In the past, I saw satellite receivers that the remote eye was not placed correctly and the remote had a very narrow window of where to place it to work. Not sure if this is the cause of your problem, but see if when the remote works, that it has a close to the same place working window. Then you can fill out a repair ticket and explain the problem better and get the unit repaired, maybe a little faster. Or you can at least find the window of best use and not send it back. Since the units have a 1 year warranty, I would suggest you not try to open the box to see if that is the problem.