Customer Service unacceptable

[Sam Lerman]

I had preordered the Surface Pro 4 and was excited to learn to use it. I knew I would need customer support, as I have been using an IPad, so I purchased the 2 year unlimited support. My last laptop had Windows 7, which I had no problems with. However, I have several questions about Windows 10 and am at my wits end with their terrible Customer Support. I am on always on hold for at least 30 to 60 minutes. Then someone finally picks up who is insufficiently trained and difficult to communicate with. Today I spoke with someone in Surface support who took my phone number in case we were disconnected. We were of course disconnected and I did not receive a call back. I did not receive answers to any of my questions. Does anybody have the contact info that I can register my extreme displeasure at the lack of trained customer support? If I can't successfully figure out how to sync everything and learn this computer, I will have no option but to return it. I like the combo of touch screen and keypad, which is not offered by Apple, and would prefer to keep it, but I am pulling my hair out trying.

 

[leeshor]

Welcome to the forum

This is a pretty good resource for asking questions. You can also log in at Microsoft Surface Devices – The most productive devices on the planet and there is a support section there with answers and also a place to contact the help desk.

My experience with support, other than the wait time, has been pretty good.

 

[Sam Lerman]

Thanks,
Just a few questions to start.
How do I increase the size of the task bar icons? Small icons is unchecked.
Also, having difficulty editing my calendar and contact list , also are not syncing with my IPad or IPhone. ICloud is downloaded.
How do I make the default text size larger, especially for sending emails.
I am disappointed in the app selection, looking for some basic ones like Amazon instant video and Xfinity.
The task bar sometimes disappears and I can't figure out why.
The track pad is jumpy.
How do I opt out of the ridiculous number of intrusive ads?


As you can see, lots of questions, and have called customer support several times but not received one useful answer. Hopefully, this forum will be helpful. I appreciate any answers.

 

[leeshor]

I don't think there is a way to increase the size of the taskbar icons, unless you by some chance decreased then. That may be the case if the taskbar is auto hiding. Right click on the taskbar and go to properties and check. That's where you can reduce the size and autohide.

What difficulties are you having with editing the calendar and contacts and what accounts have you added, and is it the stock mail app or Outlook?

Where Amazon and Xfinity are concerned you should be able to access them through a browser, (it doesn't work like Apple or Android)

Where are you seeing those ads?

 

[jnjroach]

Or you can start with the Surface Book User Guide:

http://download.microsoft.com/downl...6-5CF0D803EEE0/surface-book-user-guide-EN.pdf

Remember, this is a Windows Laptop that can be a tablet with a fully functional browser of your choice.

 

[Sam Lerman]

Thank you for your responses. It is most appreciated. I don't know which calendar I have as the microsoft person at the kiosk set it up for me, but I believe it is the iCloud. I am beginning to think that I am not computer literate enough to handle this computer, as Windows 10 is not as user friendly as I hoped.
My expectations for my 7 year old laptop were not what they are today for a new computer. Now I want apps, better phone support or at least a chat support. I want to be able to personalize the fonts for my old eyes. Sometimes I can edit the calendar and sometimes I can't even get the full calendar listing. It is inconsistent and I can't figure out why. The same happens with the contact list.

Years ago we stopped buying Dell computers when they moved their customer service offshore and the level of service went downhill. I'm not saying the same is true here, but perhaps not a good fit for me. The small task bar icons are enough to be a fatal flaw, and the lack of decent phone support that I actually paid extra for is perhaps a deal breaker. I will give it one more week to see if I can work it out. I have an appointment at the Microsoft store for an hour of one on one training on Friday, but it is an hour away, and I had an emergency appendectomy over the weekend (not my best Halloween) and not sure I will be able to drive that far yet.

 

[leeshor]

As with any major change it may take a little time but everything becomes familiar at some point and then it becomes old hat. You can, in the screen properties, increase the size of some default fonts and icons. The default setting says 200% is recommended but you can go higher. Most other changes would be on an app by app basis.

Also don't forget that you have a touch screen that can be pinched and zoomed.

 

[Sam Lerman]

DISCONNECTED AGAIN! I called support because my iCloud calendar is not consistently working, and I am only getting about 3 hours at most of battery life. I spoke to a very nice person who put me on hold to research the issue. While waiting, the call was disconnected. This has happened every time I call them. Do I continue to beat myself over the head?

 

[Sam Lerman]

Ok, I tried one more time. Reached a very nice person who asked that I download yesterday's update and I rebooted. I have 3 current issues: my iCloud calendar is not working, hello is no longer recognizing my face, and the battery life is about 3 hours. She promised to call me back if we got disconnected. I was encouraged! Then she put me on hold to research the issues. I have been on the line for 1 hour and 10 minutes, mostly on hold. I made a sandwich and ate it. I even listened to a bit of Christmas music. No one has tried to call me back.

 

[verizonil]

I have found another bug. Right now only the type cover 3 and 4 are working with the SP4. I spoke and chatted with tech support today and went through all of the troubleshooting and found out there is a known bug with type cover 1 and 2 working right now. I confirmed it today when I went and bought a new type cover 4 and it works perfect. The tech also admitted there are quite a few known issues and it will take "a month or two" to work out the bugs like they did with the SP3. Overall though this time my wait times were nearly nothing and I have to say my experiences have been mostly positive with Microsoft tech support.

 

[Sam Lerman]

I have decided that although I would have eventually worked through these glitches, something else will surely come up, and I cannot keep this computer without decent customer support. I do not have a circle of highly capable Windows experts to rely on. Although I prefer the Surface hardware, I have had an excellent experience with Apple customer support over the years. I am returning my Surface 4 tomorrow and getting a Mac. Microsoft, if you are reading this, please listen and bring your support team to the U.S. if you want to compete in the market for nontechies.

 

[Johnny365]

With these devices just releasing, it takes a good 1-2 months for updates to fix all the problems, even Apple devices. I understand that is what you are used to, as with OSX and Macintosh computers.

For those wondering why the swift return, if you aren't used to a particular OS, it can be frustrating and a lot of customer service reps are now a combination of overseas and us-based speakers (depending on the times). Perhaps you will revisit the SP4 in the next year. If given the time, it's much more capable than a traditional Apple iPad.