Last September I treated myself to Microsoft's (then) latest toy - the Wireless Entertainment Desktop 8000 keyboard and mouse combo.
I love it's features and have found it, after a few startup glitches, to be the best I've ever had, except for one small drawback. Some of the keys have started to show wear and tear. The silver finish around some of the words and letters, notably the left-hand shift key plus the E, R, T and S keys have worn away so that the original word/characters are no longer clear.
As there is a 1-year warranty I called Microsoft just out of curiosity to ask if this was considered enough for a warranty exchange. I had to fax them a copy of my sales receipt and that was all that was needed.
I just got a call from them stating that it was on back order and that Purolator Courier would be delivering me a new one sometime on or after the 15th of April.
They added that I should hang on to my old one as a standby keyboard.
I recall when I first ordered it, there was a big waiting list and for some reason its release was delayed several months....possible manufacturing issues...?
The units are made in China which could explain possible rush jobs with cheap materials and labour and associated lack of quality control.
Here's hoping that my second one will be a bit more durable.
This wasn't a cheap purchase either - with taxes, well over $300 CDN.
I'm quite impressed.
My last keyboard and mouse was their Bluetooth Desktop Elite set and I remember having to call them when my Bluetooth dongle burned out inexplicably. They told me then that by law they had to send a "piece of hardware" with it and so they sent me a new mouse as well.....LOL. Again, that was at no charge, even though it was well beyond the warranty period.
You can say what you like about Microsoft but I, for one, am quite impressed.

I love it's features and have found it, after a few startup glitches, to be the best I've ever had, except for one small drawback. Some of the keys have started to show wear and tear. The silver finish around some of the words and letters, notably the left-hand shift key plus the E, R, T and S keys have worn away so that the original word/characters are no longer clear.
As there is a 1-year warranty I called Microsoft just out of curiosity to ask if this was considered enough for a warranty exchange. I had to fax them a copy of my sales receipt and that was all that was needed.
I just got a call from them stating that it was on back order and that Purolator Courier would be delivering me a new one sometime on or after the 15th of April.
They added that I should hang on to my old one as a standby keyboard.
I recall when I first ordered it, there was a big waiting list and for some reason its release was delayed several months....possible manufacturing issues...?
The units are made in China which could explain possible rush jobs with cheap materials and labour and associated lack of quality control.
Here's hoping that my second one will be a bit more durable.
This wasn't a cheap purchase either - with taxes, well over $300 CDN.
I'm quite impressed.
My last keyboard and mouse was their Bluetooth Desktop Elite set and I remember having to call them when my Bluetooth dongle burned out inexplicably. They told me then that by law they had to send a "piece of hardware" with it and so they sent me a new mouse as well.....LOL. Again, that was at no charge, even though it was well beyond the warranty period.
You can say what you like about Microsoft but I, for one, am quite impressed.
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