05/17/2001

The nation's remote control fixation has spawned a sub-industry of parts suppliers, add-on manufacturers and specialists in repair and replacing these vital units.

People are constantly losing or destroying their remotes, causing familial upheaval, says Bob Wallace of Remotes.com (aka 1-800-REMOTES), which bills itself as the country's largest supplier of remotes.

Children love to see if they float in toilets, he says. They often become missiles during fits of anger. Recliner chair mechanisms chew them up. And outdoors – from the interesting but little known fact department – birds are fond of munching on their rubberized buttons, Mr. Wallace says.

One woman even called to seek a replacement remote after she attempted to keep her husband from leaving the house by placing his precious controller beneath his car tires, Mr. Wallace says.

Remotes have also been known to "wander off." To solve that problem, a company called Ambitious Ideas sprang forth with a tiny unit called Findit, which attaches to the back of remotes. Clap three times, and Findit responds with beeps to help home in on the hiding spot.

At RemotesUnlimited.com, Jeff Cooper of Houston sells more than 5,000 automotive and entry remotes each year to distraught folks who have gone swimming with remotes in their pockets or dropped them in coffee.

The blending of garage door, stereo and other remote functions into key fobs has produced a new wave of orders, Mr. Cooper says.

"One guy said he was washing his car and his garage door kept going up and down," he says. "He looked over and saw his Labrador in the back yard munching on his (remote) keys."

Doug Bedell