iPad Pro 12.9 - Smart Connector Doesn't Work

Hi, so I have a first gen iPad Pro 12.9, and have recently discovered the smart connector doesn't work. It's definitely the iPad - have tried it on multiple keyboards. The connectors have been cleaned, restarted many times, updated, reset my iPad, and it still doesn't work. I definitely haven't damaged it, either. There isn't an Apple store where I live, and Apple support won't let me contact them in any way, so I took it in to an authorised retailer. They said I could pay $70 dollars to have it sent away and looked at, but that even if a problem was found, likelihood is that nothing would be done.

So my question is - is there anything else I can do? Or do I just have to deal with it being faulty?