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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

220 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2021-03-23T11:09:47+00:00

    Ladies and gentlemen,

    Let's take a look at this.

    I still cannot believe there's no class action lawsuits yet.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2021-03-16T02:30:51+00:00

    It costs a hell of a lot less to maintain a good reputation than it does to repair a bad one.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2021-03-15T22:14:24+00:00

    It's just a stupid way to deal with a product defect. Surface is a premium and super expensive product. Especially Surface Pro 4, which was such a flagship product when it came out. They should be offering an upgrade at wholesale prices to one of the latest Surface products, or a free replacement because it's clearly a product defect! Taking one of those options keeps a customer happy, rather than sending them  off thinking not only will they avoid Microsoft products and services in the future, but will actively tell others about their very crummy experience. If you want a garentee way of lowering the share price this is the way to achieve that. It's the old sales and marketing addage, if you do the right thing by a customer they will tell two people about how good you product, service or company is, but if you do the wrong thing they are likely to tell 20 people how bad you are, pretty easy math. I agree I'm super disappointed with this crummy approach.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2021-03-15T15:06:47+00:00

    The exact same thing just happened to my Surface Pro 4 and I got the exact same response from MIcrosoft customer service.  They said I could get a refurbished one for $450 but a new one is not much more so they clearly want you to simply throw away your defective surface.   Plus, you have to send back the defective device and then wait a week or two to get the refurbished one.   Clearly this is terrible customer service and I resent it since I lived in Seattle and have been with them since their beginning. This is clearly a design defect that they are not willing to acknowledge or take care of.

    I am very dissapointed and seriously thinking of switching to the Apple ecosystem as the rest of my family has.

    RR

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2021-03-14T17:39:59+00:00

    It gets worse.  I found a shop that thought it could replace the battery (there are "replacement" batteries available), so I gave them a chance.  There was no risk to me since they promised not to charge if they couldn't make the repair.  New battery -- same size/specs/connector as the original installed.  Surface would not power on, even though the little light on the power adaptor was lit.  Turns out that this is typical.  There are many similar reports online.  The shop I was working with had my machine plus another with the same problem.  Neither would power on after battery replacement.  My SP4 has now been returned to me (without the battery so I don't have to worry about it burning my house down).  I was not charged -- kudos to an honest repair shop.  But my computer is just a paperweight.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments