Free Replacement of Microsoft Optical Mouse

[CoffeeGuru]

I just received in the mail today this masterpiece of public relations and legal draftsmanship:


Microsoft Mouse Letter

Does anyone know the "back story" behind this?

If you live in the United States, and have an IntelliMouse Explorer, IntelliMouse Optical or WheelMouse Optical , Microsoft will replace it free of charge, provided that you send in the coupon below and required proof of purchase.

Link to Coupon

The proof of purchase includes a xerox of the underside of the mouse.

The defect causes Windows to hang after you move the mouse. Given that Windows hangs all the time, it seems to me that just about any MS Wheel mouse owner can in good conscience apply for this offer.

You don't have to send back the defective mouse.

 

[wildwildwes]

Thanks for the information. I have a mouse with this problem and have been using a mechanical mouse for the last couple weeks.

 

[FatDragonn]

you don't need to fill out the form or send in a copy of your mouse. just give them a ring.

 

[WiseOne]

grr it happens to me, but I don't have proof of purchase. hmmm what should I do.

 

[rochlin]

I bought mine shortly after they first came out. It stopped working after two months (no left click). I called. They gave me the usual tech support runaround (new driver? Does it work with a regular mouse? Have you re-installed your OS -my favorite).
But eventually they capitulated and sent me a new one.
NOT easy usually to find a MSFT phone number so save the one on the letter!
"If you have questions, you may call 866-542-3065."

 

[esquared]

Thanks for the info for all MS users. I am a Logitech man myself. I'll pass this on to my friends.

 

[zinkpig]

yeah...the damn thing finally died after freezing up on me for months.. i just called microsoft and they sent out a replacement in abt 2-3 weeks.. they didnt even want the old one back..the Service tech suggest i use it for target practice ! they didnt ask for any proof of purchase just the serial number on the back of the mouse.

 

[Justus]

Microsoft has been on by "do not by their products if at all possible" list since I tried to get a defective mouse replaced a few months ago. It was one of the optical POS mice whose chord shorted out soon after I bought it. They denied my request for a replacement because it was an oem mouse. They told me to go back to where I bought it, and that that was the sole recourse.

Since this was a notorious defect in their optical mice, I expected (and still expect) them not to use the "oem" excuse, but to make good on their own wide-spread manufacturing shortcomings.

So don't expect this to work with their newest POS mice if it is an oem version.

Buy Logitech!!

 

[Miramonti]

This is great to know, thx! I love the 5 button intellimouse explorer but have a couple laying around that are defective that I can return.

 

[Kingofcomputer]

you're dreaming, you paid about half the price on oem mouse than retail, why should the manufacturer give you warranty replacement?

for oem stuff, they're not supposed to sell to end-users directly.
sale and warranty are handled in a ladder system:
manufacturer
to
distributor
to
wholesaler
to
reseller/system integrator/retailer
to
end-user

and for oem mouse, especially ms and logitech's, there are bootleg and extra secretly made by the oem being sold to the grey market.

 

[SimonSays]

good post.

 

[jackywebdesign]

did anyone notice that this thing is dated June 21???

 

[CoffeeGuru]

Originally posted by: WiseOne
grr it happens to me, but I don't have proof of purchase. hmmm what should I do.

You don't have the bottom of your mouse? See 2.d. of the letter.

 

[CoffeeGuru]

Originally posted by: jackywebdesign
did anyone notice that this thing is dated June 21???

That just shows you what a great tech company MS is. They can even send letters back from the future - no other software house has this ability. They will be deploying this so that in the future bug fixes will be sent out before the original code is even written.

 

[Jack159]

 

[Jack159]

Originally posted by: jackywebdesign
did anyone notice that this thing is dated June 21???

Ok, who has been time travelling again?


good deal! I've got two that are dead
I always laugh when I save some worthless piece of junk that turns out to have some value!

 

[fr]

Hmm...I have one computer that has actually been experiencing this problem once every few days. Now I know this was probably what was causing it.

 

[maukdaddy]

what are you people doing to your mice?

I've been using my Intellimouse Optical for over a year without a SINGLE problem!

 

[dentalboy]

cool deal i hope they honor it

 

[SuperSix]

Originally posted by: maukdaddy
what are you people doing to your mice?

I've been using my Intellimouse Optical for over a year without a SINGLE problem!

I'm near 2 years on mine.. works great!

 

[QwErTyBk]

My Explorer OEM has had some probs since I got it. The mouse pointer jumps around every once in a while and lately it has has been shutting itself off for a few seconds at a time while connected to USB. Seems fine in PS2 though....

Too bad they dont replace OEM cause I like the 3.0 version!

 

[ingenue007]

COOL! I have an intellimouse I bought about 2 years ago when they first came out. IIRC 20 from buy.com that took a couple months to ship. I always knew they had a problem.....

 

[carmann]

I recently called MS about my Intellimouse w/Intellieye (ya an oooold model) and they shipped me an Intellimouse Optical as a replacement.

 

[SKORPI0]

Thanks for this info. It's a good thing that I saved the boxes for my Intellimouse & Wheel Mouse Opticals.

I've noticed that my system hangs and cannot move the mouse sometimes. Maybe, its time to ask for a replacement.

 

[EagleKeeper]

got a replacement today from MS

Originally sent a e-mail complaint. never talked by phone.
After stating that I tested rodent on another system, they wanted the serial on the bottom and shipped out a replacement.
Original right button stopped having a tactical click.