rca converter box complaint

Converterboxowner · 07-09-2009, 10:29 PM

I was told by the RCA rep that I had to send a request for two new DTV coupons to this current address for the following reasons. We received the first two in 4/21/08 and then went and purchased 2 boxes from the Wal-Mart at. We never opened them or tried to install them til now. They are both defective and Wal-Mart will not take them back or exchange them because of the time frame.

We then contacted the RCA rep who informed us that for $20 each we could send the boxes to them and wait for repair or new ones. Our son purchased his at the local K-Mart, a Zenith brand and installed his on our TV,S and they worked great. Why can,t we get two new coupons to go where we can get ones that work? We will just discard these RCA ones since they are defective. Just a side comment, Wal-Mart employees told us that they have had several of the RCA,S returned but we had no need to try and install ours til now.

Please give us some help and we Thank You for your consideration as we are retired and money is precious to us.

wcalifas831 · 07-10-2009, 12:48 AM

You stated that both boxes were defective. I'm just curious to hear what made them defective? Do they not turn on or what's wrong with them?

IveyTN · 07-10-2009, 06:30 AM

These dtv converters appear to be junk. I have two different kinds (not the RCA) and I have only had them installed for about 30 days now and have had to return 2 of them and I spent my coupons at wal mart so I continue to have to trade the converters for another piece of junk that fails again in a few weeks. I like the better picture but I can get more analog channels from further away they may not all come in crystal clear but they are watchable. If I could find a converter box that will hold up for more than a few days this transition would be easier to take.

wcalifas831 · 07-10-2009, 11:09 AM

I have 2 of those RCA converter boxes (2 different models) and have not had a problem with them yet. I'm just wondering what went wrong with them? Mine have been working good for a while. I know I have to turn off one of them sometimes when it has interference in order for the audio to come back after the interference is not affecting it. One of mine is hooked up to an outdoor antenna and that one never has problems with interference, but my other one just has an indoor antenna (weaker than my outdoor antenna) and that is why sometimes I have to turn off when there's interference in order to get the audio working again. I think if you're going to have one of these converters, it would be best to have an outdoor antenna that holds the signals better than the indoor antennas.

Aaron62 · 07-10-2009, 12:04 PM

I mean this in absolutely no offense to the OP but, I wonder how often electronic manufactures post bad feedback about their competitor's equipment online.

DTVuser2009 · 07-10-2009, 12:09 PM

Awhile back there was a problem with some of the RCA DTA800s bad out of the box; people would buy them but not use them until they were sure the transition was going to happen, then when they finally hooked them up (after the 30-day policy) they never worked from the start. i would hope that now any converter from any brand would have improvements. like a second-gen version.

I hope that they gain more features in the future, like USB-ports for firmware updates, better Electronic Guides, or even more DVR options. possibly a converter/DVD combo or whatever.

spokybob · 07-10-2009, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IveyTN

I like the better picture but I can get more analog channels from further away they may not all come in crystal clear but they are watchable. .

I thought all the analog channels are gone.
EDIT: I had problems with the earlier RCA boxes also. Out of 6 boxes, only one is still working. The later model with analog pass through are all still working.

Aaron62 · 07-12-2009, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spokybob

I thought all the analog channels are gone.
EDIT: I had problems with the earlier RCA boxes also. Out of 6 boxes, only one is still working. The later model with analog pass through are all still working.

That's pretty bad. I've posted before about what the how electronics have an average failure rate which is 15 percent and how converter boxes are probably higher. I think a lot of us will see more bad converter posts of the next year or two. Some of these STBs are just so poorly made.

ShowMeRon · 07-13-2009, 05:11 AM

I guess I got lucky with the Insignia box, it's been working well for 6 months now.

DTVuser2009 · 07-13-2009, 07:30 AM

out of all the ones i have had, only two failed. one was an RCA DTA800, the thing just locked up and wouldn't respond, and after doing the reset by unplugging it and plugging it back in i had a LED on but no action from the TV screen. just blank.

The other was a Zenith DTT901 that decided to 'red zone' all TV broadcasts, it would work for up to 5 minutes after a reset (80% signal) and as you watched the signal meter it would then go slowly to and peg 'red' on it and the TV would have a picture but it was skipping and pixelating really badly. it did that often enough that i tossed it.

Another Zenith box did similar things but only when the signal fluctuated or went halfway down (50-65%) so i just moved it to the shop TV since it was not useable for watching TV in the house. it's like the box has a 'limp mode' with halfway good signals and just goes red. i don't know why. it has to be 75% or higher to work. it's the only box i have used which does that kind of thing. i would say the Insignia does it too, since they're identical boxes.

The Apex one i have is the best with low signals (down to 25%).


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