What is Flickergate?

“Affected customers are requested to join us at https://forum.flickergate.com“

We are customers of Microsoft who have invested $1500+ on new Surface Pro devices which have developed screen flickering, rendering the devices unusable. The flickering normally occurs 1 year after purchase when the warranty is already expired. This means that owners are forced to pay $450+ for an out-of-warranty replacement (refurbished) device from Microsoft.

However, many users have had the flickering recur on their refurbished Surface Pro replacements. 2000+ customers have complained on the official Microsoft support forums and this number is growing by the day. To date, Microsoft has not acknowledged the issue. We recommend potential buyers AVOID Surface Pro devices, and point to Consumer Reports removing their buy recommendation for Surface devices until Microsoft has fixed this problem because there is a high chance that your device will become unusable within a year.

What is the solution?

Unfortunately, no software fix is available for this problem. Some users have been offered replacement devices as a fix by Microsoft but the problem often recurs in these devices. There are users who have reported on the official Microsoft support forum that they had the problem recur with 3 or 4 consecutive replacements.

What do we expect from Microsoft? Surface Pro’s are marketed and priced as premium devices. Microsoft should, therefore, respond accordingly by acknowledging the issue and offering a solution. If the issue is a hardware fault, then Microsoft should recall affected devices. Update: Microsoft released a short statement after the widespread media coverage of the issue, stating that they are aware of the issue and that customers with defective Surface Pros should contact MS Support. To date Microsoft is still charging $450+ (depending on location) for out of warranty replacement (refurbished) devices.

Update (23/3/2018)

Due to sheer number of issues being submitted, its almost impossible to manage and post them online here. So we have added a forum for FlickerGate with dedicated section for Issues Posting. Kindly follow the following link to FlickerGate Forum to share your story.

https://forum.flickergate.com

Furthermore, almost all of us are posting on random forums for help and possible solutions. With our own forum, we will be able to plan systematically for this issue at a single point of discussion.

Also consider becoming a part of the class action lawsuit investigation against Microsoft, share your details with Migliaccio & Rathod LLP

Update (11/5/2018)

Microsoft released a statement today, admitting being able to solve the problem via software or firmware fixes and has created a replacement program for affected users and refunds for users who have had to pay for out of warranty replacements. See details here.

A Glimpse of the Issue

Affected Customers

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