Microsoft Support

You often read about companies messing up with customer support, so I figured I’d write a short article to praise Microsoft for my great support experience.

Last year I purchased a Microsoft Surface Pro 3 tablet. Some minor performance issue aside, I have really enjoyed using the device. Unfortunately a while back I noticed that the tip of my Surface Pen started to bend a bit and I noticed it has a small crack, which fairly rapidly expanded as I used the pen. The pen included with the Surface Pro 3 does not have replaceable tips, so I got a bit worried. After searching online, I found a new tip for roughly 8.50 EUR (or let’s say about 10 USD) on AliExpress, which I personally thought was a bit too expensive for a tiny piece of plastic.

This did indicate to me that it should be possible to replace the tip. A lot of Q/A sites suggested taking the pen apart using tools and brute force to remove the tip, but not wanting to damage the expensive tool, I figured out that you can easily remove the tip by using some tweezers to just pull it out. It goes fairly deep into the pen to reach the pressure sensor.

Now that I had removed the tip, I figured I would contact Microsoft about getting a new tip, as it’s not possible to just buy replacements from them and a new Surface Pro 4 pen is a bit too expensive to replace a pen that’s perfectly fine aside from the tip. I swiftly got a reply on twitter:

@frederichannes You can get tips from the Store, online or through Support:https://t.co/3yDYaPLN9W

— Surface Support (@SurfaceSupport) January 18, 2016

Being quite busy, it took my about three weeks to actually look into the link they sent me. On a Sunday I decided to have a look, but figured I would strike out as helpdesks are closed in Belgium on Sunday. Having ordered my Surface from Microsoft, the site immediately prompted me if I needed support for my tablet and asked my with what aspect I needed support. After entering my issue in a quick line of text, I was offered a few support options, where I selected chat.

I was connected with Microsoft Support for North America, which made me doubt I would get anything done. However, the representative was incredibly helpful, making no issue from the fact that I was located in Belgium, with the offices being closed here. Just a few minutes later I was informed that Microsoft would send me not just one, but three replacement tips, completely free of charge (including shipping). Thus ending the best support experience I have ever had.

Thank you Microsoft!