Purchased a Siig Minitouch, but it has some problems

[Rexxed]

I'm looking for advice from people who are familiar with the internals of the Siig Minitouch.  I purchased one on ebay and it arrived today, but the 3, e, d, c and space keys don't work.  My options are to return it or try to fix it, but I'd rather not even try to repair it if this is indicative of worse or growing problems with the keyboard.  Since the keys are all on one column, it seems like there's probably a short or disconnect, but would that be something that's fairly easy to diagnose and fix, or would I be better off returning it for a refund?  My main concern is long term reliability, as I've been using the same unicomp keyboard for 11 years and ideally I'd like to have the same kind of lifespan on everything (though I know that's not always realistic.)

[MKB]

Are they the white alps?  Keyboard in not going to last as long as a unicomp...

[Rexxed]

Yeah, they're white alps, and it's not a new keyboard.  I realize the switches themselves may wear out more quickly than a buckling spring switch, but I'm more concerned with a whole column of keys being dead right out of the box.

[BiNiaRiS]

Are they the white alps?  Keyboard in not going to last as long as a unicomp...

I've salvaged keyboards just as old if not older than most Model Ms that had alps and they work fine.

I highly doubt that a switch replacement is going to fix it. There could be numerous problems but it's probably related to the PCB. You have to tear it apart and start doing some testing.

If you do return it, you can get eBay to pay for the return shipping since i doubt the seller will.

[MKB]

I would return the keyboard for sure.  For one the seller should have dosclosed the issue but did not.  I do really like the white alps.  I think that SIGGs new are not that much money.  They are available from FRYs electronics...  unicomp is a beast of a keyboard so it is no shame to not last as long...  SIIG is not up to par with a northgate keyboard.  Also whites seem to have issues once dirty.  Just on some keyboards...  These are the White Fukkas...

[Rexxed]

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll contact the seller about a return.  They care about feedback and I've seen positive feedback from people who have had to return items, so hopefully it won't be a hassle.  They did say the item was tested, so perhaps it just wasn't tested very well, since most of the keys work, just not all.  It's a shame, but I guess if I want longevity I should look for new boards if possible.