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Recently, Consumer Reports made headlines when they reported that they removed their recommendation for Microsoft Laptops and Tablets. Unsurprisingly, Microsoft dismissed the reliability ratings last week and said they were disappointed. Surface chief Panos Panay said that the company stands “firmly behind the quality and reliability of the Surface family of devices.”
Before revoking their recommendation, Consumer Reports surveyed 90,000 laptop and tablet owners. They found that 25 percent of the Surface owners encountered many issues by the end of their second year of ownership.
According to Paul Thurrott, he obtained an internal memo regarding Microsoft’s response to Consumer Reports, and appears that high Surface Book and Surface Book return rates may have impacted in Consumer Reports’ findings.
As seen in the leaked chart above, you will notice that the return rates for Surface Book reached around 17 percent during launch period, and had remained above 10 percent for six months. Speaking of Surface Pro 4, the return rates for that reached around 16 percent during launch, and dropped below 10 percent after over a month.
Per the memo which was authored by Surface chief Panos Panay, he notes that the company has been working incredibly hard to fix Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book issues. By combating the issues, Microsoft now believes that it has return rates have drastically decreased over the past 12 months as a result.
