This article is more than 1 year old
If you weren't rich enough to buy a Surface before, you may as well let that dream die
US-only financing deal lasted all of a year
Consumers looking to spread the cost of their Surface fix will have to look elsewhere for their fondleslab financing now Microsoft has brought the axe down on the programme.
The deal, which was introduced just over a year ago, aped similar options available to iPhone owners by allowing customers to spread the cost of their Surface over 24 months with an attractive 0 per cent APR. An option to upgrade to Microsoft's latest and greatest at 18 months was also available.
Of course, there is always a catch. In this case, any unpaid balance would attract an eye-watering 19.99 per cent after the initial 24-month period. And that upgrade? Yours, if you are willing to sign up for another 24 months. Oh, and the offer was US-only. Naturally.
This all largely academic now anyway, as from 31 August, there is no offer at all (at least as far as consumers are concerned). "After much thought and consideration" that sad-faced Microsoft hatchet-man has come-a-knocking and taken the Klarna-financed deal for a brief talk with a sharp axe.
Existing Surface Plus customers can still upgrade their Surface at the 18-month mark (so long as they've not put a fist through the screen after the latest round of updates) but signing up for another 24-month contract would seem unlikely at this point.
Businesses still have access to a variant of the programme, financed by LiftForward, with payment plans ranging from 18 through to 36 months for much of the Surface line, including the HoloLens.
The news comes as Microsoft launches a new programme, aimed at prising Sony controllers from the hands of consumers in favour of its Xbox product. Xbox All Access allows gamers wary of the upfront cost of a console to spread the investment over 24 months. Finance this time comes from Dell Preferred and be sure to pay the balance before those 24 months are up, otherwise interest at a heart-stopping 19.24-29.99 per cent applies. Ouch.
As seems to be the norm, only US gamers need apply. ®
Biting the hand that feeds IT
