Surface Pro upgrade

[zatoitchi]

Hi All,

I called the Surface team the other day to ask if they would take my month and half Surface pro as a trade in for the newly released Surface pro 2. I was on the phone for over a hour and spoke to numerous people ending with a regional manager. I was told nothing could be done but if I had a Ipad I could trade that in.

I was shocked.

I have been really enjoying the pro and 8.1 except for some bugs and my biggest grip, battery life which is not even close to my 2011 mac air, which is only still with me as backup.

Microsoft/ Surface team, you have a amazing product but a lot of influences need to be swayed for this to be a home run. Take a cue from some of your competitors customer service techniques. When you help a customer solve a reasonable request you gain a customer for life.

 

[oion]

Apple allows direct trade-ups for iPad, Macbooks, and so on? Dell or others for laptops? Amazon's Kindle?

A trade-up is not the same as a trade-in; as far as I know, only cellular providers offer the former. Nearly all companies offer the latter.

(P.S.: Reselling a Pro is far better than any trade-in credit program right now anyway.)

 

[Krooked]

I agree oion.

I would never complain about not being offered a trade-in/trade-up deal.

It is infinitely better to sell the hardware yourself and collect the 2X + money you receive (above and beyond what a manufacturer would offer) and then go buy your new toy.

 

[gangolfus]

Marketing dollars go towards acquiring new customers, not retaining existing ones. That's why cell phone and cable providers will give you super low rates the first year but will let you walk afterwards. I don't get it, but that's the way it is.

 

[oion]

Marketing dollars go towards acquiring new customers, not retaining existing ones. That's why cell phone and cable providers will give you super low rates the first year but will let you walk afterwards. I don't get it, but that's the way it is.

Speaking of trade-ups: cellular services have traditionally been different from all other device vendors. Because you require a device with a plan/service and vice versa, a trade-up to keep people interested in staying with the service makes perfect sense. However, some companies are moving away from the plan model entirely, so I have no idea how the industry will look in a couple years.

 

[mtalinm]

My local Microsoft store gave me $350 for mine. Of course, I bought on launch day whereas yours is much newer. But they can't sell a used machine as new, so there is necessarily a steep discount.

Good luck to you.

 

[oion]

First gen Surface Pros (64GB) sell for $500 on eBay, FYI. (Minimum average.)

 

[Arizona Willie]

One of the BIGGEST problems with Microsoft, if not the biggest one, is that you play hell trying to get tech support from Americans who can speak English. Tech Support comes from India -- if you can get through at all.

A couple of days ago I was willing to PAY Microsoft for tech support to solve the problem I was having with Search and Indexing and jumped through all the hoops to talk to a " LIVE TECH " on the phone .... it didn't work so then they were going to call me when a tech was available. My phone rang and a computerized voice said they were going to connect me and then I got nothing but static and faint music breaking up in the background. After about 5 minutes sitting there listening to static I hung up and gave up.

Fortunately I finally solved the problem ( I think, so far so good ).

But there is certainly no thanks due to Microsoft.

Hi All,

I called the Surface team the other day to ask if they would take my month and half Surface pro as a trade in for the newly released Surface pro 2. I was on the phone for over a hour and spoke to numerous people ending with a regional manager. I was told nothing could be done but if I had a Ipad I could trade that in.

I was shocked.

I have been really enjoying the pro and 8.1 except for some bugs and my biggest grip, battery life which is not even close to my 2011 mac air, which is only still with me as backup.

Microsoft/ Surface team, you have a amazing product but a lot of influences need to be swayed for this to be a home run. Take a cue from some of your competitors customer service techniques. When you help a customer solve a reasonable request you gain a customer for life.

 

[CrippsCorner]

Marketing dollars go towards acquiring new customers, not retaining existing ones. That's why cell phone and cable providers will give you super low rates the first year but will let you walk afterwards. I don't get it, but that's the way it is.

Well you've sort of got a point but if you're trading up then they're still getting more money out of you...