Hi-Hat Controller : Useful, cheap and short-living

I am at my 3rd Millenium hi-hat controller ( for my Millenium MPS 200 drum set) and all 3 of them first started emitting sporadic confused noises in their closed position and finally ended up mute and response-less in less then a year (of playing like a few hours a week max ). Considering the low price of the unit, it's not a big issue, however, living out of the EU begets pretty high shipping prices and that's inconvenient. I searched for alternatives in this price range ( Alesi and similar brands) but they all seem of same manufacturing origin and quality, so... I guess that's just an unavoidable consequence when dealing with inexpensive stuff ... so much so that I'm actually thinking of getting my 4th one...