Much has been said about Microsoft’s sometimes deceptive ways in which it has been ‘encouraging’ people to upgrade to Windows 10. This has included upgrading as a recommended update and automatically installing itself on machines, and worse. Well, Microsoft’s aggression has backfired. The company just had to pay $10,000 to a Californian business woman after an unexpected update left her PC “unusable”.

Terri Goldstein, who runs a travel-agency business in Sausalito, California, said that following an automatic Windows 10 upgrade her computer was rendered out of action, costing her time and money.  “I had never heard of Windows 10,” Goldstein told The Seattle Times, adding, “Nobody ever asked me if I wanted to update.”

She said that Microsoft’s customer support couldn’t help with the problem and so she decided to sue Microsoft for lost wages and compensation for a new PC. According to the Times she won after Microsoft dropped its appeal to avoid further litigation costs. She was awarded $10,000.

Microsoft has defended its modus operandi in getting people to upgrade, saying users must check the license agreement following an update, while users also have a chance to uninstall for a period of 31 days. Windows 10 has so far been received very positively from users and critics alike; Microsoft says it’s the most secure OS yet, and as of March this year it was already installed on 14.15 percent of all PCs.

That said, as Microsoft blogger Mary Jo Foley points out, Microsoft has implemented, “too many hoops and caveats for the average person to easily opt not to take the Windows 10 update.”

Goldstein has said that because of this, Microsoft needed to be made accountable, and so took the tech giant to a small claims court. In a statement issued by Goldstein she cited a consumer protection act that states, “products and services sold or distributed in California have an implied warranty to be fit for purpose.”

“Microsoft knew that its Windows 10 was not fit for purpose and allowed its release anyway,” said Goldstein,  “They used thousands of people like myself to learn how to troubleshoot the problems with no concern of consequences to the users.”

She said she urges people that have had issues with the upgrade to “know their rights and fight back,” adding that consumers shouldn’t put up with large corporations having it their own way. There’s a good possibility her strong words will lead others to take action against the company, and Microsoft may find itself in court again soon.

Photo credit: Pabak Sarkar via Flickr