Yellow line at left side and touch issue

[Pablo Sormi]

I am a long promotor of Microsoft, but today's problem and support reaction made me mad.

My computer out of sudden has made various random touch inputs behaviour on the right side of the screen. Constant Vertical touches at 1/33 of screen...
So I called our company Microsoft expert.. And he started to fix issue..

First he noticed the yellow hazle line on left of the screen. II did not bother me before but I am 100% sure it was there before. After the rebooting, the surface was unable to boot. After few resets it sometimes boots sometimes not.

Ms Support says they are aware of screen burn issue which is a visible problem (they even have the exchange policy) but if I want to fix it, I need to pay up 260euros... Because I ran out of my warranty 3months ago...

Seriously Microsoft?
You sell a premium product with a defect and then you ask money for fixing it??

Whenever car manufacturers sell a defected series of cars they feel obligated to fix it.
Microsoft could be a new trend setter, maybe cooperate with Volkswagen for customer service, they would need your help right now!!!

I am furious at them. And as a 'brand ambassador' iI feel cheated. My 4 year old Acer laptop works flawlessly, and my 1year old premium surface pro 3 is a garbage now....

 

[gpobernardo]

The situation is unfortunate and I feel your disappointment. However, you mentioned your "company Microsoft expert" - is he/she really from Microsoft Support, or just a local entity within your company who was assigned the title "Microsoft expert"?

Also, have you tried contacting Microsoft directly?

I understand the analogy in premium devices, but a good car isn't exactly like a good tablet. Besides, defective cars are a matter of personal and public safety (hence the obligation to replace them); defective tablets, PCs and phones aren't.

 

[Pablo Sormi]

The guy is Gold Certified Microsoft Administrator, and he has definitely more knowledge than I do in matter of administrative role.

The touch madness was fixed by total reinstall of Windows.

Still the yellow line is/was there, but Customer Service reaction will definitely last for a long time and now I will think at least twice before buying Surface Book.

A lot of my friends has Macbooks and they had a similar problem with screen burn few years ago in Airs or Pros. Even though they ran out of warranty, they computers were fixed free of charge, all of them.

You are right that car manufacturers segment was bad analogy, but Apple is great one.

Microsoft do you still think You beat apple? Beat them on the customer support field, not poor marketing.

 

[gpobernardo]

Apple probably has better customer support than any other high-tech company today, but I've learned that going into discussions about comparing a company against something else usually leads to nowhere, especially when the fanboys start marching in. I do hope, though, that Microsoft's Customer Service would start improving soon - I've got my own poor experience with certain service centers here - mainly by addressing the gap between the customers and the huge number of third parties that handle them (instead of Microsoft handling them directly). :smile:

At least the touch issue was resolved by reinstalling the OS - those things are usually hardware-level.

P.S.
I hope you don't have the impression that we, here at Windows Central, are Microsoft. :smile:

 

[Pablo Sormi]

I just hope anyone from Microsoft reads the biggest Microsoft Online Community.

Still disappointed at CS.

 

[spasell]

I just hope anyone from Microsoft reads the biggest Microsoft Online Community.

Still disappointed at CS.

3 replacements later (2 for the yellow line at the left that you described), and I still have multiple issues with this device. It's been over a year and my WiFi is broken now with the latest update.

I have egg on my face being responsible for the implementation of all sales enablement tools for the field. 44 others have iPads with ZERO complaints and the other devices I am tasked with "fixing" are the SP3.

DON'T want Apple, but now I have no choice.. And refused to "upgrade" to SP4 when the SP3's cannot even work like they should.

 

[IntensityTX]

Mine started to show the same symptom. I initially thought it was just a glare since it was only faintly noticeable from time to time. Now the orange bleed along the left edge of the screen is very prominent. My warranty is also expired, but I did contact MS Surface Support via chat regardless. They initially offered up the MS Store promo to trade it in for a SP4, which I declined. I made it clear several times that this is a manufacturing defect and not something due to normal use, especially within 2 years. I also made it clear that others are having the same issue and that more or going to daily, who are also out of warranty. I even cited the Xbox 360 RROD issue in which MS gave warranty extensions specific to that motherboard defect. In the end, I have an open case number while they investigate options to figure out how to possibly get a replacement. I encourage everyone who has this issue and reads this post to contact the MS Surface Support team regardless of your warranty status. This is a defect, clear as day that will probably start impacting the 2 year warranty users too; possibly outside of that 24 month mark. Be sure to use the word "defect", because that is what it is. It looks like the adhesive used to bond the screen did not evaporate, nor did it evaporate from normal use as some do. Must be a chemical reaction to the heat from what I can guess. I'll post updates if any progress is made on my support ticket, and if others could do the same that would be great.

 

[Pablo Sormi]

So you came through - I would be most interested if You will manage to achieve the replacement / i will also open up a case at Support.

 

[Pablo Sormi]

Already submitted. Will see.

 

[jedge]

Chatted with MS Support today. Both the sales department and warranty department. Very friendly.

I'm having the same issue with the yellow/orange band on the left side of the screen but it's not too distracting yet. I learned that:
1) They will replace the SP3 under warranty coverage for this issue (have to send them pictures).
2) They will not allow you to pay the difference and upgrade to the SP4.

 

[Pablo Sormi]

I got response from Microsoft UK today. This took almost 30 days.

I am writing to you in relation to our discussion on 02/12. I have received feedback in relation to your complaint and it has been established that there is no grounds for you to claim compensation or a free warranty repair or exchange.

You have received your one year US warranty and it is now expired. The warranty is determined by the country of purchase of the device rather than the country in which you now reside so the two year warranty available in some European countries is not available to you.

The screen discolouration issue you have is something that some customers have experienced but it is not a known issue that would warrant a warranty extension.

While I understand that this may not be accpetable to you, you have been given the same hardware guarantee as all other customers who have purchased a Surface Pro 3 in the United States and it is not possible to amend this.

Did You @IntensityTX had more luck?

 

[Witness]

I hear ya. I've got the yellow band issue and have seen the weird touch input, but it resolved itself with a reboot. The other thing I deal with almost every day is the stylus no longer registering. To fix that, I have unscrew the pen to break battery contact in order to reboot that and it fixes it.

This is a very expensive device and these things are annoying. I too am a big promoter of MS products, but they need to ensure quality is there, or I just end up looking the fool. Anyways, I have the extended warranty and will be using it to exchange for another one when I get around to doing a full back up.

 

[anon(7901790)]

I hear ya. I've got the yellow band issue and have seen the weird touch input, but it resolved itself with a reboot. The other thing I deal with almost every day is the stylus no longer registering. To fix that, I have unscrew the pen to break battery contact in order to reboot that and it fixes it.

Unfortunately, this is a hardware problem and no amount of rebooting and screen calibration will fix the yellow band.

@Pablo - If your warranty has run out, there isn't a whole lot you can do.

 

[Witness]

Unfortunately, this is a hardware problem and no amount of rebooting and screen calibration will fix the yellow band.

@Pablo - If your warranty has run out, there isn't a whole lot you can do.

The reboot fixes the touch input issue. Discolored screen is a discolored screen.

 

[anon(7901790)]

I just got my SP3 replaced for the yellow vertical band. The new one came in all nice and shiny. I had the two year warranty though so Microsoft said, "no worries."

My replacement SP3 came with Windows 10 installed. All I needed to do was update to the latest build.

 

[Pablo Sormi]

I am glad that Warranty helped You out with that one.

Still i have an opinion that this is a manufacturing defect that should be resolved regardless the warranty.

 

[anon(7901790)]

I am glad that Warranty helped You out with that one.

Still i have an opinion that this is a manufacturing defect that should be resolved regardless the warranty.

I agree that it is a manufacturing defect. Unfortunately, unless you bought the extended warranty, Microsoft's (as well as most every other manufacturer) only provide one year warranties for manufacturing defects. That's standard practice across the board for the US.

https://forums.windowscentral.com/e...Fhardware%2Fen-us%2Fwarranties&token=872qgLvz

If you had bought your SP3 in another country, then your warranty would be different and likely not honored here in the US.