I ended up getting the HP ENVY x360 - 13-ag0017au It has a Ryzen 7 in it, which does get a bit hot, however I haven't noticed it throttling at all yet. It's certainly warmer than my surface was, but I was expecting that, especially with the vents on the bottom instead out of the top. It didn't have too much extra bloat on top of the typical win10 bloat, all of which removed quite easily. So far, in the short time I've been using it it's been great.

It was, they had a price on it that was about $300 off the normal price. The guy was really helpful, but did say the price was wrong (it was an old price from the previous mailer) but he would honor it as to not run afoul of the laws regarding false advertising. They didn't have one in stock even though their computer said they had 7 of them. He called Albany, and they had one so he did the sale in the Wairau Park store, and I was able to pick it up in Albany. He gave me a store transfer slip he had filled out, and I had no troubles at the Albany store grabbing it.

After all I had been through with WS, it was a relief to get some honestly good customer service.

Taubin:

 

It was, they had a price on it that was about $300 off the normal price. The guy was really helpful, but did say the price was wrong (it was an old price from the previous mailer) but he would honor it as to not run afoul of the laws regarding false advertising. They didn't have one in stock even though their computer said they had 7 of them. He called Albany, and they had one so he did the sale in the Wairau Park store, and I was able to pick it up in Albany. He gave me a store transfer slip he had filled out, and I had no troubles at the Albany store grabbing it.

 

After all I had been through with WS, it was a relief to get some honestly good customer service.

 

I just wonder whether you might have had a better experience if you had purchased your Surface Pro 4 directly from Microsoft NZ on internet? I have been thinking of buying a Surface Pro 4 and after reading through this thread it has certainly put me off big-time!

But don't HP laptops also have a reasonably high failure rate? And independent reviews of Microsoft laptops usually rate them fairly highly in comparison with other laptops. A friend of mine bought a Surface Pro several years ago and it's worked perfectly ever since.

Somehow, I can't imagine Microsoft would have treated you so poorly if you had dealt directly with them? Can anyone recommend whether it would be better to purchase a Microsoft laptop directly from Microsoft? Surely they wouldn't have gone through making someone have a computer repaired 4 times! Wouldn't they just immediately replace a faulty Surface with a brand new one in order to protect the reputation of the brand?

Taubin:

 

Mine was Wairau Park. I'll never shop there again.

 

On the plus side, I've found a new laptop and am using it now. There was a HP Envy on sale at JB Hi-Fi, they actually had a more decent selection than Harvey Norman's new "flagship" store did. I got a great deal on it, and it's actually more powerful than my desktop.

 

Interesting, I had excellent service from the Wairau Park store when my 5X Nexus phone got the bootloop problem. The offered me a full refund but I wanted to get a new phone from them that they had on sale the previous week but that was no longer on sale. They gave me the new phone at the old sale price and refunded me the difference between the old and new phone.

I guess, like a lot of things, it all comes down to who you get to speak with on the day.

frednz:

 

I just wonder whether you might have had a better experience if you had purchased your Surface Pro 4 directly from Microsoft NZ on internet? I have been thinking of buying a Surface Pro 4 and after reading through this thread it has certainly put me off big-time!

 

But don't HP laptops also have a reasonably high failure rate? And independent reviews of Microsoft laptops usually rate them fairly highly in comparison with other laptops. A friend of mine bought a Surface Pro several years ago and it's worked perfectly ever since.

 

Somehow, I can't imagine Microsoft would have treated you so poorly if you had dealt directly with them? Can anyone recommend whether it would be better to purchase a Microsoft laptop directly from Microsoft? Surely they wouldn't have gone through making someone have a computer repaired 4 times! Wouldn't they just immediately replace a faulty Surface with a brand new one in order to protect the reputation of the brand?

 

I've not dealt with Microsoft directly, however Warehouse Stationary sent the surface back to Microsoft three times, and each time I got a refurb in return from them, so I'm guessing Microsoft directly would do the same.

I've had laptops of all many brands (including HP) last several years with no issues, and I've had others (like this particular surface) break after a short time. As for reputation of the brand, I highly doubt one person (aka me) having the issues I've had is going to do any large harm to their brand. There have been many reports on the Surface subreddit of people having their surface replaced multiple times by Microsoft as well. Things break, electronics go bad, it happens with all brands.

MurrayM:

 

Interesting, I had excellent service from the Wairau Park store when my 5X Nexus phone got the bootloop problem. The offered me a full refund but I wanted to get a new phone from them that they had on sale the previous week but that was no longer on sale. They gave me the new phone at the old sale price and refunded me the difference between the old and new phone.

 

I guess, like a lot of things, it all comes down to who you get to speak with on the day.

 

I got my N5X from Noel Leeming Albany. When it bootlooped, I took it in to them, and while I was speaking with the rep about the issue, another person came up and said "5X eh? Must be a bootloop" I had asked if they would exchange or refund it as it's a known issue with the phone, and they said now, it needs to be repaired. They sent it to some third party repair place in Auckland. I kind of feel like I have a ticking time bomb with it, but by the time it dies, it will have been time for a new phone anyways.

Taubin:

 

frednz:

 

I just wonder whether you might have had a better experience if you had purchased your Surface Pro 4 directly from Microsoft NZ on internet? I have been thinking of buying a Surface Pro 4 and after reading through this thread it has certainly put me off big-time!

 

But don't HP laptops also have a reasonably high failure rate? And independent reviews of Microsoft laptops usually rate them fairly highly in comparison with other laptops. A friend of mine bought a Surface Pro several years ago and it's worked perfectly ever since.

 

Somehow, I can't imagine Microsoft would have treated you so poorly if you had dealt directly with them? Can anyone recommend whether it would be better to purchase a Microsoft laptop directly from Microsoft? Surely they wouldn't have gone through making someone have a computer repaired 4 times! Wouldn't they just immediately replace a faulty Surface with a brand new one in order to protect the reputation of the brand?

 

 

I've not dealt with Microsoft directly, however Warehouse Stationary sent the surface back to Microsoft three times, and each time I got a refurb in return from them, so I'm guessing Microsoft directly would do the same.

 

I've had laptops of all many brands (including HP) last several years with no issues, and I've had others (like this particular surface) break after a short time. As for reputation of the brand, I highly doubt one person (aka me) having the issues I've had is going to do any large harm to their brand. There have been many reports on the Surface subreddit of people having their surface replaced multiple times by Microsoft as well. Things break, electronics go bad, it happens with all brands.

 

Thanks, after reading this thread there's no way a lot of people will now want to deal with Noel Leeming or the Warehouse for buying a Surface Pro (or anything for that matter)! The point is that any retailer who deals with dozens of different brands can follow a fairly rigid approach when it comes to repairs under warranty, but if you have purchased directly from the manufacturer, aren't they far more likely to want to protect brand reputation than a place like the Warehouse and simply provide a brand new replacement when things go wrong?

To be honest, from what I've read with Microsoft, and having dealt with a lot of other manufacturers when it comes to computer items, you are just as likely to get a refurbished item back even if you did go straight to the manufacturer. I certainly wouldn't tell someone not to go with the manufacturer when you purchase something, however you are more likely to get it cheaper from a retailer on sale. The nice thing about New Zealand is the CGA, so it doesn't matter who  you go with, as long as it's not parallel imported, you are fine. I'd much rather have a person I can deal with face to face than to call overseas to deal with the manufacturer to be honest. As far as brand reputation, unless you are some extremely famous person (or "famous") or work for a company big enough to raise a large stink, they aren't going to care to be honest.

The number of people that will read this thread, vs the number of surface owners in NZ alone, are heavily skewed. Let alone the people that are going to shop somewhere under the Warehouse Group umbrella. My little voice (or really most everyone else's) isn't going to make a difference to their reputation in the bigger picture. It's simply not how it works unfortunately. The only thing they will listen to is the almighty dollar, which is why the CGA works. They get fined if they don't comply, so it's much easier for them (no matter who it is) to make it right than to have to explain that larger outflow to their bosses and shareholders.