In one year, 22 million
Americans who rely on free over-the-air analog broadcasting – including many
elderly and other vulnerable populations – will be at risk of losing access to
TV, which for many is a primary source of news and emergency information as
well as entertainment.
On February 17, 2009, all TV
stations will begin broadcasting exclusively in digital signals. If you have an
older analog TV and you receive over-the-air television, your TV will go dark,
unless you retrofit it with a digital converter box. Consumers with cable or satellite service
will not be affected.
Many consumers are just now
hearing about the government-ordered digital transition and they are going to
electronics retail stores to ask questions about what is necessary to maintain
their TV reception.
One consumer advocacy
organization, Maryland PIRG, has conducted “secret shopper” surveys at 132
electronics stores in ten states – including Baltimore,
Maryland – to determine if America’s big
electronics retailers are properly preparing their customers for the digital
transition. The results were released
today in Maryland PIRG’s new report: “Mixed
Signals: How Retailers Mislead Consumers on the Digital Television (DTV)
Transition.”
“The results of our survey
are clear,” said Johanna Neumann, Policy Advocate for Maryland PIRG. “Retail
sales clerks are providing inaccurate or misleading information about the
upcoming digital transition and these mixed signals will cost consumers time
and money.”
The transition to a digital
system was first mandated by Congress in 1996.
Broadcasters, manufacturers and retailers were informed. Twelve years later, and just one year out from
the date of transition, Maryland PIRG’s report finds that accurate information
about the transition is hard to come by in most retail stores.
It is important to know that
next year’s change does not require any household to purchase a new television
set. Households with older sets still
receiving analog signals via antenna need only purchase a basic converter box
that costs approximately $40. And, the
government is offering up to two $40 coupons per home to offset the cost of the
most basic converters.
However, some sales clerks
tried to persuade PIRG’s “secret
shoppers” to buy new, expensive digital televisions or premium converters,
which will not be covered in the government’s coupon program.
“To consumers, it does not
matter whether sales clerks were intentionally misleading our secret shoppers
to sell more expensive items, or if they were simply misinformed” continued
Neumann. “The result is the same: consumers will pay too much for unneeded
equipment or services.”
Nationally, almost half of
sales staff surveyed did not provide accurate information on the date the
transition would take place – answers ranged from “sometime soon” to “probably
not until 2010.”
Here in Maryland we found the following:
63% of sales staff provided
inaccurate information about converter boxes.
75% of sales staff provided
inaccurate information about the coupon program.
50% of sales staff provided
inaccurate information about the transition date.
13% of the stores surveyed still had analog TVs on their
shelves.
100% of the stores with analog TVs had tags that were
mislabeled or hard to read.
Maryland PIRG called on
retailers to properly educate their employees and their customers about the
digital TV transition,.
“To protect consumers against
misinformation or fraud,” said Neumann “retailers must provide proper
information about the converter boxes they sell and about the
government-sponsored coupon program that is designed to offset the cost of the
converter boxes. They must also properly
label analog TV sets that are still on their shelves with warnings informing
buyers about the need for a converter box after next February.”
Neumann also recommended that
the government step in to enforce penalties against retailers that mislead or
misinform consumers to reap greater profits from the sale of unnecessary equipment.
Additional tips for consumers
are included in Maryland PIRG’s report, downloadable at www.marylandPIRG.org.
Consumers can also go online at dtv.gov or call the free government number
1-888-388-2009 to find out more about the government-sponsored coupon
program.
