I had the same struggle and I this is what I used:
} public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner scan = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.print("Please enter the string: ");
String input = scan.next();
System.out.print("Please enter the required symbol: ");
String symbol = scan.next();
char symbolChar = symbol.charAt(0);
This works just fine. The idea is to get from the string the only char in it.