Surface Pro 4 Bulging Battery / Screen. 3 1/2 years old.

Anonymous
2019-06-30T14:34:09+00:00

So, like many others on this forum, we have a Surface Pro 4, in which the battery has decided to self-destruct, destroying a £1,700 machine.

The screen hasn't popped off, but the battery has swollen enough to prevent the hinge from opening as it should and for the glass on the front to be very distorted, and it registers random screen input, all the while running hotter than the central heating.

I've spoken to support. They unhelpfully told me that because my warranty is up, I would have to pay several hundred pounds (£333) to replace the machine with a refurbished unit. To me, this is completely unacceptable. These devices are clearly flawed by design. This issue is too wide spread for it to be a coincidence. The batteries used in these devices are obviously flawed, and when I suggested as such, Sean L, the person dealing with my case, stopped responding (A few days after that, I wrote to Microsoft's twitter support who confirmed that the case had been closed. Thanks Sean L.)

If the device is dangerous (as suggested by the agent who I spoke to on the phone in the first instance) and it does catch fire while we are away this summer, and it subsequently burns down a multi-million pound Cambridge University building? What then, Microsoft? You'll wish you'd just replaced it then, won't you.

Surface | Surface Pro | Power and battery

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-11-12T15:21:29+00:00

    I created an account just to express my extreme frustration with these people.

    DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY AND TIME. DO NOT BUY THIS COMPUTER OR ANY COMPUTER BUILT BY MICROSOFT!!

    I will never, ever buy anything from Microsoft again! I have lost about $1200.00 and it seems that there is no way for me to get anything back from Microsoft.

    Back in January 2017, I used about $1200.00 out of my research fund to buy a surface pro 4. I also paid for the extended warranty. The computer was fine – just fine – for about 18 months. Then the screen started flickering. I called them. They knew about this issue but they hadn’t contacted people who had bought the computer. They replaced my new computer with a *refurbished one*. I protested but I had no other option.

    The refurbished computer worked for about 18 months, almost, and then the batteries started swelling. Again, I contacted Microsoft and they said that they knew about it. Check the internet: this is a known problem. But once again, they did not contact people who had bought this computer.

    This is important because they told me that I should not use the computer anymore because it might explode or catch fire! So, I asked them if they were going to replace it and their final offer was that I should pay $450.00 to get yet another refurbished (and probably flawed) one. I reminded them that this is not the original computer and my warranty should have restarted when they sent a replacement. But they said that they go with the purchase date of the original device!

    I am not trying to start a class action lawsuit. I just want people to know that Microsoft products are extremely unreliable. Also I dealt with a number of people who were in charge of their surface computers (so-called customer service) and I can say with certainty that they are trained to simply frustrate customers. More on that later. For now, though, I am just going to repeat: DO NOT BUY MICROSOFT COMPUTERS!

    PS. Every time that i get a replacement I am supposed to reinstall all the programs, including Microsoft Office. My university used to do that and now that I am retired, I have to pay for that and other programs as well!

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-11-09T20:48:28+00:00

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-11-09T12:05:21+00:00

    There is an error in the link. Try: https://www.saferproducts.gov/IncidentReporting/IRStep1

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-11-09T04:33:09+00:00

    The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has a website for consumers to report defective/dangerous products.  Website is http://cspc.gov.

    I have reported my machine.  I would suggest that others with this problem (at least in the U.S.) report theirs as well.  Maybe we can get some action.

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