Saitek key replacement update

So about two weeks ago I wrote about how I contacted Saitek(UK) and MadCatz(US) in an attempt to get a replacement spacebar for my keyboard (http://bricksrubbish.blogspot.com/2009/05/saitek-keyboard-fix.html). I got responses from both, however, the UK (Saitek's home) rep responded at least a week early and with options. Mike Cannaby, the Saitek UK rep, was nice enough to offer me options : original gray or new black. I went with black because I thought it would look better.

Today, that part arrived :


The US rep, Bradley Poteet, responded approximately a week after Mike. He asked about the ART # off the keyboard, which I replied with. A week later and I hear back from Bradley. By this point I have already received the part from the UK. I am quite happy with the results :


I guess I will use the part coming in from MadCatz as a backup, when this happens again. I wonder when it will arrive?


*UPDATE* 7/8: More than a month after the replacement spacebar arrived from Saitek UK, the MadCatz replacement finally arrived. It was returned to sender because the company name was left out, even though I included it in their shipping query. I received an email from a MadCatz rep as soon as it was returned to them and then reshipped back to me.


In this instance, the UK won hands down. Kudos to you Saitek. I can't really be mad, though, considering I have had a replacement part for over a month and now I have a backup. I guess I owe MadCatz a belated and belabored thanks as well.

Saitek Keyboard fix?

As of several weeks ago, I had not had any problems with the 3 Saitek Eclipse keyboards I owned. I like the feel and construction so much that I have one such keyboard at both work and home.


The keyboard has a problem with the spacebar, in that the plastic attachment for the metal bar wore off and the key is wobbly and uncertain. I am forced to have to hit the key in the middle and with force. This interrupts the rhyme of my typing.

As this is a work keyboard, I tried to research buying a whole new replacement. After realizing that in this economic environment I could not justify using a "special, but pricier keyboard" and that I have a responsibility to the crust and troposphere that sustains life, I researched for a replacement spacebar. As Charles Bronson would say "No dice." I was unable to find anything, so I wrote an email explaining all this to both their main headquarter in the UK and their American partnership with MadCatz. I'm curious to see who responds first or if anyone responds at all. Wait and see....