repairing the tape measure

I had this cute self retracting tape measure that doubles up as a keychain. But lately it refused to retract, so the mechanics boy in me decided to open it up to try repairing it.

Opening it up wasn't an easy job since the parts were not only snap-fit but also glued. Inside I saw some plastic parts had already fractured (definitely not due to me opening it up). Then I tried to reload the clock spring but I overwound it and it sprung open into a mess. Anyway its edges were quite sharp too. So in the end I gave up and the tape measure keychain ended up in the bin.

Lesson: some products are not meant to be repaired. Either they are not designed to be so, or it is just not economical to repair. These tape measure cost something like $1?