Last month, Microsoft raised some of its product prices in the UK, due to currency fluctuations following the country"s Brexit referendum decision to leave the European Union. Its Surface Books now cost up to £400 more than they did a few weeks ago, while its Surface Pro 4 range increased in price by up to 12%.
Microsoft softened the blow of those significant price rises by introducing what it referred to as a "limited time offer" on almost all of its Surface devices. It promised Surface Pro 4 buyers a free two-year Complete insurance plan, while those purchasing a Surface Book got the same insurance deal, along with a free one-year Office 365 Home subscription.
The total value of those freebies amounted to as much as £299, and the deal was supposed to end on March 1. But Microsoft has quietly extended that offer, and it will now continue until March 15 - or perhaps even later, if the company decides to keep it going further.
Microsoft UK has a peculiar habit of promoting such "limited time" offers - often using phrases like "hurry!" to encourage buyers to take advantage of these deals before they"re supposedly due to end - before it then extends those offers for weeks, and sometimes months, at a time.
In January 2016, for example, it reduced the Lumia 640 XL"s price by 27% in a "special offer" that was supposed to end in June, but which continued for several weeks longer, before its price was then cut by an additional 20% in another "special offer". It ran similar deals on its Band 2 wearable device for up to five consecutive months.
Source: Surface Pro 4 / Surface Book (Microsoft Store UK)