I rang the support line, got a support ticket number, scanned the receipt ( a hand-written one from the Saitek stall at Duxford's September airshow in 2010 ) and received approval to return it for repair.
That was ten days ago. Today I received not a repaired stick, but a completely brand new system...stick, throttle, cable, suction feet, manual and software CD.
Saitek have suffered some bad press as far as the durability of their products is concerned; whether that is justified or not, in my case they have honoured their guarantee overwhelmingly.
![Cheers :cheers:](./images/smilies/cheers.gif)