immediately attempted to boot via USB, but no luck! I tried the "Battery Out" reset numerous times (i.e., holding the power button and volume down for 20 secs, etc.), but it just would not boot from USB.

I even tried to delete and re-install the default Secure Boot keys, but I got an error message when I tried to install them. So I eventually gave up and decided to call Support Monday morning at the airport because it was already too late Sunday night.

Monday morning before my flight, I called and described my problem. The agent told me that once I arrived, to call back and that he'd then try searching for a store to do an over-the-counter exchange instead. When I arrived, I spoke to a different agent, but he searched and could not find any. He told me that the soonest it would arrive would be 3-5 business days.

That was a problem for me because I was returning back at the end of the week and then leaving for another trip. I didn't want to chance sending it at home, but I also didn't want it to arrive in 4-5 business days, because I would have already left. I ended up taking a chance while on my trip, as the agent said that the earliest it would get to me is Wednesday (it was Monday afternoon while I was on the phone with him).

On Tuesday, the original agent called me back and he did a search and found a store that had the SP2 256GB and they agreed to do the over-the-counter exchange. I jumped on the offer! :big smile:

So I went and did the exchange...quite a breeze, actually, and I was very happy. However, I still had the $1,049 hold only credit card because the advanced exchange order had already been started. When I called Support back, they told me just to do a return to sender.

The SP2 from the MS Store finally showed up on Thursday evening. So, problem reported Monday, shipment "received" Thursday; that's 3 business days.

In the end, Thursday would have been fine for me, but I'm glad I did the over-the-counter exchange instead, as it provided me with more time to restore my backup image, etc.

All in all, great support from MS.

Always been my past experience. Glad that worked out for you!!! My original request was on a Tuesday, got the replacement Friday (3 business days), but it was a faulty unit and that's where it went downhill.