Surface Pro 3 battery degradation

Anonymous
2016-05-11T07:37:37+00:00

I've been using Microsoft Surface Pro 3 for a year, and shortly after the warranty expired I noticed my Surface Pro 3 can only last about 1-2 hours after a full charge. At first I thought this was a problem with background process draining the battery so I disabled everything running in the background. It didn't helped. Then I found out about the powercfg utility and run powercfg /batteryreport on it, and this was the result:

A full charge capacity has degraded by over 80% in just few weeks and continue degrading. I tried to "recalibrate" the battery by doing full charge then full drain multiple times, and it didn't helped. Talk with Microsoft via chat support and they insist this was a software problem and reinstalled the driver and asked me to wait few days to see if things improve. Not only it didn't improved, but now my Surface can only last 30 minutes.

Few days after chat (today), I called Microsoft support and they were being extremely unhelpful. Insist that this was a software problem (which the chat support person already did) and it's "perfectly normal" for battery capacity to degrade. I insist that I've already done the software "fixes" and it didn't work and tell them this is definitely hardware problem, but the person on the phone tell me there's nothing I could do except to order the out of warranty exchange (which cost about $560 in my local currency). 

Is there anything else I should do? My country has no Microsoft Store which I could take the machine for them to take a look. Phone/online support were the only option, and none of them could understand the issue.

Surface | Surface Pro | Power and battery

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Anonymous
2016-07-26T21:31:16+00:00

Hello everyone,

Thanks for your continued patience here. We have now completed our testing of the update and it has passed our quality assurance process.

The update, “System Firmware Update - 8/29/2016”, is now available to install from Windows Update.

Before installing this update, ensure that your Surface Pro 3 is plugged directly in to AC power using the standard AC power adapter (do not use the Surface Docking Station), disconnect any USB devices or external monitors, and check that Windows shows a 40% charge or greater when you hover over the icon in the taskbar before you begin.

Once you install the update, please select Restart now (do not shutdown). After your Surface restarts, please manually restart it a second time to complete the process. For more information, please see our Surface Pro 3 Battery FAQ article.

If you’re having trouble charging your Surface, you get a low-battery error, or your Surface turns off when you unplug it, the steps in our Surface battery won’t charge article can help you pinpoint the problem. Should you need any further assistance, please contact us. 

Thanks again.

Greg

Updated 8/29/16.

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-08-22T14:33:01+00:00

    Use a proxy extension like Hola! for google chrome and intitate the chat from their Singapore website. See if that works.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-08-22T14:24:45+00:00

    Yes they charge the $99 for online support chat as well.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-08-22T14:20:20+00:00

    My Surface Pro saga has gone from frustration to radioactive.  Friday, I was authorized a replacement.  Took it to the Park Meadows store and after about an hour, they produced a refurb unit from the back.  I was now running late for another appointment, so took it and went.  Got home late that day and guess what - this one has an LG battery but won't boot without a power cord, won't run with the dock power and won't run without the power cord.  Stuck at 54% plugged in not charging.  Spend a good part of Sunday AM chatting with surface support.  They called me around noon and said go to the store to swap it.  Went to the store, swapped.  Verified that it will boot, will charge.  On my merry way.  Screw me, I forgot the most important test - will it boot or run not connected to the wall!  Guess what.  This one too won't do it.  So, now I am back to the store this evening for the 3rd day in a row for my 5th Surface.  I have lost faith in Microsoft building hardware.  We have a long history of this - Zune, Microsoft networking hardware, their fun in the Office Communicator phone with the mirrors, Windows phone.....on it goes.  At what point does the tech press pick up on how bad things have gotten with these devices?  Where is Microsoft with any apologies, any attempt to provide customer service?  I know one of the most critical metrics they track is called DSAT - dissatisfied customers.  One hundred pages of this thread and only 2 responses from Microsoft both saying wait.  This is Lucy holding the ball for Charlie Brown stuff.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-08-22T14:05:23+00:00

    Do they charge you guys for online support chat initiated from MS site as well? Try that.

    By the way what kind of nonsense is charging a Franklin for talking to a big *** corporation regarding a problem that they have created?????????

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