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Why Russell Holly returned his Microsoft Surface Pro - A Cautionary Tale

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Carol Haynes:
Is this accurate?
 (see attachment in previous post)
-Renegade (March 04, 2013, 08:08 AM)
--- End quote ---

Actually you could add Apple and Google on the right too - all becoming the same these days.

wraith808:
Hmmm... this comment sums up my feelings after reading that article.

Seriously? You've "returned Surface Pro, and unlikely to purchase another piece of hardware directly from Microsoft ever again" because one Microsoft store you came to happened to be closed and another was too long a drive to make it that very night? And you think this is a story worth publishing to millions of people?

It's like those people on newegg that give 1 star reviews to Asus motherboards because FedEx took too long to deliver.

--- End quote ---

40hz:
Hmmm... this comment sums up my feelings after reading that article.

Seriously? You've "returned Surface Pro, and unlikely to purchase another piece of hardware directly from Microsoft ever again" because one Microsoft store you came to happened to be closed and another was too long a drive to make it that very night? And you think this is a story worth publishing to millions of people?

It's like those people on newegg that give 1 star reviews to Asus motherboards because FedEx took too long to deliver.

--- End quote ---
-wraith808 (March 04, 2013, 08:37 AM)
--- End quote ---

I think you need to take his words in context with the other information in his article.

It wasn't simply because the store had been closed. It was because he was directed (by a Microsoft employee) to a store located a half hour away that had been closed. And he was then directed (by another Microsoft phone rep) to two other locations which he independently learned had also been closed before he tried going to them. And then, when he was finally able to ask someone at Microsoft (who did seem to know what was going on) why he was misdirected, her lame excuse was that apparently some employees had "not gotten the memo" about those locations being closed.

He is also somebody who needs a reliable mobile platform for his job. So it's not like he was bitching about not being able to access his Steam account. He was also having hardware issues which annoyed him - yet did not go on a rant about any of that - which indicates (to me at least) he's been around long enough to know the score and therefor isn't expecting perfection from any hardware platform.

Point is, you can take any comment in a lengthy article out of context and present it in isolation to make the author appear unreasonable and petty.

I don't think Russell Holly was being at all unreasonable.

And FWIW, I know three people who have bought a Surface so far. One returned hers after it repeatedly crapped out on her right out of the box - and then for good when replacement they gave her started doing the same after a few weeks. Another simply didn't care for it and ended up giving it to one of his kids. And the third (an admitted 'gadget freak') boxed it up and added it to his very large collection of other "abandoned as unusable" devices. (But such is the frequent lot of those who are numbered among the 'early adopters' of any new platform.)

None of these people I know are noobs when it comes to computer tech. In fact, two of them are among the most hard-core "road warrior" users you'll ever meet. So I think there just might be some substance to Holly's article - and some of the criticisms we're reading about Surface in other places on the web.
 :)

TaoPhoenix:

I'm not thrilled with this article either. I liken it to the same way that Verizon has given me horrific lack of service on DSL but once they did finally manage to get the line going, it worked okay.

Customer Service is all the rage now but that's long been one of those things that slips even when Mfg. puts out something decent.

40hz:
It's the same old "jam yesterday, jam tomorrow" argument.

I guess I'm just old fashioned enough to feel that if you're a company with the resources and budget Microsoft can bring to bear on product development, it's not unreasonable to expect a device that works as advertised - and have a company that is willing and able to stand behind it.

I am so sick of the whole "Oh well!" and shrug more and more companies seem to be ok with giving their customers.

You don't get quality from most big businesses these days unless you demand it from them.

Big computer companies need to "Think Different." And well before their customers start answering the question "Where do you want to go today" by saying "Far away from you!"
 8)

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