New battery replacement cost from MS?

Question

Does anyone know how much Microsoft charges to replace the battery in the Surface/Pro?

I just bought a Pro model with the extended warranty, but would really like to know.  I can't seem to find anything about it thus far.  Because, eventually the battery will go bad, as do all batteries.

Apple has a policy where you ship them your old iPad with the bad battery, pay a flat fee, and they ship you back a refurbished iPad.

Does Microsoft do the same thing?  I would imagine it would be a swap out for a refurbished model, because of the difficulty repairing the thing.

And then OMG, what happens if you have Office 2013 on your Surface?  Will the replacement one have it installed and functioning under your old license key, or do you need to buy a whole new license to reinstall on the refurbished Surface?

Any help would be much appreciated!  Thanks!

Answer 1

My apologies. The 319.99 OOW exchange is for a Surface RT.

It is $469.99 for OOW exchange dealing with a Surface PRO.

After 3-4 years, you will need to pay the OOW cost if you do need to exchange it for any reason.

Answer 2

Greetings Hyperlexis,

These are great questions to ask our Technical Support Team as they will be able to give you an answer. If you would like to post back what they tell you, that would be great to share with the community. You can reach our Technical Support Team here:

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/support/contact-us/

Answer 3

The battery is not user replaceable.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Barb

Windows Experience MVP

My Blog - http://digitalmediaphile.com/

Please mark as answered if this answers your question

Answer 4

Hi all,

There are no user serviceable parts inside Surface. Opening the case will void your warranty.  Please contact our support for battery related concerns.

Regards,

Clare

Answer 5

No, none of the Surface devices have a removable battery.

I've watched a video on taking the Surface apart and it's certainly not for the faint of heart.

Hope this helps.

Answer 6

Hello and G'day again ShirishGandhi,

The manufacturer warranty is 1 year in which you can have your device repaired or replaced for an unlimited amount of times. Once the device is replaced, the warranty will continue until the end of its time period or have an additional 90 days. Which ever one is longer. Meaning, if you are near the end of your warranty, the 90 day time period will be added.

From the date of purchase, you will have 90 days of Tech support.

From the date of purchase, you will  have 45 days to purchase the Microsoft Complete warranty giving you a total of 2 years Tech support, Accidental damage with a 50 dollar deductible, 2 years of hardware warranty.

Anything outside these time frames will be considered a Out Of Warranty exchange. The cost for a OOW exchange for a tablet is 319.99

Answer 7

If you contact the tech support team and receive an answer, please let us know what the answer was!

Here is MS's response regarding the Office 2013 licensing debacle:

http://blogs.office.com/b/office-news/archive/2013/02/19/office-2013-and-office-365-installations-and-transferability.aspx

Honestly, I have installed my 2013 license three times on multiple machines (I sold the prior machines to buy the Surface Pro) and have yet to run into an issue.

Answer 8

Yes I did, and I am horrified / outraged at the reply.

Here is part of my online chat transcript with the MS Surface service rep:

[....]"Jay P: Now, you asked about the cost of a battery replacement after the warranty expires. Individual components can't be replaced, so what we do is replace the entire unit. Even after the warranty expires we still offer replacements for less than the cost of buying a new unit. For the Surface Pro that would be $449.99 if done through the self-serve site I mentioned earlier, or $469.99 if done with an agent's assistance.

"Jay P: Your current warranty is valid until 5/11/2014, by the way, and we do have an extended warranty available.

"Paul: Yes -- can you check that for me please. It supposedly has the extended warranty included

Jay P: When was that purchased?

"Paul: 2-16-13

"Paul: Has MS Answer Desk + MS Complete for Surface Pro and my Type Keyboard

"Paul: Product SKU XXX-XXXXX and XXX-XXXXX

"Jay P: Warranties purchased in-store can sometimes take up to 1-2 weeks to reflect on the status of the machine, so that will be updated. If by chance you needed to make a warranty claim before that happens, we would honor the warranty you bought.

"Paul: How will I know when it kicks in?

"Jay P: You can check the warranty status online at myservice.surface.com.

"Paul: OK. But honestly -- Apple charges $99 for replacing worn out iPad batteries with refurb units. Does MS REALLY charge almost $500 for the same service?

"Paul: Apple, I mean sends out an entire refurb iPad with a new battery, that is.

"Jay P: I don't have any experience with Apple, so I can't speak to their policies, but that is the cost for a replacement Surface Pro.

"Paul: OK wow that's pretty expensive. If MS takes any suggestions from customers, I STRONGLY suggest that they change their policy, at least vis a vis battery replacements only, and at least MATCH Apple's repair service cost on that respect.

"Paul: That's my opinion as a MS customer who owns a Zune, a Lumia 900, and now a Surface Pro.

"Jay P: I can definitely understand your position on that, and we do appreciate feedback. I'll make sure to pass that along for you, thank you!"

Yeah this is actually pretty bad.  MS needs to meet Apple's service price on this one.  $450 to replace a battery is total BS.  Really MS, this needs a rethink.

And why didn't anyone even bother to report on this issue in Surface reviews.  I know journalism is having big problems nowadays, but come on.  No reviews I read on the Surface Pro even addressed the issue!  Sheesh!

Answer 9

I sent this page to Cultofmac.com and theverge.com asking if they could confirm it somehow. Not sure if they'll take any noticed or care but if they investigate it further, then we will see what they find out!

Answer 10

Wow, there has to be a better response than that. $450, thats pretty bad.