Head, meet desk. Repeatedly.

[mandolin]

So I mentioned that for reasons I'm not going into, my DVD/VCR remote met an untimely death due to a severe dunking this weekend. Tried some universal remotes, have tried new batteries for the past two days on the old one, nothing's worked.

Now that I am winning an auction for a new model of that remote on eBay for slightly less than the cheapest dealer price to replace it, guess what has started working again?

ARGH!

(I'm still going to pay if I win. I'm just pissed off at myself, but not so much to go and violate eBay's TOS.)

Comments

Guess what?

[germankitty]

Nearly the same thing happened to me last Wednesday. My remote died for no apparent reason within four hours Tuesday night.

The next morning, I changed batteries -- nothing. Tried resetting any chips in the TV by pulling the plug for 10 minutes -- nothing. Called the manufacturer's hotline, was told a replacement, at $20 including postage, could take up to two weeks to be sent out, which was unacceptable -- not that I'd mind getting up and operating the TV manually for a few days, but I can't get into the VCR channel by pressing the buttons on the TV. (Never mind that with on-screen menus, I couldn't even PROGRAM my VCR ...) But they recommended having the old remote tested at an electronics store to make sure it wasn't the signal receiver in the TV instead -- which could get REALLY expensive on a 35-inch screen!

So, I went to the nearest store -- the remote was, indeed, dead. A replacement couldn't be found in the catalogue. But they recommended I buy a universal remote that was on offer for $10 -- I could return it if it didn't work. Which I did; went home and tried matching frequencies. Only worked after a fashion (I could at least switch channels), but NOT for on/off or the VCR channel. So, I ordered the replacement after all -- very grudgingly, I might add. Soon after, just for kicks, I tried matching frequencies manually instead by typing in a code. Guess what? It worked.

So ... next step would be to send a fax to the manufacturer to cancel my order. I'd already typed the message when a thought hit me -- could I access the TV's functions (like contrast, format, clarity etc) with the new universal thingie? Now I need those only once in a blue moon, but ... better test that first. Turns out, I couldn't. Letting the order stand, I settled in for a two-week wait.

Naturally, the replacement remote arrived by mail on Friday morning. *sigh*

ARGH! indeed. *hugs Mandi*