Honestly, a bit ticked off with Microsoft's Advanced Exchange warranty service

[Greywolf1967]

As a person who has worked MANY years with several OEM's, let me explain how it works.

First of all, your device should NOT have arrived like it was. There was no excuse for that and I am not defending them on any level.

Warranty items are nearly ALWAYS replaced with refurbished items. First, you have to understand what constitutes something that is refurbished. Did you know
that if an OEM mails you a device and you don't even open it and send it back still sealed it can no longer be sold as new? It HAS to be resold and handled as a refurbished item.
Other times, quality assurance people will pull a fully finished product off the line, either right after its boxed or right before its box, and test it. That item (as long as it works
properly) is also labeled as refurbished. How about the person that lies about the return or maybe thinks its a hardware problem but it's not? This gives the OEM a HUGE
inventory of refurbished items. They try to sell some of them but the bulk go to replace items under warranty.

Remember, you already opened your item. It's used. So, they are sending you back another opened item. NOW. Refurbished items are TESTED before they are sent out.
Or at least they are supposed to be. Still unsure how you got a scratched up device. BUT,you might get another new one in the mail that for some reason does not work.
They cannot test a new device. They can test refurbished devices. They test it to make sure it passes inspection and then send it along to you. It SHOULD look like new.

I have no problem with refurbished devices. Sometimes I prefer them because I know someone verified it worked before they sent it to me,

I am one who does not mind things like Refurb, Open Box, Demo Model. I look for items like this as the money you save is unreal.

On the day I went shopping for a Laptop and a new wireless desk set, I hit my usual suspects looking for end of line or on sale items.

I ended up with the last Netbook in a Samsung line ( a demo model ), I was not going to buy, until the sales guy chopped off 15% off the sale price. He also expanded the 15% off to the Wireless set and a set of JBL speakers.

Stores will have some play in price when they want to change their shelf space for newer models that come in, and all demo units come with the same warranty as a new in box item. Plus add the fact with electronics any failure/fault has past, unlike a new in box item that once home up to a month later it's back in box because a chip fails.

Refurbished items are awesome as they also most times carry a Manufacture Warranty and the price is so much better !!! You are also still close to the cutting edge.

I for one hope it never catches on as the more who start to save money make it harder for me to get to the deals in time :smile:

 

[peachy001]

I also like a bargain. The deal I got was for a brand new Xbox One. The one they sent me looks like some low rent refurb. I actually have said to them I will keep it if they can offer me something in return. I honestly cannot be bothered with having to faff about organising for my gf to be in when they come to pick it up etc.

 

[M Coffey]

Yes, you can find some great deals on refurbished items. I got my Asus TF600T (Vivotab RT) with the kayboard for $200.00 on a refurbished listing.
The unit arrived in a white box but all cables were included and unit looked brand new. It has worked flawless since I received it.

 

[fieldbaker]

I just sent my 1 week old Surface 2 into exchange because it was faulty. I talked to a guy on the phone and he said i would get a refurbished device. I talked to another guy on Microsoft chatt and he said i would get a new one. Who of them are correct?

This means i payed full price for a used device?

 

[seb_r]

In January I had to get my Type Cover replaced. Initially I had chosen the advance exchange. But they could not authorize my credit card - although it was the same card I used to buy from MS store. After three days of emails and phonecalls I gave up and agreed to do the standard exchange. I not received (here in germany) any apologies or compensation for that and I not noticed any special effort of them to get the issue resolved.
Now i noticed on my Surface RT a very common problem: the card reader is only recognizing the hard if its pushed down and held in place by hand. Regarding the thread I am kinda scared to initiate an exchange as my device is in pretty good condition. A while ago I read they only ship new Surface RT's for warranty replacements. That would make sense as there were lot of unsold Surface RT devices as we all know. But obviously that has changed now?! Anybody did a replacement recently and can report?

 

[Celandine]

I bought a new RT on ebay with my tax refund. It came with a warranty. Once it arrived, it was great. Pristine condition and it loaded all the updates beautifully. I downloaded a few apps like Netflix where I could check out video playback. That's where I ran into the problem. Playback was pixelated and green. Tried going to the website thinking maybe the app was faulty, but had the same problem. Tried sideloading a few videos onto the micro card and watching it through different video apps found in the store which I had to download. Same results.

I phoned MS and told them my problem. They spent the next two days trying to help work out my problem by calling me back and seeing out the solutions they were suggesting were working. Finally, it was decided that I had a bad graphics card. They told me to send my RT back and they would send me another. Shipped it off through UPS and about a week later, I received my refurbished RT from MS. Honestly, it was in great condition. No scratches to the screen or body and once I installed all the updates and loaded my apps onto it, it worked perfectly. Video playback was wonderful and I havent had a problem with it since.

A couple days after I received my RT in the mail, I had a MS rep call me back to find out how the device was doing and if there was anything else they could do for me. This was absolutely THE best customer service I received from any company. They took the time to help and I was pleased that they even did a follow-up call. Will definitely buy from MS again.

 

[berty6294]

I bought a new RT on ebay with my tax refund. It came with a warranty. Once it arrived, it was great. Pristine condition and it loaded all the updates beautifully. I downloaded a few apps like Netflix where I could check out video playback. That's where I ran into the problem. Playback was pixelated and green. Tried going to the website thinking maybe the app was faulty, but had the same problem. Tried sideloading a few videos onto the micro card and watching it through different video apps found in the store which I had to download. Same results.

I phoned MS and told them my problem. They spent the next two days trying to help work out my problem by calling me back and seeing out the solutions they were suggesting were working. Finally, it was decided that I had a bad graphics card. They told me to send my RT back and they would send me another. Shipped it off through UPS and about a week later, I received my refurbished RT from MS. Honestly, it was in great condition. No scratches to the screen or body and once I installed all the updates and loaded my apps onto it, it worked perfectly. Video playback was wonderful and I havent had a problem with it since.

A couple days after I received my RT in the mail, I had a MS rep call me back to find out how the device was doing and if there was anything else they could do for me. This was absolutely THE best customer service I received from any company. They took the time to help and I was pleased that they even did a follow-up call. Will definitely buy from MS again.

Word for word how my exchange went with my first Surface RT almost a year and a half ago!

 

[Abdulrahman al-mathkor]

talking to them right now, 3 days used surface tablet and they want to replace mine with a refurbished; sending it to the retailer would cost too much since I'm living abroad ( uk for studies) they keep bouncing me around and even tried to justify it by saying I agreed to this by agreeing to their rules and regulations when I started my device. and they say its standard business procedure :angry:
edit: more than 15 minutes without a reply; convo has been going on for an hour now; mostly then trying to convince me used docent mean. its not good.