TV & Home Theater

[KatStibley]

Created an account to write this story up and hopefully save someone else some troubleshooting efforts. 

Read along if:

1. You got a TV without the remote
2. The remote is broken/lost/won't pair etc
3. For some reason you're on the 'Searching for Remote' screen and can't get past it

Got an open-box Toshiba Fire TV this weekend, didn't realize remote was proprietary and not included (because the ad said everything proprietary WAS included.) I ordered a replacement, of course the one advertised on the product page isn't compatible, so I've got a useless TV and a useless remote. The correct remote can be shipped, but I won't get it for 3-7 business days, and there's a perfectly functional phone app I want to use instead.

EXCEPT, the TV is stuck on 'Searching for Remote' and won't go any further, so I can't join the TV to the wifi network so the phone app can see it. Queue frustrated screaming.

Key Detail: For the phone app to see the TV, it has to be on the same NETWORK as the TV. Nothing says that has to be your wifi to start. 

Finally I tried hauling the TV into the room with the actual router, and plugging it directly in with a network cable. Phone is connected to the router via Wifi, TV is hard-wired - but it's still the same network. 

5 second later, the phone app sees the TV and pairs to it. I'm able to navigate to Settings and put in the Wifi details and move the whole schebang back into the living room and go back to my Xbox. Phone app works as my remote, and the universal remote turns the TV on/off just fine now.

Hope this helps someone else with their frustration.

[Elle-BBY Regular Contributor]

Hello there, KatStibley,

Welcome to our Best Buy forum community! While I wish you had discovered our forum under happier circumstances, I'm glad that you took the time to share your experience.

Getting an open-box TV is a great way to save some money on the products you love, so I'm glad to hear that you found one that meet your needs. However, it hurts me to learn the remote wasn't in the box, when the advertising said otherwise. Our goal is always to provide our customers with the best experience we can, and we know an important part of that is providing our customers with all the correct info upfront, so they can make an informed decision.

It saddens me to learn that wasn’t the case for you! While I'm glad that you were able to find a creative work-around, it was never our intention to put you in that position. I'd be happy to take a deeper look into your purchase, so we can figure out how that occurred and try to turn your experience around.  Can you please send over your full name, phone number, email and order number using the "Private Message" option in my signature below?

Cheers,

[cgtoro]

Hi!, i would like to know how you did it?, because i managed to connect the app with my toshiba fire tv, i choose my language but then keeps searching for the remote and i don’t know what to do next, did you do something different?, what app are you using?, are you on android or ios?. Thanks in advance.

[Cheinr0064]

Same problem exactly. Bought open box tv that was advertised as having all essential parts even though it came with NO REMOTE AND NO STAND. Bought new replacement remote from best buy that WON'T PAIR.