Screen replacement left my laptop unable to close properly
TL;DR: Paid Micro Center $100 to replace the screen on my HP Envy. The screen itself works perfectly, but immediately after the repair the lid stopped closing all the way, now springs back open, and the laptop no longer detects when the lid is shut. Micro Center first blamed the replacement screen being “too thick,” then blamed pre-existing cosmetic dents that were already there while the laptop still closed normally. They “adjusted the hinges,” said it didn’t help, and are now trying to return it to me unresolved while suggesting I pay hundreds more for a top chassis replacement if I want anything done about it.
I brought my HP Envy laptop in for a screen replacement the other day.
For some context, before I brought it in, the only real issue was a spiderweb crack in the bottom-right corner of the glass that had expanded and started looking pretty bad. It was also affecting the touchscreen, which I eventually had to disable after the crack got worse.
I’m usually very careful with my laptop and keep it in my backpack whenever I’m not using it. It hadn’t suffered any recent drops or impacts, which is part of why the screen cracking surprised me in the first place.
I did some research on replacement displays and eventually settled on this eBay listing, which matched the exact specs and part number for my laptop’s original screen:
[https://ebay.io/m/ECeWtn](https://ebay.io/m/ECeWtn)
I ordered it and opened the box before going to Micro Center. It looked like a perfect match and appeared to be a genuine HP part.
Fast forward to this past Saturday. I made an appointment for a laptop screen replacement and brought both the laptop and the replacement display, still in its box, to my local Micro Center. I agreed to the $100 labor charge, and they told me they would send me an update when the repair was finished.
I came back to pick it up later that same day, about 20 minutes before closing since that was when I got off work. They handed me the laptop along with the old display assembly. I powered it on and everything looked perfect. I checked the touchscreen, refresh rate, resolution, and brightness. Everything seemed to be working exactly as it should, so I thanked them and went home.
It wasn’t until I set the laptop down on my desk that I noticed the lid was no longer closing all the way.
The bottom of the laptop sits completely flat, but the display lid hovers roughly 3–4 mm above the keyboard when I close it. I can physically push the lid all the way down, but it will not stay there. The second I release pressure, it springs back up and remains slightly open.
It gets even worse if I hold the laptop horizontally at my side with my palm against the spine. The lid will open by around 5–6 degrees on its own, which never happened before.
I have never had any issue whatsoever with this laptop closing properly before the screen replacement.
On top of that, the laptop now doesn’t even recognize when the lid is closed. The screen stays on instead of turning off, and I can literally see the glow of the display reflecting against the keyboard while the lid is sitting slightly open. Again, this never happened before the repair.
I took it back to Micro Center the following morning and waited outside for the store to open. I explained the issue to an employee at the Knowledge Bar, and he agreed that it clearly wasn’t supposed to be happening. After looking at it himself, he immediately brought it to the technician in the back who had worked on the laptop.
A few minutes later, he came back and told me the technician said he had “tried his best,” but couldn’t get the laptop to close all the way.
I asked why that would even be the case or how something like that could happen during a screen replacement. He asked where I got the replacement screen, so I showed him the exact eBay listing. We both agreed that it appeared to be a genuine HP part and matched the specifications for my laptop.
He then suggested that the replacement display itself might somehow be “too thick,” which was supposedly why the laptop wouldn’t close properly.
That explanation didn’t make sense to me because the screen itself was not making contact with the keyboard, palm rest, or anything else.
I was then told that if I wanted the laptop looked at any further, I would have to pay around $80 for a diagnostic, and that an actual repair could potentially cost another $200–$300. I was also basically told that there wasn’t much they could do and that it probably wasn’t worth looking into because the technician had already “tried his best.”
I left because I had other errands to run, but the explanation kept bothering me because it simply didn’t add up.
About an hour and a half later, I went back and explained the issue again to a different Knowledge Bar employee. He told me the same thing: that the technician claimed the laptop had been reassembled correctly and that this was apparently just “the way it is.”
He also told me that they wouldn’t even inspect it further without charging me the $80 diagnostic fee.
At that point, I thought that was ridiculous considering this problem appeared immediately after Micro Center performed the repair.
I asked to speak with a manager and explained the entire situation.
The manager then tried to tell me that the issue was somehow being caused by two small cosmetic dents on the aluminum top lid that had already been there before the repair.
I explained repeatedly that those dents were pre-existing and that the laptop closed perfectly normally before the screen replacement. The dents had nothing to do with the lid not closing before Micro Center worked on it, and clearly showed no deformity in the chassis, it was just cosmetic.
He was extremely reluctant to even have the laptop looked at again, but I kept insisting. Eventually, he agreed to open a service ticket and inspect the hinges.
I dropped the laptop off, and about five hours later I received a call from the manager. He told me that he had taken the service ticket himself and had tried to “adjust the hinges,” but that it didn’t seem to make much of a difference.
He then doubled down on the claim that the small cosmetic dents were somehow causing the issue.
He offered me a “discount” on replacing the entire top chassis, but said it would still cost hundreds of dollars. When I declined, he gave me $50 in store credit.
I still don’t think this is a reasonable resolution.
The laptop closed perfectly normally before the screen replacement. The cosmetic dents they are blaming were already there. Immediately after Micro Center disassembled and replaced the screen, the laptop stopped closing properly, the lid now springs back open, and the laptop no longer detects when the lid is shut.
I had to take the laptop back because the store was closing and I needed to return to college that night.
At this point, my laptop cannot close properly, which could potentially expose the new screen or hinge assembly to additional damage over time. The most frustrating part is that the screen now stays on even when I “close” the laptop because it apparently can’t detect that the lid is shut.
I’m honestly at a loss for what to do next. It literally says on the Micro Center website that part of the $100 I paid for the laptop screen replacement was for them to "perform multiple tests to make sure everything is working as it should" which clearly didn't happen here. Has anyone dealt with something similar through Micro Center, or have any advice on how I should escalate this?