Broken Kickstand

Hello fellow Microsoft lovers, I am posting on the discussion board because I am extremely disappointed in Microsoft and their claim to value customer satisfaction as well as stand behind the faulty design of the Microsoft surface RT kickstand. My 14 year old son received the product as a Christmas gift last year for school purposes.  Within a few months the computer began shutting down and restarting every so often. My son spent many hours retyping essays, reports, and schoolwork because of this issue, and used his brothers Surface instead.  We called customer support, and we proceeded with a refresh. The problem was never solved so when we contacted Microsoft support again with the same issues: this time the surface was shutting off and restarting every 2-3 mins. We were told that it was a driver problem and to send the computer in for a replacement since it was unusable. Even the technician was surprised as how many times this happened during the hour and 15 min phone call. I was very happy with both the technicians who helped us over the phone and with the promptness on Microsoft's end in regards to fixing this issue. However, after sending the computer in we got a call from  customer support stating that the replacement was not going to be granted and the warranty was voided due to the broken kickstand, but they would be happy to send a replacement for $299. I am now furious that a computer that is less than a year old and having driver/internal issues within a few months is no longer warranted by Microsoft. The kickstand broke in October 2014 but we began experiencing driver issues as early as April 2014 and full fledged issues by July 2014, so I know that the kickstand did not damage the surface internally. My other son also had the same issue with the kickstand on his RT. breaking within the first 2 weeks so we purchased a hard case with a built in kickstand and have had no problems. I would like to know how an external issue can void a warranty for an internal issue? I am extremely disappointed in Microsoft. They should be able to fix the driver issues regardless of a broken kickstand. I was told that they do not repair they only replace. My son is now without a computer, he is using his brothers whose surface has just this week began experiencing the same issues. Since that kickstand is broken as well we may be out of 2 computers soon. It is a shame, both are less than a year old.  I no longer have faith in Microsoft and their hardware, and will never purchase their products again.