OK, it's not very obvious, but the front panel on the right-hand side is just a cover plate` which pulls straight forward for removal. this exposes the 3 front tabs of the side panel, which are easilyprised free, and that allows the side panel to be worked upwards, disconnecting the remaining tabs, and removed.

There are two potential problems with this wand: #1. The rocker latch at the top end of the telescopic part: this is spring loaded, and the spring may have weakened or the metal 'tooth' in the bottom end may not be engaging because the plastic has warped. More likely, though is #2: the white plastic rings at the bottom of each of the upper two segments have warped so that the three teeth on each are not holding firmly enough. This is a problem, because they need to be removed and cautiously heated and bent back into the correct shape - and I don't know how to dismantle the wand. If anyone does know, I will certainly try this fix and report back. Update (05/26/2017): Ok - done, but this is easier to wreck than to fix. (1) If the telescope release rocker isn't holding, you can remove it by levering out the side tabs clear of the plastic mounting spindles and checking the spring (? replace), and consider either heating the body to bend the ends in or pulling out the metal 'tooth' and packing it out 1-2mm. (2)...