I have a number of these remotes out in the field, a number have been replaced under warranty, however now I have the issue of one failing and it's 5 months out of warranty, the UK distributor has said they don't have parts to repair them and all they can offer is a 5% discount on a new remote.
The issue with this remote is the same as it was last time: blank screen and chews through batteries in a few days of non-use.
I can't see my customer springing for another URC remote given his experience of this one.

I also have a number of this model in the field, and have never had issues as you described. My issues have been the button membranes go south and they have a free membrane replacement service available here on the side of the pond. How much to ship to Harrison New York for a looksee?

At one point a firmware upgrade fixed the battery issue- just update your software and download back to the remote.

I can certainly connect to the remote via the PC, if I could see the screen display then I guess it would already have the latest firmware, I think there's an internal short perhaps across the display that doing 2 things: 1. Blanking the display 2. Draining the batteries
I'm most disappointed that the UK distributor has decided they will not repair these things.

They're a distributor. That's not their job. Work with URC.

Everything in the UK comes through their designated Distributor, I don't see how looking after their UK customers is "not their job"
How would I do what you suggest?