D
Daren_01
Guest
Since I'm not able to speak to anyone at Microsoft about my experience who has the authority or initiative to make changes to improve their customer service, this is an open letter to Mr Nadella and all Microsoft and Windows management that I'm also considering posting in much more explicit detail to media sources.
I work on my computer every day and have over 35 years experience using legitimately purchased professional versions of Windows operating systems, but my recent forced transition (by Microsoft) to a new computer with Windows 10 this year has been nothing short of a nightmare. But that's not just because of the differences and obvious heavy-handed marketing used in the OS, it's been amplified a hundred-fold by the technical support process I've been subjected to by Microsoft.
Let me give you some specifics.
I'm a self-employed solo-preneur of a small custom design, engineer, build company. After postponing my transition away from my trusty Win7pro desktop as long as possible & researching Win10pro & new hardware for over a year, this summer I purchased a high-end custom-built desktop PC from the largest & most reputable local PC builder in my city. I use my PC for CAD/CAM design, accounting, photo management, document management, email, project management, my website design & maintenance; all-around business use, and never for games or entertainment.
Less than a month after getting it, while meticulously installing & configuring each of my applications & getting to know the new surroundings, I ran into a problem with Windows that I couldn't solve (relating to my reluctance to login to my own PC with a Microsoft account), so I did something I don't recall ever doing before: I reached out to Microsoft for help. But after spending several days with different well-intentioned, polite, but non-native English speaking people on not-always-clear phone lines, my computer problems kept getting worse instead of better. So bad in fact, that the last support person I dealt with couldn't even do a complete Windows restore from the media creation tool USB Windows backup I created when I 1st got the computer. He told me I had to take my PC back to where I bought it & have them re-install Windows! So that's what I did & then I started all over again. These were all significant & unwelcome time costs that I could not afford as the sole operator of a business.
So here we are a couple of months later & after having to revert to using my old desktop PC so that I could actually work for a living, I'm finally getting another chance to configure my new PC & applications. It seemed to be going fine until I had to use a Windows restore point to undo something when I started having problems with Defender not running. I spent 2 days researching & trying solutions before I finally gave up & called support again. This time it was worse than before. I was only able to connect to someone via chat, but after trying a couple of quick fixes he flippantly recommended that I 'reset my Windows'! You've got to be kidding? I decided to not do anything more until I'd slept on it & spoken to someone in-person the next day. But after 3 more days of calling Microsoft support I'm still working on a new computer with a broken OS that not only won't update or run Defender, now it won't even do an in-place Windows repair install that leaves my data intact.
Here's what my experience trying to speak with someone at Microsoft support has been like over the past week. I DARE ANYONE FROM MICROSOFT MANAGEMENT TO TRY THIS THEMSELVES TO EXPERIENCE WHAT YOUR PAYING CUSTOMERS ARE FORCED TO ENDURE.
I called a phone # I had for support from before, but a recording says the ONLY option for support is online. So I go online (help.microsoft.com) and click 'Contact a Microsoft support agent' where I'm FORCED to have a Microsoft account before I can request help. After logging in I select; my product (Windows), my issue (technical support), enter my phone #, and then request a call back. Someone calls me back & asks me to describe my problem (or for an existing case #), for my phone # (which I just entered on the support screen before the call), for the verification code they just emailed me, & may give me a case #..... before transferring me to a technical support person (even though that's what I requested in the support screen before the call).
If the call isn't disconnected (which happened ~50% of the time) the technical support person I speak with next is obviously on the other side of the planet (poor call quality), doesn't speak clear English, asks me to describe my problem, for my email address, phone # & the verification code they just emailed me (which is the same code as before). Then ~50% of the time the call is disconnected.
So after speaking with no less than 7 support people over the last 3 days I still have a broken OS & I'm still wondering how to resolve a problem with it. I've read enough forums full of disgruntled users over the past few days to realize that I'm not the only one experiencing significant problems with Windows 10. What are you doing about this Mr Nadella?
Continue reading...
I work on my computer every day and have over 35 years experience using legitimately purchased professional versions of Windows operating systems, but my recent forced transition (by Microsoft) to a new computer with Windows 10 this year has been nothing short of a nightmare. But that's not just because of the differences and obvious heavy-handed marketing used in the OS, it's been amplified a hundred-fold by the technical support process I've been subjected to by Microsoft.
Let me give you some specifics.
I'm a self-employed solo-preneur of a small custom design, engineer, build company. After postponing my transition away from my trusty Win7pro desktop as long as possible & researching Win10pro & new hardware for over a year, this summer I purchased a high-end custom-built desktop PC from the largest & most reputable local PC builder in my city. I use my PC for CAD/CAM design, accounting, photo management, document management, email, project management, my website design & maintenance; all-around business use, and never for games or entertainment.
Less than a month after getting it, while meticulously installing & configuring each of my applications & getting to know the new surroundings, I ran into a problem with Windows that I couldn't solve (relating to my reluctance to login to my own PC with a Microsoft account), so I did something I don't recall ever doing before: I reached out to Microsoft for help. But after spending several days with different well-intentioned, polite, but non-native English speaking people on not-always-clear phone lines, my computer problems kept getting worse instead of better. So bad in fact, that the last support person I dealt with couldn't even do a complete Windows restore from the media creation tool USB Windows backup I created when I 1st got the computer. He told me I had to take my PC back to where I bought it & have them re-install Windows! So that's what I did & then I started all over again. These were all significant & unwelcome time costs that I could not afford as the sole operator of a business.
So here we are a couple of months later & after having to revert to using my old desktop PC so that I could actually work for a living, I'm finally getting another chance to configure my new PC & applications. It seemed to be going fine until I had to use a Windows restore point to undo something when I started having problems with Defender not running. I spent 2 days researching & trying solutions before I finally gave up & called support again. This time it was worse than before. I was only able to connect to someone via chat, but after trying a couple of quick fixes he flippantly recommended that I 'reset my Windows'! You've got to be kidding? I decided to not do anything more until I'd slept on it & spoken to someone in-person the next day. But after 3 more days of calling Microsoft support I'm still working on a new computer with a broken OS that not only won't update or run Defender, now it won't even do an in-place Windows repair install that leaves my data intact.
Here's what my experience trying to speak with someone at Microsoft support has been like over the past week. I DARE ANYONE FROM MICROSOFT MANAGEMENT TO TRY THIS THEMSELVES TO EXPERIENCE WHAT YOUR PAYING CUSTOMERS ARE FORCED TO ENDURE.
I called a phone # I had for support from before, but a recording says the ONLY option for support is online. So I go online (help.microsoft.com) and click 'Contact a Microsoft support agent' where I'm FORCED to have a Microsoft account before I can request help. After logging in I select; my product (Windows), my issue (technical support), enter my phone #, and then request a call back. Someone calls me back & asks me to describe my problem (or for an existing case #), for my phone # (which I just entered on the support screen before the call), for the verification code they just emailed me, & may give me a case #..... before transferring me to a technical support person (even though that's what I requested in the support screen before the call).
If the call isn't disconnected (which happened ~50% of the time) the technical support person I speak with next is obviously on the other side of the planet (poor call quality), doesn't speak clear English, asks me to describe my problem, for my email address, phone # & the verification code they just emailed me (which is the same code as before). Then ~50% of the time the call is disconnected.
So after speaking with no less than 7 support people over the last 3 days I still have a broken OS & I'm still wondering how to resolve a problem with it. I've read enough forums full of disgruntled users over the past few days to realize that I'm not the only one experiencing significant problems with Windows 10. What are you doing about this Mr Nadella?
Continue reading...