On Tue, 22 Sep 2015 13:35:03 -0700, Don Y
wrote:

So what, they simply send you another one anyway. It was already
broke!

They don't *know* that it was broke. The *receiver* could have been
broke. The batteries could have been dead; you may have installed
replacement batteries *backwards*, etc. All they know is the
remote function *appeared* not to work -- ACCORDING TO YOU!

Do you know how many items are returned as "broken" that, in fact,
are NOT broken? I.e., consumers are not good diagnosticians.
How do they know *your* capabilities? They mail you another remote
and your problem may or may NOT go away.

OTOH, you tinkering with their equipment leaves them at *your* mercy.

I design electronic products. I repair most electronic products
that I purchase. That doesn't mean I don't make mistakes when
performing those diagnostics/repairs. The difference is, I do
those repairs when I no longer have the recourse of a warranty
to exploit. I.e., it's broken; I MAY be able to fix it -- or,
I may break it *more*! But, *I* am assuming the risk for my
actions -- not expecting the manufacturer to pick up the
pieces if/when I screw up!

A warranty repair/replace costs *more* than the original product
cost (the manufacturer). They don't want to be fixing things
that *you* may have broken -- or, that you may have *changed*
the failure mode through your unfamiliarity with the device.

["Yeah, that's failure type XYZ001 -- replace module 23, verify
operation and ship it back to the customer" suddenly becomes
"Cripes! Who was poking around in here? Nothing is where it
should be! Just scrap the entire item..."]

What part of "this is not a returnable item" are you having trouble
with?
The "know" it is bad because I tell them so. That is all they have.

Since the problem was that a couple of buttons did not work without
really pressing them hard, your battery comment is simply chaff in the
conversation.

I am sending these people $8 a month for a maintenance agreement and
if they have to send me a new $5 remote (a generous price for a
chinese product) every now and then, so be it.

BTW I was field support for IBM for 30 years, about half of it as
region support on a number of products, working on things a lot more
complex than a remote control. I don't need you or anyone else
questioning my opinion of what was wrong with this. Opening it up and
cleaning the pads had already spared them sending me one 6 months ago.

I am just pointing out, a painless replacement is if you just say "the
mother ****er broke".
Then it will be, "OK then we will send you a new one".

Anything else is not a wise choice.