Surface shipping delays irk some customers in Canada, Europe

Microsoft Surface with Windows RT customers in Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany are crying foul over further shipping delays of devices that were pre-ordered. Some will have to wait until November to get the popular tablet, reports say.

PCWorld had already reported that new orders for the $499 model of the device face a shipping delay of up to three weeks. But now some people in Canada and the U.K. and Germany are saying they’ve received emails that say their tablets will be shipping on Nov. 2, instead of the original promised date of Oct. 26 when they pre-ordered the device.

“Got an email from @microsoftcanada saying my @surface tablet has been delayed to Nov 2nd. No reason given. That is SO not cool,” tweeted someone from Ottawa.

“@surface I will not be in the country on the 2 Nov. I needed my Surface RT before the 31 OCT! WHY!?!,” tweeted another person from London.

If you want the Surface tablet sooner rather than later you can get one next week if you’re lucky enough to be located near one of 65 physical stores in 27 states, Canada and Puerto Rico.

According to Microsoft, the shipping delay for online Surface orders won’t affect retail availability. On Oct. 26, all Microsoft Stores — including pop-up holiday locations–will have all three Surface with Windows RT models available for purchase.

Not only that, your local Microsoft Store may have a stash of secret vouchers that let you jump the line for the tablet on launch day.

Called a “Surface reservation pass,” they guarantee you the ability to buy a Surface in-store if you show up before noon on Oct. 26 at the Microsoft Store location where you received the voucher. To get one you’ll have to talk to the store manager, although some of the customer representatives PCWorld talked with said they didn’t know any specific details about the vouchers, while others said they couldn’t even confirm the Surface reservation pass existed.

One Microsoft Store representative said the certificates should not have become public knowledge. This representative then said that the vouchers were handed out at the manager’s discretion.

The $499 Surface, with 32GB of storage, doesn’t include Microsoft’s Touch Cover , a touch-sensitive keyboard and trackpad that doubles as a screen protector. Both the $599 (32GB) and $699 (64GB) Surface models come with a black Touch Cover, and if you want a Type Cover with a mechanical keyboard it is sold separately for $130.

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