Chinese customers are complaining about Microsoft's after-sales service for the Surface tablet PC, with issues such as high repair costs and unavailability of parts.
The Surface tablet PC was met with favorable reviews and a good market reception in China since its debut, with users appreciating its touch screen and detachable keyboard.
However, local users have complained that, just two years after being released, the first-generation Surface can no longer be serviced. Users also criticized Microsoft for providing repairs for its second-generation Surface at costs that exceed the original price.
According to Microsoft, the company provides repairs to the first-generation tablets still covered by a valid warranty, and that repair for the Surface-2 with an expired warranty costs 3,042 yuan ($490), no matter which parts are damaged.
Repairing the Surface Pro 2 costs 4,653 yuan ($750), though the tablet sells for only 3,800 yuan ($612) online.
Microsoft said that they provide a uniform warranty of two years for the Surface series. This includes the first-generation Surface RT, Surface Pro, second-generation Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2, and third-generation Surface 3 and Surface Pro 3.
Microsoft also said that it has stopped repairing the first-generation Surface, due to a disrupted supply of parts and components. The first-generation Surface suspended production in Oct. 2013.
According to Zhao Zhanling, a lawyer whose specialty is the protection and rights of consumers, what Microsoft is doing violates China's regulations that require manufacturers to give technological support to retailers or service centers for their products to be repaired.
Microsoft must also guarantee that parts and components for a particular product can continue to be supplied at least five years after a product stops being manufactured.
It has also been found out that local repair shops are charging around 1,000 yuan ($160) to repair Surface tablets. Also, Surface users in Hong Kong and the U.S. get much better after-sales service than users in China, with offers such as repair after expiration of warranty and buying new models at a discounted price if their old model cannot be repaired.