Microsoft Store Online Surface Book Order Issues

[TJFriday]

So as others have seen in another thread here, the Microsoft Store has started order fulfillment for Surface Book pre-orders. Charging of customers payment has occurred. However, in my case, my order was inadvertently cancelled by Microsoft due to issues with their order processing and this is affecting others, as well. I've had to open a case with the Microsoft Store Online Customer Service team in an attempt to preserve my pre-order (which I've been informed may not happen due to insufficient availability of product). The cancellation occurred because their attempt to charge my payment (Chase Visa) tripped the bank's fraud detection system due to an issue arising at MS Store Online. I contacted the MS Store Online Customer Service at 1-877-696-7386 immediately and worked with their people to get a payment to go through. Working directly with MS MS Store Online Customer Service personnel, they were unable to authorize any form of payment for the order. Even after directly authorizing the payment with the bank and attempting resubmission using the same form of payment and another different form (PayPal), the transaction still errored out. After 5 attempts, the system automatically cancelled the order and the CS rep could not simply reinstate the order or attempt to process further payment.

I was told by two separate CS reps that this is not an isolated issue today (they said they're receiving many calls about this) and that MS Store Online currently is looking into the problem. I was informed to expect a call back within 24 hours. Unfortunately, the reps did not sound optimistic about being able to reinstate the orders, but we'll see. They also requested that another order not be submitted in case an attempt to try to resurrect the cancelled orders could occur if they're able to work through the problem.

For those of you with pre-orders, I hope you're not amongst those of us caught in pre-order-limbo-hell. I wish you all the best. This is not my first time with issues similar to this from the MS Store Online, so I'm not going to be overly optimistic that this will be handled as it should. So while pre-sales and sale though the MS Store Online has been a huge struggle, I've had wonderful experiences with the post-sales support at the local MS Store here (thus, my reasoning from buying directly from Microsoft and including the MS Care for the Surface Book in my order). It's unfortunate that they're having a rough time maintaining a smooth customer experience.

 

[kittengirl]

I have personally had lots of problems with the MS store triggering fraud on my cards - it has specifically happened in my case with my Zune subscription - two years in a row. Mine is a BofA Visa. So, as a result, I use my Amex card for these orders - their fraud protection seems to not have the MS store flagged.

I think that the reason it is so common for it to flag fraud is that it shows up on the systems the same as the xBox store, or app store, and a charge of over $1000 (or even over $100, as was the case with my Zune Pass) would be suspect.

 

[afcor]

My Mastercard, with USAA, also declined the charge this morning. I went into the order as soon as I got up this morning and changed payment to be my normal Microsoft card. Fortunately, I instantly received an email saying the updated information was able to be processed, and a quick check now shows me a status of "in process" with a ship by date of 26 October. Looks like I magically avoided the incredible hassle you'be been saddled with!

 

[xboxonthego3]

My brother had a similar issue when he preordered the Surface Pro 3. There was no way of getting the order back after it was canceled. So he went and bought his from Best Buy on release day instead of waiting a month for it to arrive because of reordering thru Microsoft. I'm really surprised they wrote an article about this kind of stuff. But i'm guessing it is happening more often then it should.

 

[Yonic Boom]

Bank of America has never caught a case of genuine fraud on my account.

They have however caused me of a lot of hassle with false positives.

 

[eastbayrae]

USAA got me too, they later declined it again after I called them. MS CSR told me their system would make 5 total attempts before dropping the order. They said if the order gets dropped then I go to the back of line, essentially starting over. MS store also declined two other cards. They are a nightmare to deal with. Yet the same card they declined I charged $5k later the same day without issue. MS and Sony seam to have the same issues: awesome products and total garbage advertising/sales. So sad.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[kk4df]

Mine cancelled as well. Called card company to make sure would not fail again, and authorization failed again; failed again. Two more good cards tried, and both failed. Order automatically cancelled.

MS store said this is their #1 issue. They took my order number, and promised me an email within 24 hours to help resolve this issue. The wait begins, again...

 

[afcor]

USAA not only refused the charge to the Microsoft store, but they also put a temporary block on my whole account! They must have a lot of fraudulent charges that look like they come from Microsoft...

 

[kittengirl]

That's exactly what happened multiple times with my BofA card when I had it tied to my Zune account.

 

[kk4df]

Two calls to MS Store yesterday had no real results; first said expect an email within 24 hours, second said reorder and go to the back of the line. Another call this morning, after waiting 27 hours without the promised email, resulted in a new order and a promise of reasonably quick delivery. She told me not to expect delivery on launch day, but my new order would be at the "front" of the line. Hopefully still sometime next week, but no promises.