Surface Pro 4 Screen Flickers

i am wondering if a windows update is causing this problem 

federal government should look into if Microsoft is intentionally degrading the UX  of old versions to force upgrade.

You can call this paranoia but Apple did this to its customers by making the UX slower and favoring newer products  to older ones.

Hate to think this way but dam I have lost trust in all corporations  due to the abuses we see with data too

:(

I have the same problem as many other Microsoft users (summarized below)

What is Microsoft's solution to resolve the Surface Pro 4 flickering screen?

ISSUE

Due to the pandemic, I now need to work remotely and use this Surface for 8 or more hours each day.  The first full day was a surprise when my screen started flickering.  I see that Microsoft knew about this issue and arranged to extend the warranty to 3 years.  Unfortunately, my Surface Pro 4 is just past the 3 years.  I feel that since my Surface was registered when I bought it that Microsoft should have notified me that my Surface was in the batch of known hardware defects.  Had I known about this issue, I would have taken care of this issue immediately.  Instead, I was left to discover this on my own over time.  Now, Microsoft support has offered to replace my Surface with a used certified Surface for an additional $599.99 with only a 90 day warranty.  I don't really want to spend an additional $599.99 but I will if I have to so I can continue to get some work done.  I have 2 issues with this, one is that Microsoft had my contact information from my registered device and never contacted me to say I had this known hardware issue and second is that after I spend $599.99 I will get a used device with only a 90 warranty. 

1) What is Microsoft's resolution to this?

2) How do we implement the solution during the COVID-19 crisis?

We have started having this issue after school style usage . It started with flickering issue recently and we were out of warranty. MS has previously made exceptions to the "out of warranty replacements" .. I have reached out to them to take consideration of the follow.

1. Our device was a registered device and it was regsitered in feb 2017 !!! and it is an expectation that the users of registered devices get notified of a potential hardware issue discovered  and not let them land on the issue to start charging them.
2. This is an exceptional situation that the current covid-19 has put the usage of surface pro device more everyday and flickers start in less than 30 minutes of usage and is a real harm to the eyes of the students and a health hazard.
3. Customer service has concluded that the issue is a hardware issue after remote access into the device and trying out various fixes to their satisfaction.
4. MS has previously made judgement calls to replace out of warranty device of Surface pro 4 as in this thread by a user post on Replied on May 4, 2017

"https://answers.microsoft.com/"

5. We have invested heavily (close to $1700) on this device marketed as a high end versatile device .  Customer service had just 2 options for us

      a) buy a new surface pro 6/7 with a $200 credit applied and to make a decision in 15 days

      b) pay a $599 to get a refurbished surface pro 5

And none of these are workable for us .

None of these can take away the fact that we were left with a device with a known hardware issue without any sort of notification even after duly registering the device on the MS website. 

We have requested the customer service to escalate this to the next level and would need a fair treatment for customers . Not only this is a paid hardware , it is a paid operating system software too and not a open source freeware!!!!

I faced exactly the same problem 3 years and 1 month after the purchase. It is pure fraud not to report this recognized problem to buyers who have a registered Agency. I believe that this problem is more often faced by owners of top-end modifications that have hot i7s on Board. And this attitude is undoubtedly outrageous.

I am ready to buy a new Surface 7 / Go/X, with a discount of 30-50%. But I find it absolutely unacceptable to buy an outdated refurbished Surface 5.

If Mircosoft does not change its decision on this problem, it will have to dissuade people from buying such expensive and not reliable "beautiful wrappers" in all forums.

I faced exactly the same problem 3 years and 1 month after the purchase. It is pure fraud not to report this recognized problem to buyers who have a registered Agency. I believe that this problem is more often faced by owners of top-end modifications that have hot i7s on Board. And this attitude is undoubtedly outrageous.

I am ready to buy a new Surface 7 / Go/X, with a discount of 30-50%. But I find it absolutely unacceptable to buy an outdated refurbished Surface 5.

If Mircosoft does not change its decision on this problem, it will have to dissuade people from buying such expensive and not reliable "beautiful wrappers" in all forums.

i had written to our customer support executive and asked for her higher ups to look at it. While there is no way for a customer to directly escalate genuine concerns , i have still asked for direct ways to reach higher ups who can take a decision.

MS had made free replacements even for out of warranty post the three years and this current practice to sell a refurbished surface pro 5 for $599 and calling it a "out of warranty" program to plug the surface pro 4 screen flicker issue is totally discriminatory and unacceptable. All this after MS hiding the hardware issue even from registered users... I have written to customer support for direct contacts.. They really do not seem to have replacement units of surface pro 4 and that seems to be the reason for being sold refurbished surface pro 5 for $599

I Make a request any volunteers / moderators / employees to take our genuine concern higher up ... below is my email thread for your references....if you need ticket information pls do send me a direct message and I shall be happy to share the same

hello ,

       This is not something we can take since 

1. it was a defective product and MS had knowledge of it for over 3 years . I was a registered user from feb 2017.

This concealment of information to let user stumble upon it and charge is not a right thing to do.

2. MS has provided free out of warranty replacements for surface pro 4 . You may check the link below from a user 

on the same and https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/all/surface-pro-4-screen-flickers/e431e3c8-ced5-4ed7-b208-eda8c72aa313?page=3

3. It is hazardous to look at that flickering screen.

I request you to please provide contact detail / escalation procedure for me to contact supervisor / higher ups in Microsoft to get answers directly.

If some users can get this free replacement after out of warranty as the link above says and others are sold a refurbished surface-pro 5 for $599 , I would really like to know the criteria for this discrimination  against us in this case.

thanks

Hi,

I already raise this issue to the Higher support team and they mention that the only option that they can provide are the two optins that I rpovided you earlier.

The first option is a 200 USD credit towards only the purchase of a new Surface Pro 6 or Surface Pro 7 from our Microsoft Online Store.

If you would like to take advantage of the credit offer, I can help you with the selection and purchase of a new device from our online store and provide the 200 USD credit immediately.”

Please call back in under 15 days to take advantage of this offer

The second option is that we may also complete an out of warranty order for your device for the standard out of warranty price and the out of warranty price cost 599 USD plus tax. Good thing for this is that you will received an upgrade replacement device which is a Surface pro 5th gen that came with a 90 days repair warranty.

Best regards,

I have also had this screen flicker issue. I am also just past the three year mark.

I actually have no issues purchasing a new surface at a discounted rate, it is the service and information I am getting around this which is problematic for me.

I called support 4 days ago about the issue and was quoted on the phone as being able to purchase a replacement refurbished Surface 5 for $710 AUD. I asked for an email to confirm this and I frustratingly never received this email so I had no way to follow up.

I just called again and after getting through, I was quoted again with an increased price of $950 AUD. 

I would like to be able to purchase at the original price I was quoted but without any level of proof I am stuck with an option $250 higher.

Is there anyone that can help me with this situation? Demand for devices or currency changes cannot have affected prices by 30% in three day.