Who is The Remote Controls Shop?

The Remote Controls Shop brand is operated by TW Electronics (Newbury) Ltd. Registered Office: 1 Carnegie Road, Newbury, Berkshire. Registered in England No. 1496877. For more information about the Remote Controls Shop brand and our company, please click here. For all contact details, please click here.

Repairing your remote control

If you have a broken remote control, repair is not usually cost-effective and is not a service offered by our business. If you believe your remote control is broken, click here for a handy article which helps you to work out if your remote control is truly broken.

How to locate your model or part code

The model code is often shown on the front of your appliance (TV / DVD player etc) but this is not always the case. If it is not shown on the front, or you are in any way uncertain about it, the proper model code will almost always be shown on a label afixed to the back or underside of the appliance. In most cases, the word "model", or "m/n" will appear in front of it.

Model numbers are often confused for serial numbers, or serial codes. Serial numbers are rarely of use when locating spare parts and are often much longer than the model code and may appear within or alongside a barcode.

Part codes can also be used in our searches. Part codes often appear on the outer case of your existing remote control, or may be identified as an accessory within your product's user manual.

If you have tried to locate your model or part code but are still unable to find it, please contact us and we'll be happy to help you.

Searching for remote controls on our site

There are 2 main ways of searching for remote controls on this site:

  • By Model (or part)
  • By Brand

In both cases, you will ultimately need to identify your exact model code (or part code) in order to guarantee getting the right replacement. The two different search methods simply take different routes to arrive at this.

Search by model

If you are confident that you know the model code, this is the fastest way to locate a remote control for it. Simply enter the model code into one of the search boxes and click the search button. Our advanced search system should find any related model codes.

Search by brand

If you are uncertain about your model code, searching by brand is a simple way to shortlist known model codes for a given brand. In most cases, this will give you clues as to what format the model code takes from the relevant manufacturer and help you to find this on your appliance.

It can also help you spot where you have the right code but are missing (or have added) a prefix or suffix. If your code is similar to one offered but is not exactly the same, we would always recommend that you contact us to ask about this. Our technical staff will be happy to check whether the different codes relate to the same model.

How our Remote Control Search works

The model search will perform a quick cross-referencing check but if no results are found, it immediately performs a longer, more advanced search for you.

The quick search retrieves all models which start with the same characters you have entered. This is effectively a wildcard search. If any results are found, these will be displayed immediately.

If the quick search brings up no results, an advanced search automatically takes place. The advanced search uses a special matching system which returns a shortlist of the most similar matches in our database. This is particularly useful if there is a typo in your model code or there is a prefix added or omitted.

Delivery Information

Orders are processed within one working day (working days are Monday to Friday and do not include UK Bank Holidays).

When the item is in stock, the item will be despatched on the day of processing. Otherwise, the item may have to be brought in to-order and this can take anything between 1 day and 3 weeks.

In the UK, orders are sent out by the Royal Mail First Class postal service. This is not a guaranteed service but delivery is usually made the next day.

Orders to non-UK destinations are typically sent out using Royal Mail International (formerly "Airmail"). Expected delivery times for international destinations vary but may be as much as 2 weeks.

Warranty

All items sold by the Remote Controls Shop come with a 12 month warranty.

If you encounter any problem with your purchase, we would encourage you to contact us to see if the problem can be easily resolved.

If the problem cannot be resolved, and the product is wihin warranty, our staff can help you make arrangements for either returning the product for refund, or arrange a replacement.

Remote Types Compared

Original Remote Controls

Original remote controls are identical to those ones supplied with a new appliance. When you buy a new television from a reputable dealer, the remote control which comes with it is known as an original remote.

Original remotes are usually branded with the same brand name of the appliance they go with. In other words, if you buy a Sony DVD player, the original remote control which comes with it will probably have Sony's branding on it somewhere.

The main advantage of buying an original remote over replacement or universal types is that it will look identical to the one you are trying to replace. When compared with Universal remotes, an original (or replacement) remote will always be guaranteed to support all of the features of the one being replaced - this is not always so of universal remotes.

The main disadvantages of buying an original tend to be price and delivery times. Originals are normally manufactured at the same time as the appliances in relatively low volumes (often only in hundreds or thousands). The manufacturer may retain a very small stock of spares but charges premium prices for what is a relatively unique product. Due to the diverse stockholdings of original remotes between our numerous suppliers, the delivery times offered vary greatly.

Replacement Remote Controls

Replacement remote controls are functionally equivalent to originals but will have a case which may be a different colour, material, or shape to the original. Where possible, the manufacturers of replacements try to mimic the placement of keys between replacements and originals but there may be occasional differences in position.

The cases and electronics of replacements are designed to a very high standard to meet the high demands of the professional audio-visual servicing industries. The cases tend to be robust designs with button and label printing designed to last.

The main advantages of replacement type remotes are lower cost and ex-stock availability. By using common case styles, replacement remote controls are manufactured and stocked on a larger scale than originals. The economies of scale involved mean that replacements can be offered at a price usually less than that of the originals with almost immediate despatch from point of order.

The only potential disadvantage of replacement remotes is that they don't bear the branding or have an appearance identical to the originals.

Universal Remote Controls

Universal remotes (also known as one-for-all or learning remotes) attempt to mimic the functions of every original remote control. Inside each one, there is a database containing the information needed to configure the remote to act like the original.

The main advantage of a universal is that it has a price and availability similar to replacement remote controls.

There are a number of disadvantages to universal remotes. Out of the box, they will not work straight away and will need to be programmed to select the correct remote to mimic. This can be a cumbersome process and there is no guarantee that all models are covered. Due to the single physical design of universals, they can never have button layouts which match the originals. A final and significant problem is that the range of original remote functions which are mimic'ed may be a reduced set of functions. This may mean that a universal could operate the play / rewind / stop functions of a video recorder but might not be able to operate tracking or timed recording settings.

Our WEEE Policy

Recycling electrical and electronic products

On 1 July 2007, new government regulations called the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations came into force to encourage people to recycle old electrical products rather than throwing them away.

Why should waste electrical goods be recycled?

Recycling unwanted electrical products is better for the environment. The amount of electrical waste that is thrown away is increasing by around 5% each year. Over 75% of waste electrical products end up in landfill, where toxins contained in electrical goods can cause soil and water contamination. Many of the electrical items that we throw away can be recycled. Recycling items helps to save natural resources and also reduces the environmental and health risks associated with sending waste electrical goods to landfill.

How will I know whether the new products I buy can be recycled?

All new electrical and electronic products sold now carry the ‘crossed out wheelie bin’ logo to help you identify which products are recyclable.

How can I recycle my old remote control?

The Remote Controls Shop offers free take back of the old remote control you are replacing with the new one we have supplied.