I had the same proble and found a fix. I had 4 of these remotes and tried 2 others in separate stores before sending them all back in to Sony. When they sent new ones back, I still had this issue. The only common trait between all the remotes and occurances was the use of rechargable batteries. I had always used new or fully recharged batteries but as soon as I tried non rechargeable ones- the problem went away. I was able to duplicate the problem every time I placed rechargable batteries back in the remote. I have discovered the remotes will learn on non rechargable batteries and then you can operate them on rechargable batteries. This only applies to the RM-VLZ620. After correcting this- it is a wonderful remote. I reported this to Sony. Rechargeable batteries only yield 1.2 volts and non rechargable one provide the full 1.5 volts, which must make a difference to this remote's learning proccess.