“It is irritating beyond belief that within a few years, Surface went from Apple-like support to worse than even a sketchy corner PC shop.”
This is sad as can be…what FUBAR!
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Yeah, and I am not going to go the typical route of “I cry uncle, count my losses, and I will just buy a new tablet.” I paid for Microsoft Complete for Business, literally $100s with the assurance of three years of hassle-free use, and to not get serviced as was agreed upon is breach of contract and I will fight it through if I have 100s of tickets and engage their legal if necessary. In the words of Microsoft Complete for Business advertised lingo, “3-5 business days response time” which is defined as receiving a replacement in that timeframe as has always been the expectation. Heaven help the plan holders out there with Microsoft Complete for Business Plus and Microsoft Complete for Enterprise who are supposedly promised to have their replacement units shipped overnight! You will get a real laugh out of this in the official literature for Microsoft Complete for Business:
Yeah, I am totally missing the “peace of mind,” “well protected,” and “optimal efficiency” parts. 
You would not be the least bit surprised why even I of all people am now musing moving to Apple after this disaster. If sideloading happens and I can run Windows in a VM on an Apple iPad Pro, it is practically a guarantee unless Microsoft moves heaven and earth to regain my trust in their failing Surface brand. Heck, I would even consider getting the Robo & Kala 2 next year if it heavily undercuts the Surface Pro 10 because this eerily reminds me of how low-quality AliExpress tech brands operate with their warranty support or lack thereof.
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Ah, but the question is: will you come back if they bring out a renewed Surface Pro X with Snapdragon X…and all the other “X”-ceptional WOA goodness we’re hoping for?
A lot of companies play innocent when new hotness proves an abandoned product: “We’ve always been on the forefront of innovation with Surface”, “Surface has always been our vision for the PC”, “We’re here to thank all Surface users”…all the sweet talk that you want to just fall into as you take out the credit card.
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Well, there is our forum’s top secret Surface demo deal hack (which I will probably succumb to 
) but…
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Are there ever any deals on Ms Complete? It’s basically $100/yr for the SLS2. 
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I feel your frustration. My recent support experience was so bad I think my next device might be a business tablet with a kickstand from whichever OEM’s option is better optimized for Linux.
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Very bad of MS and I would not have expected they would treat the business sector that way. Personally I would like to buy Surface Pro one day (when ram 32 gb ram gets a normal price tag), but your and JoeS posts definitely learned me to get good/full warranty not from MS but from a reputable store (I don’t live in the US so that helps).
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@here
Adding some helpful information below which sprang out of an extended discussion on Reddit about Microsoft Complete:
Respectfully disagreed. I have been using commercial Complete plans since practically the dawn of time with the Surface Pro 2 so I am thoroughly acquainted with the intricacies and gotchas. Let me correct some points here.
You don’t need complete for business to get advanced exchange. The Commercial Pro 8 comes with advanced exchange as a part of buying it.
I would advise you consult a direct Microsoft sales representative or a competent Complete specialist like Protected Trust and not lesser sources such as the “slave” sales staff at CDW’s sweat shop who often do sales as a side gig (one person I engaged with CDW years ago was a news reporter and had zero tech background or experience and it really showed) and are clueless more times than not. Yes, it is true that commercial Surfaces come with Advanced Exchange but that is not the full story. Microsoft’s sales literature also calls out advanced exchange as an added benefit of the commercial Microsoft Complete plans. The commercial plans (Microsoft Complete for Business, Microsoft Complete for Business Plus, and Microsoft Complete for Enterprise) cover both the credit hold and deductible that would otherwise be required for an advanced exchange under a consumer Microsoft Complete plan (note: advanced exchange is discontinued for consumer plans).
Further, and this is a hack seldom known except by supervisors within Microsoft’s sales team, you can even cross-apply or mix and match Microsoft Complete plans. So you easily apply both consumer Microsoft Complete to commercial Surface products and commercial Microsoft Complete to consumer Surface products, and both are valid. I recommended commercial Microsoft Complete a couple years ago when users started to experience issues with consumer Microsoft Complete but now that commercial Microsoft Complete is also falling short, the recommendation is less useful. With service quality having gone downhill, the only remaining unique benefits now are there is no credit hold for advanced exchange nor is there a deductible (this appeals to businesses by eliminating them having to engage their financial staff for deductible charges nor having to pay out of pocket for device claims which can be common in some industries) in the case of accidental drops or damage.
It averages 3-5 days.
No, the “resolution time” per sales literature for commercial Microsoft Complete is “3-5 business days” for the Business SKU, and 24 hours or “overnight” for the Business Plus and Enterprise SKUs. The reason that message was generated is because they are not honoring the time definite window of 3-5 business days, and a delay alert was signaled.
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@here
Just so others do not drive for hours to find this out, I made a call and got in touch with the store management at one of the Best Buy locations certified as “service centers.” First of all, the kind lady I spoke with explained that they are not service centers. The few US-based Best Buy “Service Centers”, contrary to the blatantly deceptive naming on Microsoft’s website, do no service. They do not do repairs and they certainly do not do same day swap-out replacements. The only operative sentence is this:
If the Service Center Associates are not able to resolve the issue, they can help facilitate sending your device to Microsoft for repair or replacement.
That is it. They are just a shipping drop-off point deceptively branded as a “service center”, and they are no different than if you got a shipping label with Microsoft Support and handed it off to FedEx or UPS. Also, as an additional warning, the sentence that immediately follows isn’t a glimmer of hope and…
If a new device is preferred, an Associate can match you with a new Microsoft product that best meets your needs.
…isn’t remotely suggesting that you can get matched up with a swap-out replacement in store. Rather, they can upsell you a new Surface if you do not want to wait.
Talk about shady and sneaky deceptive business practice. By the way, Best Buy is not thrilled with how they are being mislabeled in this game of smoke and mirrors by Microsoft as it does them no favors in terms of customer satisfaction. Indeed, Microsoft Surface support is on life support.
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I had the same response when I went to my local best buy. They just send it to MS on your behalf with slightly faster shipping(3 days vs standard shipping) from what the employee told me.
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@here
This dumpster fire continues–now three weeks in. If Apple opens sideloading on iPad Pro, I am gone from Surface. I cannot even believe this is the same company I first dealt with nearly 10 years ago. I do not recognize them. Maybe time to go to small claims court to really light a fire under their butts?
https://twitter.com/hifihedgehog/status/1729925414187933926
https://twitter.com/hifihedgehog/status/1729926104188686538
https://twitter.com/hifihedgehog/status/1729938501246820403
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wow that is frustrating.
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This is not “frustrating” it is f’g ridiculous. It’s as bad as one of those no-name Chinese imports selling at Dollar General for $299…
It’s also proof to me there will be NO Surface after Surface 10 - and perhaps even not a Surface 10. No support infrastructure is a clear sign of product rot…
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Robo & Kala has infinitely better support. When I told them I was returning my unit to Amazon, they were very communicative and helpful. And before I even mentioned returns, they just were bubbling with helpful representatives who wanted to answer my questions. With Microsoft, I am just told to go and pound sand because “[they] appreciate me” so much. Well, if that is appreciation, I might as well go and drink a bottle of Clorox.
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I’d say far worse, as they don’t have the audacity of selling you a “Complete” business warranty plan—then telling you to go pound sand.
(And anecdotally, those Chinese manufacturers actually have a pretty good rate of providing some form of warranty replacement/repair, often just by messaging on the shopping platform. 
)
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You hit the nail on the head! Microsoft Complete is now a scam—full stop. It is only good for a currently in-production product from which they can pull stock, so within approximately two years from the product’s release date. Beyond that, you are at their mercy to tenuously scrape up a remanufactured unit.
The issue here, in my case, is they say they have no Surface Pro 8 units in stock for replacement, yet their verbiage states they can replace it with whatever other unit they have immediately in stock. So, following their own verbiage, they have Surface Pro 9’s in stock and they have even acknowledged this, but they refuse to pull from that stock despite what they tell me.
In the past, Surface’s Business Support would supply a newer model of Surface if an older model were unavailable. They are being cheapskates, trying to push Complete owners into a corner: either wait for weeks/months hoping a replacement unit eventually arrives on their doorstep (and to remind everyone following this, after I did wait for two weeks, my first refurbished unit that I received was damaged with a scratch on the top bezel and a gouge on the right speaker grill!) or buy a new Surface (so pushing them into a sale).
So, they are selling a protection plan that they have zero intention of fully honoring for the duration of the plan’s term. Very dirty and deceptive!
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I just was reminded of an experience I had that might be relevant to your case:
About ˜1-2 years before the MS Stores closed, this kind of suspect warranty service was already apparent. I brought in an original SP1 (under Complete coverage; keyboard connector failure) into the store, and after a looong battle with manager, they finally agreed to do an in-store replacement.
The thing is, the unit they brought out had a very deep nick—clearly refurbished, but packed like new. They didn’t offer to closely inspect the unit as most store do, so I had to actually stop the process to do a once over. (Black chassis tend to hide dings, so I was lucky I spotted it in the rush.)
When I pointed out the defect, the manager actually visibly sighed! Rather than apologizing, he seemed actually annoyed. I was shocked at the deterioration of service.
Anyways, the relevant point here is that this kind of policy of thrusting damaged (B-grade) refurbs onto Complete customers has likely been policy for years now. Given that even the manager seemed stressed by a simple warranty replacement, they are probably under a strict script when dealing with claims.
I would re-read your policy carefully to see if they are even allowed to give you a refurb (didn’t check my coverage, as I had already wasted over an hour at the store), and in the that event, the unit must be “free from defects” and covered under the same terms (in the event you have problems again).
Just a little flashback that might offer some ideas.
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FWIW from what we hear from the folks we work with, MS is not satisfied with complete either (major money loser allegedly) and is looking to either completely (pun intended) eliminate it and/or revamp and outsource it.
Rumor is that BB has submitted a proposal for Geek Squad to take it up.
I’ll leave judgement on that until when/if that actually happens
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Interesting. I wonder how they would manage that with the enterprise customers who deploy Surfaces. I know at least some school systems allegedly (per the Microsoft Surface events a few years back) use Surface and would undoubtedly enroll in Microsoft Complete for Business and/or Enterprise for “hassle-free” repair and replacement. Moving those entities to a consumer-centric solution of requiring IT staff to drive to Best Buy to get support would submarine the brand in the commercial space. Hearing that rumor leads me to believe they have no idea what to do with the brand to make it profitable and likely view Surface as an albatross to their cloud and AI goals.
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This is…odd. They wrote the terms, so they should have a pretty good idea of the liabilities going in.
Complete is not cheap, and they already cut the cost of physical stores. If they’re still losing major money, it can only mean they significantly underestimated the failure rate.
Can we take this as evidence that Surface units still have a raised defect rate compared to industry average?
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