The Watchdog: Helping a senior citizen tune in to digital TV

Tag : Antennas For TV
After one phone call, Doris Baker figured she would never get towatch television in her Haltom City apartment again.
She called a toll-free phone number to ask for thegovernment-sponsored $40 coupon that would help her buy a converterbox to put atop her television. A converter box is necessary whenthe switch from analog to digital television takes effect Feb. 17.Without a box, TV viewers who use antennas to pick up signalsrather than cable TV or satellite TV will get nothing but snow andstatic on their screens.
But the man on the other end of the hot line phone told Baker thatshe didn’t qualify for a coupon.
He explained that because she lived in multifamily senior citizenhousing, she was ineligible for the discount.
With converter boxes costing from $40 to $70, Baker, 70, figuredshe would never be able to afford a converter box without thatcoupon.
"I live on Social Security," she says. "And I have lots ofmedicines and doctors and housing costs and electricity bills and acar payment and car insurance and gas. That doesn’t leave awhole lot for the unnecessaries."
How sad that for some living on tight incomes, TV becomes anonessential.
But then she had an idea: She called The Watchdog.
"That’s what The Watchdog is for, isn’t it?" she asks."To help whenever there’s a problem."
So I called 888-388-2009, which turns out to be the 24-hour servicewith a name longer than an extension cord — The TV ConverterBox Coupon Program Consumer Hotline.
Fortunately, the man who answered turned out to be knowledgeable,sympathetic and helpful — in contrast to whoever answeredBaker’s call.
My guy was Norbert, and Norbert told me he works as a TV stationengineer in Baton Rouge. This, he said, is his second job,answering calls on the hot line on his days off because he loveshelping people solve their TV problems.
Norbert, who declined to give his last name, explained that thecoupon program was actually designed for people like Baker, folkswho live on tight incomes, and also people who live in rural areasand depend on antenna-based TV to get their boob-tube fix.
The government estimates there are almost 70 million TV sets thatwill need converter boxes. According to one survey based on U.S.Census numbers, TV viewers in Texas are among the most affectedbecause so many in the Lone Star State receive over-the-air TVsignals.
Norbert said there’s a lot of bad information out there aboutthe coupons. For example, he said, many people don’tunderstand that the coupons are only good for 90 days from the datethey are mailed. So if you take a week off that for mail delivery,you really have only about 83 to 85 days to go out and purchase aconverter box.
If you fail to buy one in that time frame, your coupon cannot berenewed, he said.
Many people call and ask for another coupon, but they can’tget one, he said. That can cause a problem if consumers wait toolong. And because there is such an overwhelming demand for theboxes, some areas of the nation are experiencing shortages.
You can take the coupon to these stores to buy a box: Best Buy,Sears, Circuit City, RadioShack and Wal-Mart. RadioShack and BestBuy also allow you to order a box by phone.
Norbert told me he tested the boxes at his TV station, and theywork pretty well.
So far, the hot line has received more than 10 million calls. Sothat still leaves tens of millions of Americans who haven’tordered their coupons yet. You don’t need a coupon to buy aconverter, but why wouldn’t you want to save $40? Eachhousehold is allowed up to two of these free coupons, worth $40each toward the full price of a converter.
Norbert warned that some stores are telling customers to buy theboxes without the coupons and then bring the coupons back later fora credit. But that doesn’t work. You must have the coupon atthe time of sale.
Once you get the box, you plug it into the TV set where the antennagoes, and then you plug the antenna into the box.
Norbert told me that the only addresses that don’t qualifyare business addresses; post official boxes where the ownerwon’t "attest" that it belongs to a homeowner who prefers toget mail there; and nursing homes.
Why not nursing homes? Because many people live at one address, andit’s hard to keep track of who gets a coupon, he said.
But what about Doris Baker? I gave him her address. Turns out thatshe does qualify. The information she originally received waswrong.
Her two coupons will go out in the mail next month, and then shewill have less than 90 days to make her purchase.
She was thrilled with the news. And I was so pleased withNorbert’s helpfulness that I ordered two coupons for myself,too.