Is it possible to replace keys on a BKB50 keyboard?
I bought a Z4 tablet with keyboard four months ago but the "Y" key would not work. After two or three weeks of to-ing and fro-ing with Sony support people, I was advised to send it to an outfit called SRE for repair. After another two or three weeks, SRE advised me that this was not a manufacturing defect and therefore not covered by manufacturer's warranty. However I could purchase a replacement for £70 or pay £14 to have my faulty one returned to me. After several hideously expensive phone calls where I was merely transferred to music at 10p per minute, I gave in and sent them their £70.
After another couple of weeks, I received the replacement keyboard. This one would not turn on and would not accept any charge (even though the advice note stated that it had been tested). I again returned the new defunct keyboard and, after the now familiar period of delay, received another keyboard from SRE. It came in a new box; it charged up fine; it paired beautifully with my tablet and all was well . . . except that it was a US keyboard and not a UK keyboard! (Again, the advice note stated that it was a UK keyboard and that it had been checked).
Back to SRE which (after a lengthy wait) advised me that they had never had US keyboards in stock and so it was impossible for them to have sent me one. So I spoke to the nice Thomas A on Xperia customer support. He needed more information and emailed me asking for photos of the keyboard. I sent him photos of everything! Keyboard, keyboard label, advice note and every relevant bit of writing on the box. His colleague, Josh, acknowledged receipt of these on 23 March 2017 and said that the case had been referred to the Escalations team.
Today, 6 April, I again phoned Xperia customer support and spoke to Andrew who looked up the case and told me that they did not have any more UK keyboards in stock (a direct contradiction of SRE) and that, as the keyboard was "functionable", it was an acceptable replacement under the Sony warranty. When I pointed out that it could not be regarded as being functionable because it did not have a "£" sign, he said that it was indeed functionable because I could put "GBP" after the amount instead of "£" in front!
Clearly Sony has absolutely no intention of supplying me with the keyboard that I have bought, even though I have purchased two in four months! I have now discovered that the keyboard can be switched to a UK format through the tablet settings but, of course, some of the key markings no longer represent the UK style keys. Is it possible to replace the altered keys with UK keys? If so, where can I get new keys? I can get stick-on key labels but it would look pretty tacky on a new keyboard (depicting Sony's apparent idea of quality only too well!)
I own three Sony televisions, Sony hifi system, Sony computer, Sony car audio and goodness knows how many other Sony products. Obviously, Sony is quite content to disregard customer loyalty and to ignore its legal obligations. I would be foolish to ever consider purchasing another Sony product.
