Lumia 950, wow, what technology! Wow, amazing! Oh, and at the same time it can serve as a micro desktop! Fantastic. Everything in one device!
All right… enough of that… that is what I was thinking a few weeks ago, when, as one of the first chosen ones, I was supposed to test this new tool of corporate torture. A cost-reducing device that would let you use a phone as an all-purpose tool for everything, at least that is how the “M$ evangelists” presented it.
Day one was spent playing around, listening to music, and so on… Well, it even works…
Day two. All right, I am still playing ;-P A lot of updates are downloading… I will survive… I just need to set them to download only over Wi-Fi.
Another day. Iris recognition… yes, it works… convenient… suspicious looks from my colleague Nexor: “Aren’t you afraid it is taking pictures of you all the time?” All right, I started covering the camera in some places where I use it…
A trip, and maps… it is nice that they can be used offline… but am I the only one who prefers someone telling me to go left or right instead of giving geographic directions? “Head southwest” when you cannot see the sun feels a bit off…
The charger… if you do not bring it, forget about anyone having USB-C nearby. Asking at a hotel reception for a wireless phone charger causes consternation, but after a moment I get the password to the wireless Wi-Fi… except what good is that when the phone is dead…
Corporate world: Exchange mail works, but to comply with policies I need antivirus…
First encounter with the Windows Store… EMPTY…
All right, it is December, the phone appeared only recently, so we need to wait until developers develop something… but there is antivirus… the logo looks a bit strange… but I like Star Trek, so I read further what Antivirus for WinPhones is.
The description cleared up my doubts: “If it makes you feel better, here is an Antivirus for Windows phones”…
I discover apps in the store. There is not much there, but the basics for users are present… Unfortunately, I know that Java applets will not work. So the main corporate applications will not either… we have to wait until someone migrates them to something more universal or newer…
Lumia Offers. Oh, nice, M$ takes care of its early adopters 😉 I will get a free magic dock that turns my Lumia 950 XL into a full-fledged (almost) desktop. I click.
It is 22 December 2015, 2:36 AM. I HAVE IT!
Microsoft: Claim the HD-500 accessory for free and enjoy even more possibilities with your Lumia smartphone.
I print it (yes, I know I am not ecological and I print emails), so that my unique promotional code does not disappear somewhere. The footer says I have until 29 February 2016 to redeem it. Great 😉 Time to prepare for Christmas…
The phone is OK, the battery is OK, the camera is OK, and after updates it is even better than at the beginning.
Christmas passed. The last day of February and the last chance to test the magic dock… especially because after recent driver experiments my computer refuses to cooperate and I often have to use the on-screen keyboard.
I have the code, so let us try to order this box from the phone. After a moment of binging: Bingo! It is there! OK, just click the basket and I have it!
Unfortunately, that would have been too beautiful… Products do not get added to the basket. Edge is limping, and there is no Chrome or Firefox…
A small gotcha: to use the magic dock that is supposed to replace (all right, I know, not in every way) a computer, I already need to have a computer in order to order that dock. BUG NUMBER ONE.
Let us try from a computer… it is in the basket… the unique promotional code does not work…
Again… maybe I typed it incorrectly…
OK, there is a hotline, let us try calling… unfortunately it does not work at these hours… pity it does not say which hours it does work. A tiny bug.
Fortunately, chat works. I was connected with someone probably from around India, but I received quite a lot of support and consolation, along with the information that unfortunately there is no way to help because it works the way it works, and that apart from giving me a link to the magic module in UK stores and phone numbers for support in Poland, there is not much he can do.
He politely advised me how to search the Outlook trash to find the link in the email that I printed, because apparently that link is unique and I absolutely have to use it.
Unfortunately, unique or not, I will not get my magic dock because the promotional code still does not work…
Unfortunately I did not save that conversation, which will turn out to be very important later… I only have the link from browser history. I assumed that since I had to log in to the store, I was already identified… well, I was wrong. BUG.
I only have this link from browser history:
chat history link
Following the advice, I will try to call the hotline the next day.
After hearing that I consent to exporting my data practically all over the world, I was connected with a gentleman named Thanos and informed that the “promotion” expired in January…
I can see on the page https://www.microsoft.com/pl-pl/mobile/microsoft-display-dock-offer/ that only the offer had to be activated in January (which I did):
The offer is valid only with the purchase of model 950 XL or 950 XL Dual Sim and registration between 27.11.2015 and 31.01.2016, and while supplies last.
It gets interesting further on:
The promotional code must be activated through the Microsoft online store by 28.02.2016.
In the email with the promotional code, in fine print, it says:
The promotional code must be redeemed through the Microsoft online store by 29/02/2016 […]
Those pieces of information are a bit inconsistent… According to the email, I could try to redeem it exactly as I wanted, on the last day of February…
Could someone have failed to predict that February has 29 days this year? Yes, 2016 is a leap year!
Either someone did not check the calendar, or the promotion preparation failed and different end dates were entered in different places.
There was even a time in history when February had 30 days… but that is another story…
Mr. Thanos is supposed to call back tomorrow with new information. We shall see…