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Microsoft Ratchets Up Prices for Support Services

Microsoft has apparently raised the cost of its support services with little, if any, notice.

Professional Support services for Microsoft's U.S. software customers are now priced at $499 per incident, up from about $249 per incident. Support prices for small and medium businesses, as well as for IT pros and developers, are now listed as "$499 per one incident" or "$1,999 for five incidents" for organizations with an annual support contract.

The new prices are listed at this page.

It's not clear exactly when Microsoft increased the prices, although it was noted on Monday by Rod Trent, a Microsoft MVP, in a Twitter post:

There was some speculation that the $499 cost might have been the so-called "after-hours support" price. However, the page listed above seems to debunk that notion. Ironically, at press time, the after-hours support costs were listed at $259 per incident ("all severities") or $515 per incident ("critical severity"), which may be outdated information.

Sometimes Microsoft's support services for organizations are free, but that gets determined by Microsoft via its Web portal or over the phone. Customers have to provide a credit card number to initiate the support process.

Microsoft Support may or may not deliver a solution for a particular incident. It's up to Microsoft's discretion with regard to charging (or not) in cases when it doesn't deliver a solution, according to its Professional Support FAQ.

Professional Support services do not cover products that have exited Microsoft's "extended support" lifecycle phase after 10 years. Getting support after that point requires setting up an account to get "custom support."

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

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