My brother has an HP Pavilion laptop with an NVIDIA RTX 3050 that he used for college for several years without problems. After returning home, it began restarting randomly, so we brought it to a repair shop. They said the motherboard was faulty and convinced us to buy a replacement. After getting the laptop back, we noticed that the dedicated RTX 3050 no longer appeared—only the integrated graphics were available. The shop never told us that the GPU would be missing and said we would need to purchase another one if we wanted dedicated graphics. The laptop was also still restarting, so we returned it. They then blamed the SSD, sold us replacement SSDs, and took the laptop in again. Now it makes creaking sounds when opening, does not close properly, and the Wi-Fi button has disappeared. What should we do, and is there a way to verify whether the shop replaced or damaged the original parts?
4 Answers
Whether this legally counts as fraud depends on the local consumer-protection rules and what you approved, but the repair clearly was not completed properly. Gather the original receipt, repair estimates, messages, payment records, and photographs. Ask for an itemized explanation and a refund in writing. If they refuse, contact your payment provider or local consumer-protection agency. Do not rely only on verbal conversations.
This sounds highly suspicious. In most HP Pavilion models with an RTX 3050, the dedicated GPU is soldered directly to the motherboard, so replacing the board with one that only supports integrated graphics would remove the RTX 3050. They should have told you exactly what board they were installing and obtained approval before replacing an expensive component. Stop authorizing more repairs, request the original parts and a detailed invoice, and seek a second opinion from a reputable technician. Document the missing GPU, the physical damage, and all payments. You should also ask for a refund or compensation if they installed an inferior board or damaged the laptop.
The restarting problem might have been caused by several things, including overheating, power delivery, memory, the original motherboard, or a bad connection. Replacing the SSD is not automatically a valid fix, especially if the system continued restarting afterward. The creaking and failure to close properly strongly suggest the chassis, hinges, or case was mishandled during disassembly. Get the laptop back, preserve the old parts if they still have them, and have an independent shop inspect it before agreeing to anything else.
Before doing anything else, take photos and videos of the laptop, including the hinges, case gaps, missing Wi-Fi control, ports, serial number, and the graphics information shown in Windows. Ask the shop in writing for the motherboard model and the serial numbers or identifying details of the parts they installed. A different repair center can compare the board against the laptop's original specifications and check whether the SSDs were actually replaced. Do not let the same shop keep changing parts without explaining the diagnosis and getting your approval first.
That makes sense. We should have stopped after the first repair failed instead of continuing to buy parts from them.