SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20210104-89B25-2951828. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Microsoft Surface Pro Field (Microsoft Surface Pro 4 Convertible Laptop/Tablet with Touch Screen). Incident: I have a Microsoft Surface Pro 4 convertible laptop/tablet device. Recent (December 2020) I noticed the screen delaminating from the enclosure, seemingly due to bulging components. Internet searches and then correspondence with Microsoft Support confirmed that this is a known critical fire hazard due to battery swelling. The enclosure additionally appears to be made of magnesium, which would make a resulting fire likely catastrophic and nearly impossible to extinguish. Microsoft is aware of the issue and instructed that the device is not to be used. Microsoft said that they would send a fire-proof enclosure to return the device for investigation, but ONLY if I FIRST paid a $450 replacement fee. I replied that I would be happy to pay a replacement fee when sent a replacement, but that their retrieval and disposal (with any investigation on their part) should not be predicated by first paying a replacement fee. Microsoft replied that I should look for good holiday deals on a new device from their store or 3rd party sellers, with no mention or offer to remove the hazardous device from my household, or even how to safely dispose of this. Microsoft is clearly aware of a critical safety hazard with their product and the company is more interested in selling a new device than responsibly dealing with this safety hazard. Photo of the device with bulging battery and correspondence with Microsoft attached.