How to provide feedback to microsoft?

Hi osm 101

Glad I could offer you some help.

To answer you question,

 "If I call technical support or customer service and give them some feedback on a Microsoft product, how do I know it is going to be logged verbatim and passed on to the appropriate people?"

All calls are logged and recorded and the customer service technical assistants are trustworthy and honest and would always do there upmost in attempting to assist you. To suggest anything else is untrue and unfair. You also asked about the cost of using customer service. This would be the case if you were gaining technical assistance to troubleshoot or resolve a device/software issue not covered under warranty. However, you are just seeking information on the correct area/field/departmental contact details, so there would be no charge for this.

You also say,

"The links to Connect/TechNet seem more appropriate for IT pros and users with interest in very professional level software (e.g. database software). It does not look appropriate for general consumers (I ask on answers.microsoft.com because I am not an IT pro)."

Why this is true to a point, please do not ever be afraid to seek and try something new. As Microsoft also recognize the use and testing of it's products needs to be taken in the "real world" environment i.e. by general user's who are confident on using the software. Before general release. This option is open to all who are registered/subscribed. It is also a great way to gain further tech knowledge and a preview at what is coming, FYI use a secondary device. And feedback is provided directly via the Connect site.

You continued with,

"The original question was not motivated by a specific product, I was simply asking if there is a single, well organised place to go to provide feedback on all Microsoft products"

As this sounds like general feedback, then the best option is the direct feedback options provide on every page. Please do not under estimate this feedback option it is monitored and used to improve Microsoft services.

Finally you suggested,

" I think this is a reason why it would be more important for MS to have a single page which acts as an easy to use conduit to feedback options (*not tech support or customer service*) for all the products and services."

When you apply common sense to this subject you can see why and how it would be totally unworkable/unreliable. Hence why this community board does not only have just one page, but many, to provided the best and fastest solutions/options and discussions. The single page idea would become an internet crash burner, If you consider just one service i.e. Outlook.com to date has over forty million plus user's that in itself is a massive support portal, to combine that with "All" Microsoft services/products on one single page would bring back vision of the "Jim Carey" movie were he gave "God" a day of and wished to organise all the prayers first by post-it notes and then by Pc. 

Then single page idea would get the obvious troll infestation as most boards do, Also how are the post's supposed to be sorted and by who ? As you need someone with enough tech know-how about the service or device being discussed to be able to validate the suggestion being made, which can not be done generically. You would also end up with very valid points at the risk of being missed or lost.

I hope this helps reassure you that there are options available to use to provide feedback and that Microsoft are always listening to it's user's and working constantly to improve all services, products and devices old and new. And remember you do not need to be an "IT Pro" to be able to provide feedback using other portals. I would suggest for you to decide which of Microsoft's areas interest you the most i.e. Apps/Internet/Office or any other service/device/feature and work with the boards and newsletters relating to that specific area as well as using your Pc to research other research relating to that area and your IT capabilities will grow as will your tech know-how and then you will notice how easy it is to provide relevant feedback to the exact product/service being used/tested. Your Pc is only the platform for you to base the start of you computing/technological discovery and journey. After all it's what you make it. Have fun.

Have a great day!

Hi Jon,

Sorry to here you are having issues with connecting to chat service, may I suggest that you attempt a browser re-set. As others are not having an issue of using this option. Or just call.

I am also slightly surprised when you say, " the email tool although it is very difficult to find". Are you on the link provided, to the left at the page the last category is "Contact" after selecting all of the option to contact are listed, email, call, chat etc. etc. I do not see how this is "difficult to find" Finally, if Microsoft did not wish to here from it's user's/investors Microsoft would not provide contact options.

Glad I could help and I hope your browser is working again soon, if you need help with this please come back to the community.

Have a great day!

In case it helps anyone, here is what I have found for providing feedback on the main Microsoft products and services likely to be of interest to consumers, without going through tech support or customer service.

Devices feedback

Windows Phone: http://windowsphone.uservoice.com/forums/101801-feature-suggestions

Microsoft Surface: No idea.

Xbox: No idea

Software feedback

Windows 8: No idea

Windows 8 Modern Apps: Bring up settings charm. There is a feedback option within the app

Office for Windows desktop: No idea

Office for Mac desktop: http://www.microsoft.com/uk/mac/product-feedback

Skype: Help menu of the desktop app has a feedback option

Windows live desktop software (e.g. Windows Photo Gallery): No idea

Websites/Web-apps feedback

Office web-apps: No idea

Office.com: http://office.microsoft.com/en-GB/suggestions.aspx?origin=FX010048536&CTT=114

Skydrive.com: Click on gear icon in top right of page. There is a feedback option

Outlook.com: Same as for Skydrive.com

Bing.com: Same as for Skydrive.com

Ashley

You have provided links to a lot of customer service / technical support options, and I am grateful you have tried to help. But this is not what I am after (and I don't think it is what others who have contributed to this thread are after).

If I call technical support or customer service and give them some feedback on a Microsoft product, how do I know it is going to be logged verbatim and passed on to the appropriate people? Also, don't I need to pay for technical support or customer service? Why would I do this just to provide a suggestion for how I think a product could be improved?

The links to Connect/Technet seem more appropriate for IT pros and users with interest in very professional level software (e.g. database softare). It does not look appropriate for general consumers (I ask on answers.microsoft.com because I am not an IT pro).

If Microsoft are only interested in feedback from business and pro users, they are going to get highly skewed feedback.

The original question was not motivated by a specific product, I was simply asking if there is a single, well organised place to go to provide feedback on all Microsoft products (I used the Apple site as an example because I was hoping there would be a MS equivalent). Clearly this is not the case, and instead the feedback mechanisms are a convoluted mess. I think earlier in the thread you said something to the effect of it would not be reasonable for MS to have a feedback site equivalent to Apple's because MS has a much larger portfolio of products and services. Actually, I think this is a reason why it would be more important for MS to have a single page which acts as an easy to use conduit to feedback options (*not tech support or customer service*) for all the products and services.

Thank you Ashley. I eventually did find the email tool although it is very difficult to find. I filled it out three times and each time received an 'Unable to process your request' message. Guess what? The chat option was unavailable. The only conclusion one can objectively make is that they do not wish to be contacted. Very lame. They should fix this and make their email address easy to find if they wish to cease being lame. Maybe the new CEO will help.

Apple, you have a new customer coming.