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
    2021-01-31T02:45:20+00:00

    Exactly the same here . 

    Swollen battery is a fire hazard (that's when the battery stops storing energy and starts conducing it, generating extreme heat and eventually exploding /catching fire (remember how some Samsung devices were banned on planes even if they were off?)

    So, two options.

    1. stop using it and buy a 2 in 1 devices like Dell, Lenovo or hp. Basically move on. 
    2. take it to a place were they can replace the battery. Its not cheap, but way cheaper than buying a new computer. Specially if the screen is not cracked.

    I did option 2 and is working fine (for 300Au dollars). I reckon it will last me ?2 more years and then go to option 1.

    My screen was brown like yours and some areas not working. After replacing the battery, everything started working again just fine. The guy in the shop told me that it was the 7th Surface in the month he had fixed. 

    Good luck.

    Hi Jonathan ,

    I'm in Austraila with the same problem of bulging screen, been through the hopelessly inadequate Microsoft process without resolution. Can you please tell me where you got yours repaired?

    Thanks.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-01-31T02:57:50+00:00

    Hi mate, I'm in Melbourne and there a few places in the cbd. I did it with city phones (I think it was called). 

    There are a few places where you just post your SP and they send it back to you. 

    Mine is still going strong for now and heavy use. But now I try to avoid over charging our use it for extensive periods with external monitors unless I have to. 

    All the best. 

    J

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-01-31T03:30:45+00:00

    Thanks for the speedy reply. I'll certainly look at this, as I'm getting nowhere taking to Microsoft.

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-01-31T03:43:53+00:00

    Forget about them mate. 

    👍

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  5. Anonymous
    2021-02-13T00:05:00+00:00

    Yep. I am the same. Went and reported it (mine was a surface laptop from 2017). I was offered an 'amazing' deal whereby I could part with $1000 AU to get a replacement model (exactly the same).

    So really, I could get a model that is over 3 years old, susceptible to the same issue, but pay $1000. I'd effectively be spending a collective $3k AU on a machine that is potentially unsafe. 

    Or I could use that money to go toward, I don't know, maybe anything that's not a Microsoft product?

    That's what I said to support and I received no reply. 

    I'm lodging this with the ACCC seeing if this can be covered under the consumer protection law for implied warranty and will see how I go!

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