Comments on: Microsoft wants refund from some laid-off workers

Software giant sends a letter to some of the 1,400 employees it laid off last month letting them know they were overcompensated and that it would like the money back.

[whitestar99]

Can anyone answer me why the postings for this article are basically and arguement of Vista and XP OS's on computers? The article is about Microsoft and a letter sent to laid off employees requesting money back for overpayment. Postings to this article SHOULD include what Microsoft is really doing, you know the big picture, people. Some of you may not follow all the news, but these are two links you should really read. http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9892046-7.html and then http://technologyexpert.blogspot.com/2009/01/senator-asks-microsoft-to-prioritize.html You will find that most of these 1,400 laid off worker were Americans and soon 3,600 more American workers will be laid off. All this right after Microsoft lobbied for and got approval by our Congress to hire thousands more foreigners in the US on H-1B visa's to work at Microsoft and subsidiaries. I am very upset about what Microsoft is doing as it seems to be nothing more than a new fancy way of outsourcing American jobs. I feel for those Americans that lost there jobs to foreigners brought in replacements then asked for a return of overpayment due to an accounting error. You can bet if Microsoft errored to thier benfit NO ONE would have ever heard of that accounting error. They merely mentioned it now to make the overpayed feel guilty that money should have gone the the underpaid, Microsoft should be audited in light of this account error to ensure that other account error have not occured.

[62Sparkplug]

Let's see one of the things that Bill Gates wanted from the latest Microsoft commercials was to make him appear "more human."

Microsoft is frequently abbreviated M$ and sometimes referred to sarcastically as "the BORG."

Now I wonder how people ever go the impression the M$ is a soulless, cold-hearted entity?

Maybe doing something like firing people, screwing up a basic accounting activity like computing severance payouts, and then demanding that these jobless people pay the money back is embedded in M$'s DNA and they actually don't have the ability to "have a heart."

This issue should have been raised to the level of "Monkey Boy" Ballmer, who should have throw a chair or two to vent his rage, and then told his accounting people that M$ was just going to have to eat their losses on this one and he hopes those that were laid off are able to find new jobs.

[linux101]

Ha.. Vista what a joke, and people ask my I have a Mac and also run Linux. OS X Cheaper in the long run.

[vdubplate2]

Dear Microsoft,

This letter is to inform you that I have bought Vista and it's basicly a slow piece of **** operating system that bogs down my computer and uses up all my ram.
I ask that you refund my money at once and offer a sincere apology, as well as refund the money that I needed for Rogain. I had to buy this ti replenish the hair I ripped out of my head due to the stress of my computer crashing mid project over and over again.

[batray]

The only reason to give it back is if you plan on being rehired by Microsoft in the future. There is no legal obligation to do so.

This is now a PR disaster for the "big bad greedy and evil Microsoft." If the company had a clue they would announce that the employees they dumped while raking in Billion$ can keep the money.

[0ri0n]

If I had just been kicked to the curb and left jobless, I would consider the error a business expense they would have to eat. I mean, who is to believe simply because you receive a letter 'stating' that they paid you too much, that they actually paid you too much? If you buy a car, do you get to go back to the dealership and say "i'm sorry, I gave you too much cash for that - give me some of it back or I will use my team of lawyers to get it back from you"? I think not.

And it speaks volumes of the Microsoft mentality to leave 1400 jobless, and then to ask them to compensate by them for it.

I would love to see the little guys win in this one....

[Spanwite]

Many Comments on here reads like 5th grader talk, hate, and so on, doesn't even have something to do with the topic "refund"

Read this http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=13249

Kindergarden

[HarryG]

That letter is going to MS a hundred times what the x-employees owe. It makes MS look like just another greedy business.

[tommyb21]

How bout all of you shut your mouth and drop a dime on a decent computer. I've been running Vista Ultimate on my machine for well over a year now and couldnt be happier. Get rid of that Sale of the week Dell. All you realy need is a graphics card and Vista will bow to your every whim.

[tanis143]

Gees, all this hate that Vista is getting. If you're still having issues after SP1 then there is something else wrong. I've used many O/S's, from the worst (tied between NT 3.51 and winME) to the best (XP for win, Ubuntu 8.10 for lin). Vista is not that bad. Sure the UAC is annoying, but turn off the stupid thing. Its ment for those people who have no clue how to use the computer and really do need that safety net. The GUI is pretty smooth looking, though I like some aspects of Ubuntu's new GUI better.

Hey, at least its more stable than winME. That was the biggest joke of an o/s if I ever saw it.

[Maxwell Studly]

Penguinisto's laughable MSFT bashing agenda = Fail. Don't cry Penguinisto

[Vegaman_Dan]

Leave him be. He has every right to post his comments, silly as they may be.

It's much more interesting to let him just ramble on. He needs no help from anyone to... ah... properly represent himself.

[Penguinisto]

Eh? This is funny... but originally I posted that they were stuck in a jam of their own device.

Sorry if that chafes you so.

[wcrosby]

Just say no...

[1730dtla]

Microsoft is all class.

[brocklin]

Just an FYI, obviously the amounts in question may be large in which case MSFT should and will pursue it. For those thinking they have an option to return the money or not - be advised, it would be illegal to kept the overage and if it goes to court - you'd end up losing and paying court costs on top of it.

Leave it to the Steve Jobs lemmings - the topic is MSFT screwing up some accounting and they comment about Vista shortcomings . Like duh ! God bless Apple - they created a great, creative, alternative for the technically challenged.

[seven7dust]

you might want to go say that to all the graphic design artists,photographers
Audio/video production professionals etc instead of trolling here

[62Sparkplug]

@brocklin

"(Apple). . .they created a great, creative, alternative for the technically challenged."

Really, I worked as an Environmental Scientist for the State of California's Environmental Protection Agency for 20+ years and used a Mac all the time I was there. I worked alongside other staff members who had PhD's from UC Berkeley and never had a problem.

Please explain to me how I was "technically challenged." ??

[ender21]

Just because the hardware/software may have been *designed* with the technically challenged in mind, doesn't mean that *only* "technically challenged" may use it. A Formula One driver is still capable of driving a Kia.

However, just because one has a PhD doesn't mean they're technically inclined to figure out/use/diagnose/troubleshoot computers, either.

[62Sparkplug]

Thanks you bring up a good point: ". . .just because one has a PhD doesn't mean they're technically inclined to figure out/use/diagnose/troubleshoot computers, either."

And that was the beauty of using the Mac's where I worked. Our IT Staff insisted that they would NOT support Mac's if we got them. The few Mac users that were in the department were able to do all our required work just fine without ANY support (interference) from our IT Staff. This went on for YEARS. During that same time period, other staff members who used Windows machines frequently required IT staff for assistance with their machines and to do periodic reinstalls of their system software.

So in a way, I guess you could say that we weren't "technically challenged" when using our Mac's at work. Thanks for mentioning the issue of troubleshooting computers.

[ender21]

Now that's funny! It seems the IT staff either knew there'd be little issues with your Macs, or were harboring a grudge for "putting them out of business," and it backfired on them!

[62Sparkplug]

Well, it was a combination of 1) they didn't know that much about Mac's and didn't want to make the effort to learn, and 2) yes, they didn't want to be "put out of business" ensuring that they would always be needed to fix things that were always in need of attention or repair.

What baffled me was why that this big difference in IT usage didn't sink in on management. Let's see we have some staff doing their jobs and they don't need a lot of IT support and other staff that needs a lot of IT staff support, which option should I choose? Sadly, I don't think they ever had a clue about this difference.

We didn't have to ask for IT's blessing to install new software, utilities, etc. We didn't crash the network or cause any sort of IT issues other than being viewed as an annoyance to the IT staff; it was great!

[ongtiongheng]

If you are the layoff worker (foreigner), just pack your bag and let M$ come to your country and tell your judge the wonderful stories of administrative errors....

[Zarland]

Why is this a even a News?

Wow, that's incredible

[Cleaningtech]

It was a big blunder, but if it wasn't meant to be, it should be returned. Otherwise, the person(s) responsible should have to suffer some monetary discipline of their own.

[BuddhaDave]

Well now this quick little poll reveals a fundamental cause of the problems that helped cause the mess we are in. Keeping the money is stealing and I am sure it is against the law.
As for VISTA it was until windows 7 beta the best OS Microsoft has produced. I do not work for MS. I use Vista everyday for development , and at home for many many things.