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
    2020-02-28T20:26:41+00:00

    Another Surface Pro 4 here with battery bulging and pushing the screen away from the body. Speak to tech support agent who advises that as it is 3.5 years old, £500 to replace. 

    I ask the agent a few simple questions:

    This was a £1000+ device when new, if he spent that sort of money on one, would he expect it to last more than 3 years, answer was yes. 

    Apple can offer replacement or repair of devices with a clear manufacturing default for well beyond 3 years, why can't Microsoft as a direct competitor, response was a mumbled, I dunno sort of response. 

    I have multiple MS devices, Xboxes etc, and would find it hard to recommend based on this, wouldn't blame me for not recommending going forward.

    Asked if I were to ask to escalate to a manager, could they do anything as a goodwill, basically told would be wasting my time, there have been lots of reports and very strict on warranty. 

    So MS staff agree with the consumer, there is a clear manufacturing defect here, surely something can be done? All the other manufacturers seem to have a duty of care here... I had a 1st Gen ipod Nano, 6 years old at the time and it was replaced without question for a brand new latest model, and I am sure it was a lot less of a risk than this!

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-02-27T16:52:27+00:00

    I have the same problem and just got off the phone with support who offered a refurbished Surface Pro4 for $450. Ridiculous!

    I have had several ipads across multiple generations and everyone of them still works. 

    Why would I pay hundreds of dollars to get another faulty used machine from MS. Definitely not worth it. It was the last straw to push me to Mac ecosystem.

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-02-19T12:18:27+00:00

    I have bought my surface pro 4 in March 2016 and just two days ago I realized bulging at lower left edge of the screen. I contacted Microsoft support and at the beginning they told me because my two years of warranty is over I have to pay around 488 CHF for repairing my surface pro 4. After I told them that I have read about this issue in internet and this is one of the common problems for surface pro 4, they suggested me to change my surface pro 4 with surface pro 5 with the same specification for the same price (so generous!!), although this was not my fault. I thought the offered surface pro 5 is a brand new with 2 years warranty, so I have replied to their email to check if the offered surface pro 5 is a new device. I haven't heard from them and after one day I called them again and they told me the surface pro 5 is not new and it has warranty just for 90 days!!!

    That was embarrassing; you pay 1400 CHF and get a device which does not worth of buying!! If I will pay the offered amount is there any guaranty this bulging does not happen again? Of course not, if they could do so, they could produce their products better. I could use my other laptops for 6-7 years and after that time there was no problem with the system. But this time, I paid even more and I could use my laptop less than 4 years.

    My conclusion: I will never buy Microsoft laptops anymore and suggest to anybody else to do the same. They are not worth buying and they just have fancy style and appearance. In addition to that, Microsoft support center is not at all helpful and is really awful!

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-02-17T20:25:11+00:00

    really curious, the issue happened to my devices between the third and fourth year. still not satisfied with the non solution provided by microsoft to replace the item/battery untill the device is 3 years old. 

    Surface Pro 3 older and working better, no bulging battery's there. screen still looking good, same with the 'stand' which can't be used anymore due to the battery problems.

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-02-17T10:29:02+00:00

    I managed to get support through the chat, this was escalated to the surface team who I chatted with and uploaded images of the device. They've sent my evidence to the hardware team who will be in touch in the next few days.

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