After botching some Surface Book pre-orders, Microsoft says it will make things right with expedited shipping.
Reports of cancelled pre-orders started popping up on Reddit’s Surface forum earlier this week, as users found that they couldn’t keep their orders after getting fraud alerts from their banks or credit card providers. One buyer told Windows Central that even after rectifying the issue with American Express, Microsoft still failed to accept the order and ultimately cancelled it.
Unfortunately, re-ordering means losing one’s place in line. Whereas early preorders should arrive early next week, all Surface Book models are now showing at least a four-week shipping delay.
In a statement to Windows Central, Microsoft acknowledged that some buyers needed to re-enter their order details to process the transaction. The company says it will contact affected customers and ship their Surface Books within a few days should they decide to keep their orders.
Further reading: Microsoft Surface Book, Surface Pro 4 configurations and pricing revealed
The Surface Book is Microsoft’s first attempt at a full-blown laptop. While it does have a detachable touch screen for tablet use, the weighty keyboard and trackpad base helps it compete more directly with Apple’s MacBook Pro laptops compared to the Surface Pro line. The base model starts at $1,499, which may explain why some card providers got a little jumpy.
Why this matters: The fact that this is an issue to begin with either means that Microsoft is dealing with overwhelming demand or extremely limited supply. In any case, at least Microsoft is looking to fix the issue ahead of the Surface Book’s October 26 release date.