If a remote suddenly stops operating, even after replacing old batteries, follow these easy steps to get it working again.

According to the Consumer Electronics Association, over 33 million remote controls are laid to rest each year in the U.S. marketplace. Surprisingly, millions of them didn't really need to be replaced. Consumers incorrectly thought their remotes were broken when they really weren't.

Charlie Waters, technical director at MrRemoteControls.com, a company selling discounted original replacement remotes for TV, DVD and audio, explains, "A high percentage of non-working remotes appear to be dead, but can actually be brought back to life. Of course that is only true if they haven't been thrown at a wall, chewed by the dog or physically damaged in other ways. There is a little known, but very simple, technique people can use to 'reset' their non-working remote to make it work like new," said Waters.

If a remote suddenly stops operating, even after replacing old batteries, follow these easy steps to get it working again, suggests Waters. "Take the batteries out of the remote control. Press and hold every single button down for three seconds, one at a time, until every button has been pressed and released. Do not skip any buttons."

"If the remote has slide bars, the slide must be moved to each position, and then the button-press step should be repeated. When finished, put the slide bar in the correct position to operate the desired unit (for example TV), and put new batteries in and try the remote."

"When renters call your rent-to-own store and say their remote has stopped working, we suggest you recommend trying this process before supplying a new remote," said Waters. "Over 20 percent get positive results and are delighted when their unit seems to have magically been repaired. The real reason is that the IC chip, known as the brains of electronics, often loses its memory or gets locked up, and this procedure resets it back to factory specifications."

If the above method doesn't work, MrRemoteControls.com offers choices for replacement.

"Many people incorrectly gravitate toward a universal remote control as a possible solution. The problem is most universal remotes simply can't get the job done — they don't operate key features like full menu or programming functions, which are necessary on most of today's sophisticated electronic equipment," said Waters.

That's where MrRemoteControls.com can be of assistance. "We carry 39,000 different original remote control models," said Waters. "We get extraordinary deals on original remotes because of our buying power. We also purchase original remotes from manufacturer overstock and we pass the tremendous savings to the RTO dealer through discounted prices."

According to Waters, "Since 1987 we've built an extensive remote control database which gives us the ability to substitute remotes from one model to another without losing any functionality. This is just another way we can save RTO dealers money on remotes. I invite all rent-to-own dealers to find out how they can order replacement original remotes even far below our already discounted website pricing."

For more information call MrRemoteControls.com at 1-800-827-2546.