back to article Pre-ordered a Microsoft Surface? So SORRY it's late, have a voucher

Microsoft is dishing out vouchers to disgruntled Surface customers burned by delays and confusion over shipments of their pre-ordered fondletops. The company has been handing over vouchers worth £50 to those whose Windows-RT tablets have not arrived despite pre-ordering before Thursday’s launch. Surfaces went on sale on 25 …

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  1. pewpie
    Angel

    Article in brief.

    Disappointed with your MS product before you even got it?

    Better get used to that..

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Article in brief.

      Random geek who doesn`t know what he`s talking about slating Microsoft?

      Better get used to that.

      1. Jediben
        FAIL

        Re: Article in brief.

        Downvoting an AC? Better get etc etc...

      2. yossarianuk

        Re: Article in brief.

        Real geeks don't go near Microsoft products,

        1. Jabberwolf

          Re: Article in brief.

          Real geeks do use MS products and do roll them out in the thousands and do check to see if they handle msi packages and AppV, citrix clients, and other desktop management software.

          Real geeks do develop for a 90% of the market. And windows 8 sold more in 1 day than the new OSX in , what, a month?

          Only faketards who make statements "Real geeks don't go near Microsoft products," say things like that while living off mummy and daddy at college or still live at home with them.

          Oh and as for the Surface- Wasnt it supposed to be a failure- but they cant keep them in stock?

          It would take something like a Hurricane to keep people from geting those orders.. oh WAIT - Did the reporter miss that small little storm on the East coast of the USA?

          1. opaque

            Re: Article in brief.

            Because something that should have been received by last week was disturbed by something that's happened this week?

        2. Fatman
          Linux

          Re: ""Real Geeks""...

          enjoy the pleasure of taking a Linux live CD and wiping anything Microsoft from the hard drives of computers they own.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: ""Real Geeks""...

            No, real geeks relish having knowledge and skill in more than one OS.

            Real geeks don't make out that users of the wrong OS are stupid or that the company that made an OS they don't know have never made anything of value.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: ""Real Geeks""...

            "enjoy the pleasure of taking a Linux live CD and wiping anything Microsoft from the hard drives of computers they own."

            Real geeks use neither Linux nor Microsoft.

        3. h4rm0ny

          Re: Article in brief.

          "Real geeks don't go near Microsoft products,"

          Geek is a bizarre cultural export from the American school system where people can't think outside of stereotypes of athletic types and weedy but smart comic book readers. Whether "real geeks" use MS products or not, has little bearing on what professional programmers and IT experts use.

        4. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Article in brief.

          "Real geeks don't go near Microsoft products"

          Real geeks solve problems using the tools required to get the job done. If that includes MS gear, then a geek uses it. Geeks with self-inflated egos and self-important opinion make posts like " Real geeks don't go near Microsoft products"

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Random geeks?

        So, did YOU receive your Surface tablet? Do you know any geeks who HAVE? By your definition, those would be the only ones who DO "know what they're talking about", but it sounds like that would be bigger news than this article.

        1. Danny 14

          Re: Random geeks?

          "Real geeks don't go near Microsoft products"

          Im still trying to find a decent replacement for a GPO based solution in a unix or MS environment.

          1. yossarianuk

            Re: Random geeks?

            OpenSUSE has a nice simple LDAP GPO GUI (compatible with AD's domains) in Yast.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Article in brief.

      Disappointed with your MS product before you even got it?

      They are too!

      p.s. must be those leaves on the tracks, and this snowfall, so unexpected!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Article in brief.

        or a hurricane

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Did someone

      Actually buy the Surface RT or is this a publicity stunt?

  2. Mike 68

    Orders are shipped using UPS

    Well, there's your problem. I've had nothing but trouble with them

    1. wowfood

      Re: Orders are shipped using UPS

      There was no word on what had caused the delays and confusion. Orders are shipped using UPS.

      Ah UPS, the company that tried to charge me £30 customs fee on a £20 item that, after calling the customs guys was actually exempt from customs charges.

      Needless to say I informed them I wouldn't be paying, and I had a written response from customs stating the item was exempt from charges (I didn't, but a little BS goes a long way), and if they wanted their money I'd happily see them in court. I heard no further response.

      UPS

      Unwarrented Postal Surcharges.

      1. Jediben
        Devil

        Re: Orders are shipped using UPS

        Not to be confused with Damaged Parcel Delivered or Drop it, Hide it, Lose it.

        1. AndrueC Silver badge
          Flame

          Re: Orders are shipped using UPS

          Or 'Yodel' - so called because it makes you scream.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Orders are shipped using UPS

        Thay are actually ok until something goes wrong. They have the worst customer service department in the world.

        Shipped with them for four years with no problems. We spent just under $50K per year with them. They the problems started.

        First we shipped a hard to sell item to Canada and then held the shipment at the local depot requesting a Power of Attorney document. Told the rep that it is not required from us but from the buyer for custom clearance but she insisted it is from us and emailed us the document to us for us to complete and fax back. Complete the document and tried faxing it but the fax machine would not pickup. We we got back in touch with the local department the following day they said they always had problems with their FAX machine so we should fax it to another nearby office... we kept them on the phone and they acknowledge receipt of the fax.

        The next day the shipped the package back with our TAX ID written on the label because it was missing the same document which was not required in the first place....

        At this point we contacted their main CS department who informed us that no such document was required of us and that delivery was proceeding. Except we had the package in our position. Had to issue a large refund to the buyer and then ship it Express via FedEx.

        UPS did not refund our shipping charge.

        A month later they ran a forklift through another high value shipment and refused to honor the insure because it was "not properly packaged". We objected in writing with a legal threat and they decided that given the extensive external damage to the package they will honor the warranty. After a month they sent us the documents to file the claim. A month later they told us they need additional pictures even through they had inspected the item a few days after it was delivered. Two weeks later they said they will not pay the claim because of missing documents even though we sent them all the documents they requested. After a phone call they apologized and said we would get a check in the mail in 5 -10 days. One month later we got voice mail saying they need certification of repair cost before they could proceed.

        We wrote off the few thousand we had claimed for the damaged merchandise and have not shipped with them since. We have a number of other business partners local who after we shared our experience with them all switched to FedEx, I am sure this cost them $200K plus worth of business over the past year but I guess for a company with revenues in the billions this is not missed.

        1. Fatman
          FAIL

          Re: Orders are shipped using UPS

          One thing I learned a long time ago when dealing with anyone's customer service department, was get the customer service representative's NAME and extension number.

          God knows how many times an ID10T in CS tells you a some bullshit in order to avoid having to do their job. Then it is quite refreshing to be able to 'rake them over the coals' later when you figure out that you have been "shit upon".

          I had this one CS rep who tried to feed me a line of bullshit, which I wasn't buying, and told her so. As she was hanging up her phone, she let loose a couple of obscenities. She didn't think that I heard her, but not only did I, but my boss, and the cassette recorder on the desk (we were using a speaker phone). I didn't let that one go, and got a hold of her boss. It is kind of hard to deny saying something nasty, when your own words come back to haunt you.

  3. hplasm
    Happy

    See- they have sold out all stock!

    All 10 have gone!

    1. Jabberwolf

      Re: See- they have sold out all stock!

      You are right just multiply that by Million.

      All 10 million of already been sold out.

      http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/1112717570/microsoft-surface-preorders-out-102212/

      And those are the pre-orders.

    2. RICHTO
      Mushroom

      Re: See- they have sold out all stock!

      There were 3 million in the first run I believe....

  4. Richard 81

    Aren't they taking their attempt to emulate Apple a little too far?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "They aren't late, your calendar's wrong"?

  5. Ye Gads
    Unhappy

    I guess this is Microsoft's attempt

    to stop us "holding it wrong".

    We can pay for it but we're not going to be allowed to sully it with our presence....

  6. TheOtherHobbes

    They must have sold out

    [deadpan]

  7. o_0

    Mine arrived at lunch

    I have no shipping confirmation, it just turned up at lunch today. It was supposed to be here on the Friday.

    Still I have a £50 voucher to use which is valid until October 2013 and it only arrived one working day late. I can live with that and so far i'm thoroughly impressed with it!!

    *off to play Angry Birds*

  8. James Chaldecott
    WTF?

    Bad news, Good news

    Mine didn't turn up on Friday (and I got the £50 voucher).

    Last week I phoned them & told them that rather than delivering to my house (where there would likely be no-one in) they should deliver to my work. Said change to the shipping address was showing on the website.

    This morning UPS tried to deliver to my house. No-one was in. Bad form, MS :-(

    Just now, UPS *came back and tried again*. That was a surprise! Thumbs up for the UPS driver! :-)

    Looking forward to getting home & trying it out, now. Hopefully there's lots of obvious & simple apps missing from the store. Then I can write them and sell them to all the waiting punters. Oh, wait... Erm. Sell them to the other 2 ppl at work that have ordered one! ;-)

  9. nsfb

    They didn't offer me a voucher... They attempted to take money from my bank this morning (so it was going to be late), but the bank thought it might be a scam so refused payment until I OK'd it. Microsoft then cancelled my order, and I'm back to the end of the queue, so it seems I'll be getting it three weeks late, and no offer of a voucher.

    1. Tom 38

      Your bank was right.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Err...

      MS canceled your order because you didn't pay, due to your bank's anti fraud systems being triggered. Would you have expected any other company to have sent you a product in such circumstances?

  10. Ryan Spooner

    Got mine! :)

    My original email said the 26th, but better late than never I got it this morning. Very happy with it :) Spent the £50 voucher buying a boxed copy of Windows 8.

    1. Test Man
      Devil

      Re: Got mine! :)

      See, there's a method to Microsoft's madness! ;)

  11. Ryan Spooner
    Happy

    Hurrah!

    Got mine today, delivered by UPS. The Microsoft Store website still says "Order In Process" though, which is a really poor demonstration of Microsoft's competence. Regarding the product itself though, I am very impressed with it :)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Hurrah!

      Maybe MS haven't been updated by UPS, who seem to be the party at fault here?

    2. Ryan Spooner

      Well MS haven't even sent me a shipment email to say it's been shipped yet, and the status still says the exact same that it did when I ordered it on the 16th.

  12. Systems
    Unhappy

    Mine still not here

    I ordered one through work and still no sign of it but I got the £50 voucher. Tomorrow is the final delivery date I guess.

  13. snowdude
    Flame

    It's the lack of information that's killing it

    People generally don't mind if delays occur or mistakes happen they just want to be told what's going on. I pre-ordered my Surface over a week ago (before the sold-out information started appearing) and apart from the order confirmation have received nothing telling me what's going on. Not a single email.

    A phone call to the support line resulted in more confusion as the rep just re-read my order confirmation to me and told me that the web site information was incorrect. Zero information on when orders would be shipped or why delays were occurring. I don't know why I expected better but I did.

  14. RICHTO
    Mushroom

    How do you get the voucher? They are shipping it with the product?

    1. hplasm
      Angel

      But...

      you don't know? Has the hurricane/UPS broken your direct line to Ballmer's mind?

      I'm shocked!

  15. Identity
    Coat

    I think I see the problem here...

    Time is running backwards in Redmond:

    "Microsoft is giving away free upgrades to the Media Center Pack for free to customers who buy Windows 8 Pro between 26 October and 31 January, 2012."

    1. Fatman

      Re: Time is running backwards in Redmond:

      QUICK, get out the DeLorean!!!

  16. Dire Criti¢
    Headmaster

    Where has all the geek commonsense gone?

    Never, ever be the first to spend money on new technology!

    1. hplasm
      Meh

      Re: Where has all the geek commonsense gone?

      I refer you to:-

      "Real geeks don't go near Microsoft products,"

      1. Dire Criti¢

        Re: Where has all the geek commonsense gone?

        "Real geeks don't go near Microsoft products,"

        Real geeks use whatever is appropriate/best for the job regardless of who makes it.

        1. hplasm
          Meh

          Re: Where has all the geek commonsense gone?

          REAL Geeks use whatever is to hand and hack it.

      2. Dana W
        Happy

        Re: Where has all the geek commonsense gone?

        "Real geeks don't go near Microsoft products,"

        Sure we do, then we fix them for the people who pay us and go home and use something that actually works.

  17. Dana W
    Happy

    Ah Microsoft,

    I don't miss you at all.

    1. h4rm0ny

      Re: Ah Microsoft,

      So?

      1. Dana W
        Happy

        Re: Ah Microsoft,

        So? Lets dance!

  18. h3

    The reason why they have stopped the Media Center keys I think is because people were using it to turn a KMS activated Windows 8 Pro (Installed from the retail iso) into a retail copy.

    They would be pretty dumb to continue it anyway as it has been posted on mydigitalife. (Especially with all the extra they put in to stop SLIC bios mod's working.)

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Currencies...

    "a single-use coupon for up to £50 (or $50 Canadian dollars)"

    £50 is about CAD$80

    Curse you Microsoft; currency equivocation strikes again...

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    $50 compensation from from Microsoft Must be spent at

    Errr, Microsoft

    I don't call that compensation, I call it a scam.

    1. h4rm0ny

      Re: $50 compensation from from Microsoft Must be spent at

      How is it a scam? They sent people $50 worth of credit at their store, good for a year. Scams cost you something. This gives you something.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: How is it a scam?

        If they really meant it they'd send a cheque.

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    They'll be giving whole Surfaces away soon like they did with their windows phones.

  22. JaitcH
    Happy

    Out of curiosity I checked with my local ...

    software copy shop, they had Win 8/Metro/whatever on sale for the princely sum of USD$1.

    Since I am a happy XP Pro user, available on a compilation DVD also at $1, I demurred purchasing the latest and 'greatest' Windows.

    Smart users put off purchases until the first Service Pack.

  23. bricksterr

    and the white wine flows...

    After half a century on this planet I'm use to not getting things the moment I want it. I hope nobody lost an eye. You got a 50 dollar app voucher for your delay... sweet.

  24. naive

    MS is courageous for doing this

    MS shows it has really some nerve:

    Making a new OS that differs strongly from its predecessor.

    Going into a new business producing consumer hardware in China.

    Create a lot of publicity, and take on the logistical nightmare to get device, Windows 8, and pricing right into the shops just before Xmas.

    Go into a tablet market that is dominated for 97% by two strong players.

    Go into a new market that is dominated by consumers, not by PC producers which are the actual customers of MS.

    Take on both challenges for new tablets and phones at the same time.

    If they manage to do this all right, and sell a few million well working Windows 8 tablet before the year is over, MS created a miracle.

  25. Jeremy Lloyd
    Thumb Up

    My 64gb surface arrived on friday

    It's worth the wait. Other than iplayer all the apps I need are already in the store. The iPad will go back in the pool. No 3g but using the WiFi hotspot on my Nokia 800 works a treat. 3g on the iPad wasn't great anyway.

    1. Lockwood

      Re: My 64gb surface arrived on friday

      "The iPad will go back in the pool."

      Too good for it, I say!

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Impacted customers?

    As an adjective I've seen "impacted" used with some words but never to describe a customer.

    Impacted wisdom teeth, impacted stools... But surely for customers it should be "affected"?

  27. Lockwood

    Apple: We can't fulfil your order right now, we've run out. Tough titties. = YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME

    Microsoft: We can't fulfil your order right now, UPS are playing up a bit. Have £50. = YOU GUYS SUCK AND ARE EVIL AND I HATE YOU!1111oneoneone

    Seems legit.

  28. Tidosho
    Stop

    Three days behind Neowin with this!

    Neowin reported this on the 26th so it's already old news. As I was the first commenter there, I'll repeat here: Demand has obviously outsurpassed supply. It happens, get over it!

    You know the Chinese sellers in GTAIV that keep saying, "All the news, only one day after the internet!"? Yours should be, "All tech news, three days after Neowin!" They're faster than you, hence why they're my preferred site, they're not pro-Apple either.

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