Elan,

You may be a little confused by some people who are over-reacting a bit

If you buy from an authorized dealer your remote will have a serial number and you will be able to program it. Their whole policy change is necessary to protect their company from exploding tech support costs, unnecessary returns and warranty issues. As well, they are showing their support for their dealers who invest time and money sending employees to training classes etc.

Unfortunately some consumers are getting spoiled and think that just because they see a cheap price on a product they should get all the benefits that people who pay full price get. It's an unsustainable business model. Those cheap prices you see on ebay are cheaper than we can buy the product direct from the manufacturer! Doesn't that tell you something is rotten in Denmark?

If a ring of car theives start stealing new $30K cars before they get to the lot and then post them on ebay for $15K. that doesn't mean the dealer is ripping you off at $30K, that's the price of the car. And if, in the effort to curb the bad guys, the manufacturer says, OK we won't warranty these cars you buy through unauthorized sources, because if they condone it their dealers will go out of business, you can't bitch because they're not selling as cheap as the theives! It's common business. Your own selfishness and inability to part with the money is not the manufacturer's fault, if you don't want to spend $350-$400, buy a Harmony. Your $175 doesn't gurantee you a right to a $400 remote with all the perks.

I wish I could count all the sanctimonius price grabbers who bought all their gear on ebay to have us come out and hook it up and brag about all the money they saved. Only to find out upon unboxing it that serial numbers were removed, product is non-functional and/or physically damaged (and camoflaged). Then listen to them whine when they discover the "100% USA Warranty" they have is wothless. Now they have $thousands in junk. I warn them, they don't listen, I shake my head.

Good luck to you. Buy from an authorized dealer and you'll have piece of mind. All those guys listed above are great.

Brian @ Connect Source