I had a three made that work, one is not quite perfect but I agree, local stores don't do the best of jobs. Can't be surprised, I'm sure the staff gets 30 seconds of training before they're "certified".

 

I bought one of those folding key fobs off of Ebay because the buttons were shot on one of my keys, and the folding fobs are easier to keep in my pocket.

Total chinese garbage. The unit would just fall apart in my hand at the slightest pressure. I had to glue it all together and now it's basically fine, but I'll have to break it open should I need to change the battery. Should have just bought a standard Valeo replacement key.

 

I bought a blank fob online and moved the 'guts' from the old one (key & chip) to the new fob. It works like a dream! I did have a problem that sounds similar to the one you're describing when we had the battery replaced on our '04 Disco. That was related to the nav/security system, and and we had to enter a number to clear the system. I assume your '99 doesn't have that system. My '99 Disco II doesn't.

 

I've got one of these folding key shells for my Mini Cooper key, and it works well. I ordered one for the Rover, and laughed out loud when I opened the envelope and saw that it is exactly the same shell as my Mini key shell, except it doesn't have the Mini logo sticker for the main button. Hilarious!

This worked well for my Mini key in my pocket, but occasionally I'd bump that button and find the key deploying inside my pocket. "First world problem," I admit, but it works pretty well.

Scott