Here's my situation:

I have two 80 year old parents, and bought an MX-3000 for them way back when, can't even remember, back when it first came out. I used to have the Home Theater Master which I used happily and was easy to program.

I bought an MX-3000 for myself too. So each unit I programmed to match each of three different systems. Like 7 years ago.

My home theater is long gone and I no longer watch TV. My unit is pretty pristine as it was not used much and is sitting on a shelf.

My father's unit has several problems, the touchscreen won't stay calibrated for more than a day. It has been burning through batteries now very fast and won't hold a charge, and it turns itself off spontaneously. It's dead.

Mother's unit is fine.

I have long since left PCs behind and gone to Macs, and in that I lost my copy of the MX-3000 editor.

So I have three units which cost together over $2,000. Two of which cannot be used though one is perfectly fine. If i could just copy the config from the busted one to the good one then we'd be OK.

Replacing these at a Canadian dealer is $1,200 each (lol). Buying online, I don't know if I can get the software with them anymore.

I sent email to Universal Remote asking if I can send the busted one in for repairs and they told me the standard "talk to your authorized dealer" but also suggested that I can call their tech support line (why is email no good?) and it would take them *two weeks* to issue an RMA. Guess I will start on that.

There is none in my town, the nearest as mentioned says they want $1,200 for a new one, which means they'll probably want $600 to fix the busted one.

I sent Universal photos of my units and the serial number to show it comes from when the software was included and asked for a copy so that I can move the config from the bad one to the good one. They answered with "no."

I'm really surprised that a company is prepared to stick a fork into a customer who spends $2,000 on this kind of thing, especially when they fail, and won't even assist with a paid repair.

The cheapest thing to do, if I have to buy my way out of the problem, is to buy a Harmony 1100 and as the units die switch over.

Is that really the answer for MX-3000 owners?

Can this company honestly be this stupid that they will drive you into the arms of the competition rather than keep you with their products?

Can't believe I am going to end up with two paperweights.

Re: authorized dealer, I bought these things 7 years ago. I have no idea where they come from or how much I paid, just that it came in the mail from the USA. I don't remember where I bought my socks from either. Or my pens or the cell phone I was using 7 years ago too... ugh.

So you moved on to a platform URC does not support, their fault? You have product that is far out of warranty, and they said you have to go through an authorized dealer. They are wrong with this approach how?

I understand your frustration, however, calling the company stupid because products you have had for 7 years are having an issue and they want you to pay for them to fix it is a bit unfair. Like it or not, their business model has changed in the time that has passed since you purchased your remotes. This product is designed for the CI market and with their current structure, not to be sold online and programmed by authorized dealers only. With that said, they do leave it up to the dealers discretion if they wish to hand out the software. They are NOT required to however. Your best bet is to dial back on calling them stupid and all that as dealers will simply not help. If you choose to, by all means, go with the Harmony. But know this, you will not have to worry about this 7 years from now, as your Harmony will not last even half that time.

Incidentally, I am checking to see if I have any options to help out here. I don't have the authority to change URC policies, but I do care about our customers and I've got calls in to see how this situation goes in regard to those policies. I don't know who at URC answered with "no," but I haven't answered this email yet. I'd like to wait until I have a firm answer. I'm almost 2,000 miles away from the home office in New York, but I'll still be happy to do whatever I can, provided it's within company policy to do so.

In the mean time... the editor software still shipped with the MX-3000 seven years ago. Find the box and you've got your editor. Hopefully that will help until I learn more about what options are available to me.

i have 2 mx-3000's i would like to sell. i will include the editor software.. you can respond here or pm me..

Ok. After years of reading these posts I feel compelled to reply. I am the homeowner that URC targets. I make 500k+ a year. I like home automation. I have 5 URC remotes and my remotes were purchased through a URC dealer. Now, I am so sick and tired of reading posts by goldenzrule that I am ready to dump my controls and go to something else.

Is there no prescreening at URC for installers? Every post by goldenzrule is negative and slams posters. Here is a tip. Google brings ups posts. Everyone searches before they commit to a product. If I were looking from the beginning again and I saw all of the posts by goldenzrule, I would think that URC lacks committment to professional installers and I would look elsewhere.

ha ha ha haha

Thanks for the good laugh buddy, thats hysterical. let me guess, your schlong is bigger then everyone elses eh? and your better then everyone else because you can program a remote

Cmon, man a "well todo" man as you self making over 500k a year has time to sit around and google posts made by a well distinguished member and CI on the forum? i can tell you one thing, 99.989% of people googling URC because they were curious as to the line "control system provided by URC" on the estimate isnt making it much past the third spot on google. to even run across this site regarding URC or any other product means your putting some pretty specific stuff in which means you already know what you want or your a DIYer trying to get some answers.

Please dump your remotes and then move to what? RTI? think your going to get the same treatment you did from the URC dealer you bought? Harmony and give up the capability of the URC system? Go back to useing 10 remotes in your million dollar home? Cmon man either your a 40 year old dude sitting in the basement of your moms house trying to prove yourself in an internet cockoff or you need to figure out a new hobby then sitting googleing goldenzrule and stuff about URC, sounds like an obsession. Golf is a pretty good hobby to take up

Thanks for the laugh, cut your nose to spite your face. BTW: i have hundreds of clients making well over 250k and they dont have the time to sit infront of a computer doing what your doing let alone dealing with remotes or anything remotely related to AV. Either your extremely bored and independently wealthy or your drawling off mommy and daddies trust fund and still bored.

I'm sorry you feel that way Doctor. I think you have to understand my views on URC and URC's policies before judging me based on some posts.

For starters, it is the policy of this forum to not ask for software. Many people ignore this, many people just don't realize the policy. The guys that get nasty cause we won't simply hand the software over are the ones I might get a bit snide with.

URC's policy, IMHO is quite poor. Yes, they used to provide software and now they do not. The problem is they do not make it clear on the box or on their site without a bunch of digging. It should be crystal clear on every box and front page of the site. With that said, I personally do not mind DIYers having the software. They are not my clients by choice as they wish to tackle their system themself. Fine with me. If they get in a bind and want to hire me, I'm happy to help. Here is another flaw in URCs policy. They leave it up to a dealer if they want to distribute the software. The support responsibility falls on that dealer. Most of us are small shops that do not have the resources to do this. The client does not know all this, so we end up looking bad if we say no (I've only been asked once for the software)

And as far as my "negativity", sorry it comes off that way. I get quite a few private messages from guys asking for help, so they must be reading into it differently. I've helped fix small bugs in programming to completely programming D/A system and remotes via email and PM. I did this to help people out of a bind that theyvgot stuck in a loop with no end in site to remedy their issues. I didn't charge, just helped out some guys who were nice and respectful. So I can't be ALL bad as you portray. So, Doc in the end, do what you wish with your remotes and your system, that's your choice. If you base what you wish to control your system based on my words alone, well I guess good or bad I have more power than I thought.

Can I have the URC remotes before you throw them away?