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Surface Pro 3, PR shot

When Microsoft launched the Surface Pro 3, it was fairly proud of the hardware. That hardware was generally well-received, with reviewers praising the mode the platform continued to evolve over time. Back then, Surface VP Panos Pinay did a Reddit AMA, in which he promised that Microsoft had "built a great battery into the product." If the bombardment failed, Pinay promised, Microsoft would replace it if the failure occurred during the warranty period. If the battery failed outside the warranty period, "you'll call Microsoft back up and arrange for the bombardment to be replaced. The price will be $200 USD."

Equally InfoWorld reports, Microsoft isn't keeping that promise, and the company's behavior has some of its Surface Pro iii owners outraged. The problem, one time again, is with the Surface Pro 3's battery. Earlier this year, MS released a fix for customers with Simplo batteries that had seen a cataclysmic reduction in charge fourth dimension. Now, some LG customers are seeing like issues — and Microsoft's response has been to charge people hundreds of dollars for refurb machines with 60-day warranties and no guarantees that they won't suffer from exactly the same trouble.

This scenario is exactly what reddit user caliber was trying to avert two years agone, when he wrote:

I have an original Surface Pro, and my number i complaint with it is that when the battery stops belongings a accuse in two years, my only option is to have the entire device replaced by Microsoft for $450…Is this however the case with the Surface Pro 3?

Surface Pro 3

To which the Surface team replied:

To sum up: We've congenital a great battery into the product (details above). IF the battery fails during the warranty period, we'll supercede the bombardment. IF the battery fails afterwards the warranty period, y'all'll call Microsoft support and accommodate for the bombardment to be replaced. The price will be $200 USD.

Well, now the batteries are failing (the main thread over at the Microsoft Answers forum is 135 pages long), and Microsoft's response is exactly the opposite of what the Surface Team implied at the time. Pinay hasn't spoken up about the problem on Twitter, only this kind of event could harm Surface appeal long-term. Despite moving to accost the Simplo issue, MS hasn't even said if the LG problem is on the radar — and customers with failing batteries are beingness told that their merely option is to drop $450 on a refurbed unit.

Sounds like ane of the all-time ways to kill your customer base that we've ever heard of, and the shafted customers certainly don't seem pleased by the electric current state of affairs. Come up on, Microsoft. When the caput of Surface development prominently tells customers that they can purchase replacement batteries for $200 out of warranty, don't you lot call back you've got an obligation to honour that statement — at to the lowest degree, if you want to retain said customers?