Microsoft Has to Pay a Customer $10,000 for Unwanted Windows 10 Upgrade
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Eric Risberg/AP
“Nobody ever asked me if I wanted to update.”
Microsoft has discovered that not all its customers want the latest and greatest.
As the company started rolling out its Windows 10 upgrade last year, it faced resistance from some users whose PCs were running older versions of the operating system. Now, Microsoft has to pay up for forcing an unwanted upgrade on a California woman.
The Seattle Times reports that Teri Goldstein recently won a $10,000 court judgement because a failed update, which she said she didn’t authorize, rendered her computer unusable for days at a time. The PC she used at her Sausalito, California, travel agency ran Windows 7, which was released in 2009. She sued Microsoft for lost wages and the cost of a new computer. Microsoft dropped its appeal in May to avoid further legal expenses.
“I had never heard of Windows 10,” she said, according to The Seattle Times. “Nobody ever asked me if I wanted to update.”
While Windows 10 gained favorable reviews, Microsoft has been criticized for its aggressive rollout. Longtime Microsoft blogger Paul Thurrott characterized the company’s tactics as ways to “trick customers” into upgrading. For example, when users clicked “close” on a window prompting them to upgrade, many unknowingly agreed to the upgrade.
“The violation of trust here is almost indescribable,” he wrote in May.