Converter Box Coupon Update: Relief for Expired Coupons?
UPDATE 3-25-09: Expired Coupon Holders can now Reapply!!!!! Click Here to Find Out How
The last day to request a tv converter box coupon wll be on March 31st, 2009.
As the coupon deadline looms, there are some interesting redemption statistics (updated weekly) available at the NTIA Website. A total of 21.3 million coupons have been requested, and at the time of this posting, the coupon redemption rate is 54.6 percent for households that rely on over-the-air broadcast signals only.
Considering the amount of media attention lately surrounding frustrated consumers not being able to find converter boxes before their coupons expired, it’s not suprising to see such high expiration figures.
At a recent Capitol Hill oversight hearing on the state of the transition, legislators were argueing in support for re-application of expired $40 DTV converter box coupons.
The main problem re-issueing the coupons lies with the cost to make more of the coupon credit cards that consumers use to purchase the converter boxes. The original contract with IBM (maker of the converter credit cards) only covered the costs to manufacture, not reissue the cards.
Help on the Horizon for Expired Coupons?
The Washington Post reported today that a letter delivered to legislators (7/25/08) from acting assistant secretary for communications and information, Meredith Atwell Baker, said the NTIA has “initiated action with IBM to order an additional quantity of 6 million coupons” using the funds from unredeemed and expired coupons. She also said that the current budget for the converter coupon program “will be sufficient.”
The demand for converter boxes has been strong from consumers, especially with the recent announcement by Zenith that it has shipped one million converter boxes to retail stores.
What should consumers who are holding expired coupons do now?
TVConversionHelp Take: Keep waiting! As news breaks, we’ll keep consumers informed by posting details about re-ordering digital converter box coupons.
Make your voice heard and comment at the bottom of this article.
Update 11-19-08: No news yet on when or if the government will choose to allow expired dtv coupon holders to reapply.
Update 12-16-08: Still no news, we appreciate your comments!
Comments
216 Responses to “Converter Box Coupon Update: Relief for Expired Coupons?”
HEY, HERE’S A NOVEL IDEA…… since there is absolutely NO reason to put an experation date on the cards, why not just announce that the date is not to be recognized….if you have a card, it is good regardless of experation date….gee whiz, no panic, no additional expense for printing/distributing more cards……..nooooooo, that would be economical and make sense….not a government objective….no pockets greased.
Why in the heck was an expiration date put on the cards anyway? I didn’t even check my coupons and went last week to purchase the boxes and was told the coupons were expired. It isn’t the 1st of February 2009 yet. We have checked many times to see if the converter boxes were in at our local Wal-Mart store. Finally they had a few and then when I get out the coupons, they were no good. I agree with the above comment, disregard the expiration date and let those of us use them that already have them and forget about printing new ones!!!! No cost for anyone!!!
I too just went to get my converter box at Radio Shack. I have been checking on them for the past two months and they were always out. When I finally get there they have two boxes left but my coupons were expired. Not my fault at all and still I am punished for the Govt.not thinking this through. I also agree the suggestion of disregarding the experation date.
My prediction will be that I will have to shell out the $60.00 to get this converter box which will be an inconvience, since I am on govt. assistance of $230.00 a month. I have to use the library computor to access this information. The library has limited computors and they are always being used. So in other words for those of us who are poor it will really be an inconvience!!!!!!
The Govt. will respond very slowly and thousands of citizens will be with out the converter boxs, come Feb. 2009.
I did not know there was a date on the card and when Iwent to use it was no good. I live on a fixed income and need to have coupon to help me out. thank you,
Please help me.
I do not get out to the store very often as I am elderly. I was able to get one coverter box with my coupon but when I returned they were always out at Wal-mart-now my coupon has expired. I still have the coupon but am unable to use it. Please help. Thank you
We were sent two coupons.But never were able to redeem them.Every time I went to Wal Mart they were out.So I just call before I spend the gas money to go.They are now expired,and Wal Mart tells me to write my Senator.I don’t have much faith that will make a difference.
My elderly Aunt didn’t relize that coupons expired. When Wal-mart finally got the boxes in she couldn’t use them and of course she ordered two so she can’t get anymore. I agree with the comment, disregard the date and let those of us use them anyway… They already have the $ invested… Lets not invest more>…….
I agree with both of the above. I don’t understand why this is necessary. This creates a hardship for people that are on disability, or on fixed income of any kind. As far as nixing the experation date — GREAT IDEA!!
you folks know that thats not the way it works, a congressman or a senator has to get a kick back before it will happen. right the pocket has to be greased.
I have 2 coupons which will expire on Aug. 20, 08. The problem is that none of the stores where I shop have any converter boxes available. They all tell me that the warehouse is out and they do not know when they will have any boxes. I only have nine days left to find a box before I leave on a 9 day trip with know way to find a box. What is happening. We need these to access a TV yet tere doesn’t seem to be enough converter boxex available for the consumer.
Where does the insanity stop?
I received my coupons cards and put them in a safe place thinking I would buy the converter boxes in the fall. I wasn’t aware there was an expiration date on them until a few days ago. Who’s the genius behind that idea and why? Where the hell do they find these people? Obviously, they don’t live in the same real world as we do. Typical government red tape again! Sounds like Rodger, Kenneth and I could do a better job than the whole room of legislators.
I don’t have cable and will never have cable again. Cable companies are one of the biggest rip offs with the worst customer service record of all time. I already paid for the TV, why should I pay a company a ridiculous monthly fee to watch free channels. I watch what I want without paying for 300 channels I don’t even care about.
I own my home and pay my taxes and the government decides to make my perfectly good TV’s unworkable without a converter box. Maybe it’s not “cool” to have an older TV, So What? I’m not like most americans, in debt up to their eyeballs so they can have all the new toys and live beyond their means. Things are getting way to complicated.
Bottom line, who do I contact or how do I contact an intelligent person who can replace “expired” cards my taxes are paying for?
I certainly agree with the idea that there should be no expiration dates on the coupons. What purpose do they serve? It’s expensive for the government to reissue coupons. If you have a coupon it should be good any time. Why should it expire?
It’s really frustrating, my converter coupons expired 8/7/08. Our nearest stores that carry them, is Ashland, Wi. Walmart store just got the converters boxes in last night. Now I’ll have to wait until we’re told how this is going to be resolved. I think it would have made more sense to expire all of the card (coupons) 1/1/09,
My story is the same as all the others. Do you really think that any one of the government geniuses who devised this smart card plan with expiration dates on them will admit their stupidity? I don’t. Why not request another card with another name on it. How about a family member or even the family pet. Everybody watches TV but everybody does not have the need to buy a converter box even though it is their right to have one.
We never received our coupons and now we are being told they have expired. It’s no wonder there is complaints about this program.I suggest whoever is running this should be replaced as quickly as possible!
I am also frustrated that my coupons expired and I would like to do something more proactive to get them extended, but it really is unfair that they were so unavailable in the stores. Why can’t they just reactivate the old numbers?
my coupon is also expired, I was moving just found a place now the coupon is expried. I think that we should be able to get the box. being this is cause by the goverment. not all person can get to the store on time, as some has said the try but no boxes. so we need help. please contact me if they renew the coupons
I received my coupons in June the same month my Father died. I really was not thinking of DTV’s then. Today I found my coupons and tried to purchase a converter box but my coupons expired last week….and try to call the DTV2009 it is only a recording….Why put an expiration date on them????
I have two expired coupons (only by one day) because the stores were simply out of the converters. We went again today and they had them, but the coupon expired yesterday. So what do we do now?????
I agree with the above statement. That expired card should still be honored. Just make life easy for everyone and honor the expired cards.
WOW! My bad on not noting expiration date. But partly due to lack of expiration info on sheet with coupons attached. Would appreciate dropping expiration provision. Why make the program more complicated than it needs to be? This is something our gov’t can do without any additional cost - perhaps that’s asking too much.
I just went to get my conventor box and was told that my coupon has expired! Why did they even put an expiration date? So, the questions is now what do I do? Will the cards be replaceable, do you have to reissue, or am I left with no other option than to pay full price? I did not even know there was an expiration date on the cards and went to buy mine when they were available at the store and when my pocket book allowed me. Please advise on what will be the next step.
I didn’t realize the coupons had an expiration date, I assumed they would be good until atleast January 2009, since the switch is not until February 17, 2009. I could not find any stores the had the converter box before the expiration date. I have checked many times to see if the converter boxes were in at our local Wal-Mart store. I agree with the above comment, disregard the expiration date and let those of us use them that already have them and forget about printing new ones!!!! No cost for anyone!!!
My complaint is , the stores are always out of the converter boxes and they refuse to let you pay up front the difference of the box so when they come in you can go and pick them up. I agree with the other complainers that the expiration dates are totally unnecessary!
i agree, no expiration date needed on the coupons
why did short sighted people do that to us poor people ,Boooooooooooooooooooooooo
If only they would of had,enough for the demand there would had no problems now,but i do agree with the others.Now all you have to do goverment is just vaildate the cards that were sent and not have to spend more money makeing new ones,get smart gov.
[...] Hello Jean and welcome to the forum, As of this moment, expired coupon holders are waiting patiently for Congress to modify or enact legisilation to allow for re-application of the converter box coupons. As soon as we hear something, we’ll post it to the forum. Until then, hold on to your expired coupons, and write your local representative https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml about your experience with the converter box coupon program. Please refer to this recent article for more information: Converter Box Coupon Update: Relief for Expired Coupons? | TVConversionhelp.com [...]
How about sending us free converter boxes? Seems only right since the governement is forceing the country to switch over to the new technology whether or not we think it is necessary or are financially able to pay for the expense of it.
the antenna’s are also neeeded and that is an additional financial costs for millions of people.
who gave them the right to make the most used technology in our homes and businessess obsolete in the first place?
THE BIGGER QUESTION IS WHY”? MY coupons have also expired waiting for the local walmart to carry a supply of converter boxes.
what a nightmare of control and token responsibility, from the every spending government in this country. I think I might just not get another tv period who really needs them anyway.
also is there the spy technology in these new tv’s and the converter boxes? Most likly there is.
Another reason to bow out.
A big reason.
I believe that there should be no expiration date on these coupons. I am retired and on a fixed income. The problem is that when the store had boxes I had no funds and when I had funds there were no boxes.
HOW ABOUT THAT !!!!, AND I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY FLUSTERATED PERSON HOLDING AN EXPIRED COUPON FOR A CONV. BOX, WHY NOT IGNORE THE EXPIRATION DATE ??? BEN B AUG.19/08
My couoons too have expired! My elderly paretn relies on TV as her company for the day. I feel the government should just issue a statement indicting that coupons will be honored even if expired! We didnlt ask for this new DTV. Our TV was working just for for us the way it was! They are certainly putting a hardship on the elderly who are on fixed incomes. Not only do they have to purchase these converter boxes, but will see an increase in their electric bills as they need electricity to run the boxes! Again I repeat do not issue new coupons, just a statement that all expiration daes are null and void and coupons will be accepted even after the expiration dates!
im on disability and was unable to get to the store on time. so now im outa luck how is this possible. im in wheelchair
I have 2 coupons for the converter boxes that have expired because the boxes were not available in our area (rural TN.). When the Government gets the bright idea to make changes in our lives without our consent, then they should at least have the common decency to make the transition as simple and accomodating as possible to the people they have inconvenienced. There are a large number of people that really cannot afford these changes when what they have until Feb,2009 was acceptable. Our Government lawmakers are looking more like idiots every day. God help us and our USA.
went to use my converterbox coupon and found out there was a exp date. When i got them i put them up in a safe place and did not see the date suprise suprise when i tryed to buy one yesterday at wal-mart. whats up !
The —-coupons expired before Wal-Mart in West
Columbia,Tx.could re-supply.Why not let the unused
coupons be used anyway? I suppose that would be
too ecnomical.What a waste.
I was told that our coupons were mailed on 8/01/08 and what if I dont receive them in the mail. Today is the 20th of Auguat and I still havent received them.
The government does not have to re-issue millions of coupons for those that have expired. The only thing necessary is for the government to abolish the expiration date and notify all retailers. The retailer only
has to make a small computer program change to accept the card. Big deal.
This whole program has been a fiasco and it probably will not stop in the near future.
I would like to know who is the brainiack that stayed up all night on a (coffee) high, desided to put a experation date on the cards, just to make it more difficult for people like me who are on disability and can not get out much? I didn’t know there was a experation date on it until I went to the store and my cards where DENIED!!!!
i went today to get my converter boxes and was told my coupon has expired. it expires in august. i didn’t know it expired THE FIRST DAY of august.
if your intent was to help us w the transition -
WHY the expiration date ??!!!!??
I never received the requested coupons for the converter Box.
I called again, However I was uable to apply since I applied once before.
I’m very frustrated. What can I do to re-apply and get the coupons? The coupons I never received?
I called to apply for the converter Box coupons.
Since,I never received the coupons I requested for the converter Boxes, I called to re-apply. However, I was uable to to so since I applied once before. What can I do to receive the coupons?
I had no idea that there was an expiration date on the coupons. I thought they were good until Feb 17, 2009 If I had known I would Have purchased the boxes before 05/23/2008. Nothing was said about them expiring before the above date. They should be extended to at least Jan 1,2009 for people like myself who are on a limited income and have to save to purchase the converter boxes.
I AGREE WITH OTHERS THAT A EXPERATION DATE SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN PUT ON THE COUPONS. MANY SENIOR CITIZEN COME INTO THE STORE TO PURCHASE THERE CONVERTER BOXES AND FIND THAT THE COUPON HAS EXPIRED. SHAME ON YOU GOV. BUT THANKS FOR THINKING ABOUT US MANY OF US CANNOT AFFORD TO PURCHASE THESE BOXES FULL PRICE. WHAT HAPPEN TO THOSE WHO CANNOT AFFORD TO PURCHASE THE BOXES, WAL-MART CHARGES 10.00, SAM CLUB CHARGES 4.98 PLUS TAX 5.26, SHOULDN’T WAL-MART REFUND THOSE WHO HAVE PAID $10.00 FOR THE SAME BOX THAT SAM’S CLUB CHARGES THEIR CUSTOMERS, OR GIVE THE CUSTOMER A EXTRA BOX NOW THAT’S EVEN DON’T YOU THINK.
After getting back from a military duty deployment I discovered these stupid cards had an experation date. I had not received them before I left in January. Once again another reason why government doesn’t work very well but wastes billions of taxpayer money in the process. Good job Congress!
No converter boxes were available in stores listed to carry them. Coupons have expired. Please resolve this delima since my coupons have expired. TV advertisers certainly need us, the low income population, to buy the products they advertise. We need to see the ads to support these businesses.
I AGREE WITH ALL OF THE ABOVE. THEY SHOULD NEVER PUT AN EXPERATION DATE ON THE CARDS. I DID’NT REALIZE THE CARDS HAD AN EXPERATION DATE.WHEN I WHENT TO WAL-MART,FOR MY BOXES THE GUY TOLD ME THEY WERE EXPIRED. I ALSO THINK THEY SHOULD GIVE US SOME MORE TIME TO GET OUR BOXES.
I just saw the write up about the expired coupons. That was my problem, when I went to a local K-Mart they did’nt have any instock and my coupons was valid thru 8-18-08.They were suposed to have some on the next day. Please e-mail on update info.
I did not know that there was an expiration date untill today. I thought that the date to change was Feb. 2009.. Why can’t the coupons be used after the expiration date sense you know they were not used?..
I went to all the stores here in PR walt mart kmart radioshak you nameit but they didnot have the converterbox now my coupons expire on 8/1/o8. Idontnow way they send coupons and they didnot bother to make the boxes carmen from Puerto Rico
I got right on the computer and ordered my “limited quantity” coupons for the converter when it was announced. I did notice it was to expire on 7/10/08….I started checking out the retailers available, and guess what….there were none in stock! As I came closer to the due date, I again called my tv dealer, and he was being called by Radio Shack to see if his stock was in yet. Needless to say, my coupons expired….three days later, my tv dealer received four units. I got back on the DTV website and wrote in my problem, and did not receive any answer back. So I am very interested to see how this problem is resolved.
My sister has one expired coupon because in Puerto Rico only Radio Shack have it and they sell with a protecction program and she consider to expensive. The other stores was Wal-mart and Sam’s Club and they don’t have it until september.
So I think the goberment should give another opportunity with the coupons.
Our TV Converter Box Coupons have expired, we need new coupons A.S.A.P., It apears that at this time it is not possible to obtain them. When we recieved the coupons we saw that there was an expiration date. But, we were unable to redeem the coupons before the expiration date do to medical problems. Please help us obtain new coupons. We really need these cost effective coupons,thank you.
I applied for two coupons the later part of March and never received my coupons. When I inquired about them, they said they mailed the coupons in April 25,2008, but I haven’t received them. Now I cannot apply for anymore is what they e-mailed me, because the date has expired or possibly got lost in postal delivery. I believe I should be sent my coupons that I am entitled to. Is this coupon thing just a gimmick or what?
[...] your $40 converter box coupons from the U.S. government expired? Are you waiting for congress to legislate a change for the current coupon program which will allow for re-application of the [...]
I too have experienced the dreaded “expiration date” on my coverter box coupons. The head person running the program has likend the coupons to like a box of cereal coupon. Evidently he hasn’t had to wait 3 months for his Fruit Loops to come in. Just shows you how some of our government officials can’t relate to the general public. I would guess that he has cable or satelite and doesn’t need or care about the coupons. Has anybody asked our two presidential canidates why congress hasn’t forced NTIA to remove the expiration date on all coupons? Please contact your local congressman, tv, radio, newspapers, etc…to express your outrage on something that is so wrong.
I want the original coupons that I ordered in March which they said they mailed and I DID NOT RECEIVE. that’s what I want. I did not get any and now I’m no longer eligible. Something is wrong with that picture.
if these coupons are only needed till feb 09 why isn’t that the expiration date? and why an expiration date anyway? we all know when the program ends. lets use our heads boys for something besides a hat rack. save a bunch of money!
1
The expiration date should be Febuary 9,2009, not just for 90 days becouse every store you go to is out at the time.All need to be done is override the expiration date. No new cards needs to be printed.
Here we go again,no thought to” WHY “we needed a expration date.We are all at the mercy of the Goverment and the stores I called ,said we cannot use the expired coupon and by the way the fee is $20.00 not $10.00 first told to the public.Who’s kidding who,plus they want to reissue new cards ,just let us use the ones we have,why spend more TAX PAYERS $’s,STOP THE MADNESS and see what you the Goverment has done with UR SPENDING.
I also have 2 expired converter box coupons that I cannot use now. I also do not understand “WHY” they have expiration dates! If we do not need the converters before 2009, “WHY” are they expiring in July of 2008? ELIMINATE THE EXPIRATION DATE AND YOU HAVE ELIMINATED YOUR PROBLEM! Simple.
Did not know there was an expiration date until it was too late. Now what can I do. Tried to reorder two more cards but was denied.
I bought the only converter box the store had but I needed two. I spent 73 days in the hospital and nursing home and when I was able to go back for my 2nd one the coupon had expired. I have the bills to prove my hospital and nursing home stay. How can I get my 2nd one?
Same as all the aboveexcept that I do not with to spew the invectives stated toward govt people. That only will get them riled at us and make them vidictive toward us. Please could we have a solution for expired coupons before the final crunch in the last month before the deadline? Thank you, thank you.
I am 91 years old. My son got the coupon for me. I have visited my local Walmart and Kmart stores, I have called them and they are always “just out of the boxes”. The coupon has now expired, what am I to do? I live alone and have difficulty getting out on a daily basis. Several of my friends are in the same fix. They too have expired coupons. If I had known that it would be this difficult to get the box I would have waited until there were more available. Its a big mess and the consumer gets the raw end of the deal as usual. Thanks to our big government!!
I am in total agreement with EVERYONE above.we too went to walmart only to find ours had expired.What a ridiculous waste of time and money all the way around.I agree let us use the original coupons and disregard the expiration date!Oh I guess that would make toooooo much sense.
My mother and I have coupons that have expired unfortunately we are not able to purchase the converter boxes without help because of our income. I would like to know if you can notify me on what to do with the expired coupons. I was planning on returning them to the sender. Should I or should I not. Thank You.
I also agree with the first comment. We should be able to ignore the expiration date because not everyone is able to purchase the boxes at full price. Hopefully enough of us will complain and something will be done. Thank you.
I to inadvertently let my coupons expire since I knew I wouldn’t need to purchase my converter box right away. I tried to reapply for coupons using our lot numbers at our summer place but they are not being recognized as a valid address. I guess my only solution is to reapply using my son or daughters address since they have no use for the coupons. Is this a legal option do you think?
I FIRMLY agree with everyone, just disregard the expiration date. No extra cost for the government.
My parents are elderly and on a fixed income. They managed to have requested and obtained their coupon cards on their own. However, they did not have any idea there would be expiration date on the cards. With all the advertising the government did regarding this coupon program you would think they could have included that valuable piece of information as well. I feel this is a great injustice to the senior population and would like to see something done about expired coupoon cards.
I’ve been waiting for my coupon for several months. I know there is an expiration date. After checking on the status of my first two requests, they claimed they had no record and I had to reorder the coupons. Finally after the 3rd attempt, it’s saying the coupons should be mailed Sept. 19. So I will feel lucky just to finally get the coupons. I’m glad I didn’t wait until the last minute. Hopefully I won’t run into a stocking issue.
I echo the comment of the above as to expiration date. Using cards as is makes the most sense. Please don’t let this bog down in bureaucratic red tape.
I have a slightly different situation I or my
sister never recieved our coupons after correctly
ordering them when i check the status on the coupons at the website .i recieved information
that the coupons both mine and my sisters were
indeed sent and were used by someone to purchase
converter boxes by someone else anyone else have
this happen ?? who is stealing these coupons??
mail carriers or the distrobution center i am
trying to get in touch with someone at the
website to complain to and see if this is
a wide spread problem who would do this when
coupons are available to everyone GREED I’d
say .i am very disapointed in this program.
I agree with the above ust ignore the date on the expired coupons until 02/09 then after that date the coupons will not be any good. Don’t have to make more and IBM has already been paid for these and it is stated that there is revenue from the coupons that didn’t get redeemed. Either the economy wouldn’t let us spend the extra money for them because it was more important to buy food or gas to get to work , and then the stores didn’t have the converter boxes when you were able to buy these boxes. ELIMATE THE EXPIRATION DATE !!!!
my emotionally challenged daughter can’t always do her affairs in a timely manner…she can’t drive and the Walmart store is a good distance away..her coupon “expired” and since she was unable to get a box when she tried, she disposed of the coupon…what a mess this “offer” is with the deadlines!!!HELP for re-issuing coupons with no expiration date!@!!
I too am like the rest of the people. I don’t get out that much but I was calling all over looking for the converter boxes. Every store was out for months at a time. I sent to WalMart,K-Mart and Radio Shack all u could hear was we’re out or they were expecting a shipment in but no one know when. Now I am struck with two expired coupons. Why was a date put on it anyway. I am on a fixed income and still a lot of stores are still out of stock so please try to work with us. We as consumers can’t win at anything. I will continue to look for some kind of change on the situation. I agree with everyone above.
When I finally received my coupons, they were already short almost one month. After several trys at different retailers, I finally got one and I needed two. The expiration date expired the same day of purchase. The problem was availability. I crisscrossed my city to get both and it was frustrating to arrive and the retailer would be completely out. I would hope the GOVT would approve the use of the expired coupons to the retailers so I and others could get a break of these expensive boxes. THERE SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN AN EXPIRATION DATE on the coupons. Come on, please give us a break.
On Apr 28,2008, I was informed that my coupons (Ref # 7351011) were scheduled to be mailed on 5/23/2008 to my home address. Since receipt never occurred, I made several unsuccessful attempts via email and phone (1-888-dtv2009)). The phone was never responded to by a live person regardless to the hour I called. A couple of the emails provided a response restating the scheduled mail date and indication to be patient due to the number of requests. What should I do and when???
I agree with the replies of “no expiration”, since everybody who doesn’t or can’t afford cable, is mandatory to get converter boxes, I myself is a disabled out of work with limited income, raised my children and now grandchildren are here, what a person to do? I hope their will be a relief for those with expired coupons. My expired Aug 1, 2008. Thank You
I was unaware of, nor was there a need for an expiration on these coupons in the first place. Just honor the existing cards and quit this talk about re-issueing, re-newing and needing to re-send them but if that’s the only solution, then I need new cards now that the stores are stocking converter boxes.
We totally agree with all of the above. We couldn’t find any available converter boxes, also didn’t realize they had an expiry date and were turned down the other day when we found them. I will keep my coupons in hopes that they will be reinstated. Thank you.
Jacob Larson, September 20, 2008
We applied for 2 coupons on 07/08/08 with a mailing date of 08/01/08 and still have not received our 2 coupons, have tried online, e-mail and phone with no luck only to be told that it may take 2-3 weeks more, are they sending them via Donkey post.
We expect that if we ever receive them they will be out of date when they arrive. We are thinking of contacting the local TV stations for help!!
Keep up the good work
Why can’t the government give me new coupons if I return the old ones thus proving that they have not been used or totally ignore the expiration date. By the time the Walmarts and Radio Shack in my area received shipments of converter boxes my coupons had expired!
I have five tvs in my house and none of them are digital ready! I can’t afford to buy new tvs or five boxes at $49.99 each. I hate what the government has done to all of us. Poor people can’t ever get ahead because of all the extra expenses the government is putting upon us!
I could not even get the coupons - I have a PO Box and explained to the morons at the coupon website that the reason that I have PO Box delivery is people were taking mail from my road side mailbox. This makes me look like I am trying to scam the goverment apparently, because they said they sent them, but I never got them. I tried to appeal but they said they sent them - CASE CLOSED!! Billions for a war, but no way for 2 stinking coupons to a veteran. You cant make this crap up.
I recently moved into an apartment building and the person that lived here before me must have applied for these cards as well because when I went to apply it said my request was denied because the address was already used! How is that fair? I wonder how many renters are being denied their requests if previous tenants had ordered them
This entire conversion was ridiculous for its reasons: to enrich equip manufacturers, cable and satellite providers as well as broadcast stations who can now sell ads on 2 or 3 times as many channels (multi-digital vs single analog channels). The govt claims it was for additional frequencies for them but remember they are selling the frequencies to companies which will then sell those “new” frequency options to us — not exactly a virtuous reason if you ask me, more like a plan to get more $$ out of the consumers when what we had was perfectly acceptable. This process was also TERRIBLY planned and managed. The “analog TV set only” segment (no cable or satellite) of the population should have been GIVEN free converters for all their TVS and VCRS. Since that did not happen, those folks are now paying to maintain their existing level of technology — if they don’t pay for a DTV box for every device, they lose their technology that they already paid to acquire. That is just totally unacceptable. In my case, we will lose function of 8 devices in our home (3 adults, multi rooms) even after using 2 coupons to “fix” 2 devices so we can still use them. This is WRONG.
But apparently the govt enjoys screwing constituents because that is what they’ve done.
Not to mention the elderly - I feel so sorry for them and others who are not tech savvy. My elderly mom lives with us - she could NOT deal with any of this on her own and I’m sure there are many others like her. What a nightmare it must be, even worse than frustrated but still being able to wade thru this stuff would be feeling totally helpless. Which govt agency is helping them? None!
As far as the coupons, I ordered them as soon as they were announced as “ready”. My thought was to get them and hold on to them until closer to the time of the actual conversion switch over. I knew it would be best to use that time to research the DTV box options that were available and that more box makers would be entering the marketplace as the time came closer to actual conversion so there would be more and better to choose from. It was also strongly stressed by the “DTV coupon program” that you needed to get these coupons as soon as possible in case they might run out of them. So I believed their propaganda. By the time the coupons came, I’d already figured out that there were major problems: not enough supply of DTV boxes and not enough tech options on them (pass thru analog, multi-device/VCR capable, etc.) in addition to there being not enough detailed instructions and advice so people would be able to figure all this out. So when they arrived I put the coupons away figuring I had until the Feb 2009 conversion date to figure it out and hopefully by then, some manufacturers would offer boxes with more features, build enough boxes for the market and someone would help instruct on how to deal with this. WRONG. Nothing changed - no better supply, no additional instruction to figure out what to do, no new boxes coming out that would competently handle complex setups like TV, VCR, DVD rather than just a box + TV.
So the coupons expired before I even was able to find boxes available locally. I bought 2 boxes anyway but I’ve had to google my head off to find any real instructions on how to set up and still don’t feel I’ve found accurate how to’s. This is proof of the BAD BIG GOVT and gross negligence. The politicians and agency poohbahs who ok’d this should all be run out of office/fired and publicly shunned.
I’ll be waiting for my expired coupons to be re-activated but I won’t hold my breath. Obviously you can’t count on any fair treatment when it’s from these creepy FCC sleezebags.
I too just went to get my converter box at the store. I have been checking on them for the past two months and they were always out. When I finally get there they have two boxes left but my coupons were expired. Not my fault at all and still I am punished for the Govt.not thinking this through. I also agree the suggestion of disregarding the experation date.
My prediction will be that I will have to shell out a $100.00 to get the two converter box which will be an inconvience, The Govt. will respond very slowly and thousands of citizens will be with out the converter boxs, come Feb. 2009.
I agree with everyone above who suggests to disregard the expiration date. I never opened my coupon, just put it away until I wanted to use it. I knew we had to have a converter box by Feb 09 but had no idea the coupon had an expiration date. What’s the point? I ordered mine last April when I first heard about it. The site I ordered it on said nothing about an expiration date. Again, why an expiration date when they were not available to buy.
I stood in stunned silence at Wal-Mart when the clerk said my card was expired, and would I like to purchase them anyway? Then it just burst out, “Expired? Why the heck is there an expiration date–this isn’t lettuce or milk?” I tried resubscribing using our campsite at the lake in another state and got no cards and no response. This is just plain stupid, and you know what they say about stupid–it can’t be fixed. Oh yeah let’s have IBM make 6 million more cards. At a nickel a piece that’s only 300 grand. Duh. Cancel the expiration date, that’s only –no charge.
No sence leaving a message.they’ve already been asked many times above…they are made, delivered,and accounted for so whats the big deal? Just DROP THE EX. DATE!!!!!!!!! WHY does the gov. make such a big deal out of nothing!
I just discovered that my coupons also have expired. I ordered them a few months ago and put them away until I could find “the right” converter boxes to purchase. I have been doing some research and am close to choosing a model. I pulled them out yesterday when a friend said that she was unable to use hers because of the expiration date. Sure enough, mine are expired as well. I didn’t even realize that was an issue!
I’m not sure I understand why these have an expiration date 90 days from when they were issued. An expiration date of 12/31/2009 would make more sense (or 10/1/2009, then end of the Fed Fiscal Year).
ABC Warehouse Store Rep. told me that they will accept the card after the expired date, when I had the money to go buy I was told the card is expired and can’t be used. I tried to apply for new card I was rejected. I did submit the reason and I left my email but I didn’t receive any response yet from the website. PLEASE HELP.
My mother who is 93 received the coupons but was unable to use them prior to the expiration date. Please reissue these coupons so I may purchase the converter boxes as soon as possible for her.
Thank you.
this is just another government mess, my coupon expired and cannot be used. as a senior it is difficult to make changes and as citizens and tax payers everyone should let their congress men know, and refuse to support such lazy and incompention people.
Why was there an expiration date on the cards. I am a senior and my daughter ordered the card for me. I am living on 400 dollars a month and can not afford cable or a new tv. So this means that I can not have tv after Feb.. I am disabled and housebound and NEED to have a tv as I can not afford to do anything else. I opened the card, did not realize that there was an expiration date and went to use it lately. It was declined and I was told it was expired, so of course I threw it away. NOW what do I do that I have no card, if they ever do extend the expiration date…or think of annnoucing no expiration date??? What brain surgeon thought of the cards with an expiration date that will cause many (especially seniors living on a very low fixed income)to be without ANY T.V.??? I agree with the above comments that instead of spending all that money to issure cards again, post and announce on tv and radio that there will be no expiration date. I bet the people who thought this up aren’t disabled or living on 400 a month or without anyyy T.V.at all!!!!
In you hold a expired cord or cards, why not just for go the expiration date. They haven’t been redeemed anyway. I did not know they were only good for 90 days. I have been reading the reviews of those who have already purchsded boxes and there are issues with the quality of the coverters functionality or just getting too hot. This concerns me.
Here it is October and I have STILL not heard any good news about the expired card. Come on, there has got to be something the government can do other than waste more time. I agree with everyone else. An expiration date on the card? We didn’t even have the boxes available here before it expired. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
i got my 2 coupons in april 2008 and they expired on 7/07/2008 and there were no tv converter boxs to be found any where (help)
I totally agree with some of the other suggestions that the expiration date be disregarded on the coupons that have been issued and not redeemed. I was unaware that there was an expiration date on the coupons and when I attempted to make use of them I was unable to do so because I was told they had expired. I am retired and living on a fixed income and if it is necessary for me to pay the full price for a converter box when and if they become available, it will be a hardship with all of the other rising costs. Thank you for your concern.
Here is a perfect example of our government screwing things up putting an expiration date on these cards,what for? Then they want to create more spending for new cards,Dah,just ignore expiration dates and let me use my cards.P.S. I recieved my cards the day after they expired,nice going guys.Maybe i’ll just smash television set any way nothing really worth watching.
I managed to find and buy one converter box (the store display) when I first received my coupons. I quickly started searching for another converter, but none of the stores in my area had any more in stock until long after my 2nd coupon expired. Over the weeks I gave back most of my $40 savings to Big so I could drive around and look for the thing. Hmmm…
When I went to use my coupons I was told they were expired. I did not know that there was an expiration date since we had until Feb. 2009.
I agree with some of the above and think you should just issue a notice that all expiration dates should be ignored. That would save the government and us all a lot of expense and trouble.
Please lets get this done quickly.
I have 2 coupon cards , expired . I have tried for months to use them and was told the warehouse was out. I have traveled 100 miles to TULSA , OK. every month just to set at a payphone . And still have 2 expired cards and I live on my disablity and 2 boys to raise !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can’t someone in our Gov. do something right for a change????? Go and put expiration dates on cards, that they are forcing a person to have the box in the first place. A person runs around and waste gas trying to find a box and then find out the coupon card has expired. Some places you even call ahead of time and they say sure we have a couple but first come first serve. So you go there only to find out someone beat you to it. It will only get worse at the Feb. deadline approches.
Band the expiration date on the card and void any that are out there now. Just let the dates pass through the system. You have the card number and know it is valid and hasn’t been used. I am sure your computer’s can be update to do that instead of making new cards. DUH!!!!!
Applied for coupons in april and never got them. I hear something about coupons expiring and go to check my status and sure enough the coupons that were never sent have already expired. This coupon program is nothing but a sham.
I was able to buy the one converter box that WalMart had. I planned to return in a week when they had more in. I ended up in the hospital and spent the next 73 days in the hospital and nursing home and my coupon expired. I have the bills to show why I couldn’t return to buy another. Please help me use my expired coupon
My coupons expired Nov 3rd/08/. Today is Nov 7th.
I am on a fixed income and can’t really afford to purchased TV converter boxes. Due to
no fault of mine, I was unable to redeem my coupons. I would appreciate if some solution could be resolved so that the expiration date could be extended.
Thanks
Pam
I, too, did not realize that the coupons expired. Plese allow the expiration date to be ignored. What was the purpose of the epiration date before the Feburary cut off date? It is contrary to the purpose of the coupon it would seem.
Today I was ready to buy a box and opened envelop to get coupons out and found they have a expiration date stamped on and it’s already passed. Are you going to do something about it? I am disapointed for lack of warning when ad came on TV.
I also have an expired card. I don’t understand why an expiration date before February was put on the cards in the first place. If a date was needed, it should not have been before February 2009. What were they thinking!
Some of us tossed our coupon cards in the trash once they had expired and were no longer usable. I hope that any extensions will include us, not just folks who held on to expired cards. We were told and saw on the government website, that the expired cards were worthless, so why should we have held on to them? We should not be penalized for trusting the government’s official word.
Personally, I don’t see why the government couldn’t just send us the basic boxes directly (upon application), rather than the “middle-man” hassle of the coupon cards. Seems like it would be the aboiut same amount of bureaucracy to send already-packaged boxes as to send single or double coupons. For all the gov’t money we’re now wasting on congressional hearings and other expenditures of govt employee time trying to clear up this mess, they could have shipped the boxes at no extra cost. Also, what’s up with coupons being lost in the mail? Are recipients making it up or are postal workers hording cards? Since there seems to be a surprisingly high percentage of coupon cards “lost” in the mail (one would really be too many), shouldn’t the USPS Inspector General and the FBI start investigating the USPS, its workers and systems, and any other likely suspects for fraud, theft, criminal (and/or civil) negligence regarding mail processing and delivery policies and practices? For that matter, given the license-to-greed given by the current administration, has anyone thought to investigate the FCC/FTC or whichever government agencies and/or contractors had access to those coupon cards? It is simply unacceptable, in this hi-tech age of satellite tracking of individual automobiles and individual sea turtles swimming the grand oceans (and of governemnt tracking of citizens’ phone conversations and email, without even a warrant) - it is unacceptable that hundreds or thousands of pieces of mail, in this case the equivalent of $80 a pop, would supposedly just disappear and no one in the government bothers to investigate and prosecute this outrageous degree of negligence (or worse than negligence)! Hello: beyond the average badness of run-of-the-mill mail/coupon thieves and consequences of failing to stop them, since it has been reported that terrorist cells in the u.s. have used run-of-the-mill credit card fraud and other non-violent, “small-time” methods to raise money to fund their activities, has it occurred to anyone at homeland security or congress or the usps or anyone else we are paying to protect us that these coupons, which are, after all, as good as cash, could be used some way by parties with nepharious goals to raise some cash???? may sound over the top, but stranger things have happened, and it doesn’t take a genious (i’m surely not one) to come up with such a scam. but then, the folks with the badges and big titles didn’t seem able to track (forget about stopping) a few big jetliners a few years ago either. shows what relying on their ability to think creatively can land us. no offence guys, we know many of you work darn hard and put yourselves in harms way for us, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist or former stanford university professor to imagine that a suicidal sociopath might fly a jetliner into a building or that his buddies might somehow game the system and use stolen coupon cards to stash some cash.
I just got on line to see what I could do about my expired coupons . I had fallen prey to having no income at all and I had to do something well you the change is going to come with the converter boxes , ready or not . Well I see that Iam not alone huh that was a relief , but now that I do have an income my cards are still expired they don’t reissue cards to the same household I did pay attention to that detail.H E L P because I do not want my T V to be converted to a fish tank .
I don’t understand or know what the reason for the expiration date was,But I think the expiration date should be dropped,and let us whom date has expired,go head and use our cards.It won’t cost anybody, anything to do so.And we can then purchase our boxes.Before Feb. Thank you for listening
I have seen many notices about obtaining the government converter box coupone, none of them mentioned anything about an expiration date. I did not open the envelope when it arrived as I had not idea there was a time limit. Also, the expiration date on my cards is 11/05/08, I did not receive the coupons 90 days ago, so evidently one was not even given a full 90 days to make the purchase.
I think the government should eliminate the expiration date.
Add one more story about someone’s coupons expiring while they’re trying to find converter boxes in the stores, only to have the stores sold out. I’d almost say it’s borderline discrimination since most of the people who do not have cable or satellite service are the elderly/disabled/lower-income citizens who also have difficulty getting transportation to the store to begin with.
Poor job by the gov’t on this one. Even poorer job that there’s only a 51% redemption rate currently (as of 11/19/08). Clearly shows people’s cards are expiring before they get to use them.
I requested 2 $40.00 coupons when the dtv conversion was introduced. When I received the coupons, there were no coverter boxes in my city Bastrop TX. I periodically check the stores for the boxes, but no converters were to be had. When the boxes were finally avalible my coupons were expired. What an=m I to do now???????
My coupons also expired. I had no idea that there was an expiration date. The governmet should have let the consumers know about the expiration dates. Why don’t they just forgo the expiration date and let us use them now?
my two cards expired 10-10-08, I went to best but and walmart 6-7 times, the last time on 10-20-08 and boxes were out of stock always. Went to walmart on 10-22-08 and boxes were in store and salesperson said card expired (ran card thru card reader).
I am 79 and it is difficult for me to make these trips. It’s obvious that there has been a supply problem for these boxes for at least six months.
Why not just take my expired #s and re-authorize them? I have the unused cards.
I am unemployed and had to wait until I got enough cash together to buy the converter boxes.
By the time I went to redeem them I found out they had expired two weeks ago. So I am waiting to convert to digital until I get more coupons. So can you let me know if they are going to be reissued.
Well, I too am a victim of having 2 expired coupons. Money is tight, so I couldn’t purchase the coupons till now, and started checking for them about 2 weeks ago, but of course nobody had any. I finally found them in a Kmart/Sears Essentials store today, pulled out my coupons, and was shocked to learn, they expired last week. What am I supposed to do now? Why on earth is there an expiration date on the coupons? If the switch takes place in Fed ‘09, why aren’t we allowed the extra time to purchase the boxes? And why isn’t there a customer service line with a live person to answer questions? Not everbody has access to a computer and/or the internet. With these hard economic times, why didn’t someone realize that having an expiration date was going to be a problem? Lawmakers need to make the pre-printed expiration dates obsolete so they don’t incur any additional expense, and so we can go ahead and purchase the boxes when we FINALLY FIND THEM. I am not in a financial position to pay for cable or satellite every month right now, so if something isn’t done, and soon, we won’t be watching television in the future. How sad is that?!
I am very frustrated. I went to two stores in my neighborhood before the expiration date and they did not have DTV conversion boxes. Now it is too late.
I SUGGEST YOU DO AWAY WITH THE EXPIRATION DATE COMPLETELY, OR AT LEAST EXTEND THEM ALL UNTIL FEB 1, 2009. NO NEED TO REISSUE CARDS UNLESS PEOPLE HAVE THROWN THEIR EXPIRED ORIGINALS OUT.
Why didn’t supply meet demand? Why are the boxes not available at walmart or radio shack — two major electronics retailers? Do people have 5 tvs per household? Is someone stockpiling merchandise, waiting for a windfall when demand shoots up?
I do not think the Bush government has handled this well at all! (Go figure!). But rational government isn’t beginning until Jan 21. That only leaves 10 days to clean up another Bush mess.
I think this constitutes a national security threat, since we depend on TV to obtain government information in times of emergency.
I agree with all the above. What is the need for exp. date, when they had to know that would cause a problem. The next thing is can you find a live person to ask , “Now what do I do?”
I’m in the same boat with all of the above. I can’t understand the need for an expiration date. And then to not be able to get the boxes before the card expires. Somebody help us!
As one who works at Target electronics i can say that egnoring he date is not right. That would allow people to keep and reuse thier cards for more than was alloted. If my cards are in the system under my address, name and date, then if I still have my cards (which I do) then just re-issue a new expiration date in the system and send me an e-mail with the new date. That should cut down expense of re-issue.
My wife appled for 2 cupons before we explored other options (cable tv). By the time we received the card and and researched the conversion, the cards had expired. Now we find that we cannot have the cards reissued. Can you explain why there was it necessary that the cards expire, when they are issued to a particular person at a particular household? Is there any indication that the expiration date will be lifted from the card? Thanks. Ed Allen.
I agree, why not just disregard the expiration dates. That won’t cost anything.
I ordered my coupons and when they arrived, the envelope looked as if it had sat in a Mail Truck for a while…dirty and folded. I opened the envelope to find that my coupons were expired by 5 days. I immediately went to the website that I had ordered them from and sent a message. That was over two months ago and never got a reply of any sort. Great program huh!!! I don’t know why they would expire before the program does. Not happy.
my coupons have expired .so my wife threw them away.what do we do please help .. dont know what to do
I ordered my coupons sometime in August,I also had a hard time because they were always sold out. We also found out my daughter had cancer then we had to move so between all of that my cards were misplaced and that was the least of my worries at that time. I finally came across them and they had expired in October I also think they should reactivate them why should we lose out on this,Not happy either.
Because of illness I have’nt been able to get to the store to purchase our converter boxes until today, only to be told by the sales lady that the coupons had expired. What do I do? Will they recend the experation time?
Our coupons expire today 12/03/08. Web sites, plus various stores we went to said we could not use them because it takes 3 days to process the coupons, so they actually expired three days ago. We have traveled many miles to fine the box we wanted only to find it out of stock, even when the stores Web site said it was in stock. Target in Margate on St. Rd. 7 is one example you can check out yourself. We are senior citizens on a fixed income and can’t afford to go out and buy a new TV. We have tried our best to do what our government says to do and it apparently is not enough. How about our government doing something for us and extending our coupons or issuing new ones, while at the same time, giving specific instructions in there use?
I have telephoned, emailed, and written that the 2 coupons that I requested neer arrived. I have not received a response except hat my coupons have expirede. I am again requeting 2 coupons.
I ordered two coupons early on as requested by our government.
Not needing the coupons at the time, I didn’t bother to look at them.
I should have been more aware that OUR government always has of screwing up very easy program.
WHY ON EARTH WOULD ANY ONE THINK OF INSTALLING AN EXPIRATION DATE ON SAID CARDS, AND THE BIGGEST QUESTION (WHY).
Who was the intelligent person working for the Government that felt a 90 day expiration date was needed. They couldn’t just put the deadline date for expiration such as March 31,2009 (example) roughly 30 days after DTV starts up. An example of government stupidity.
Some great solutions have already been offerd to resolve a very simple situation.
Allow the issued unredeemed cards to to be redeemed and then a block goes on that requesters name to prevent any real abuse of this government assistance program.
No further cost incurred through remailing etc.
Too much bureaucracy to fix this.
This is the 21st Century.
Can’t anyone step up to the plate and say the expired coupons can be used? They should not have had an expiration date on them to start with! I am holding 2 expired coupons and the February date is getting closer all the time. Find someone in the government that can make a decision and DO IT!!!!!
I’m in the same boat as everyone else, did not really check the coupons when they arrived, opened the letter to see that they were there and then put them in a safe place until today. Went to Sam’s Club picked up two converter boxes only to be told the coupon’s were expired. Could not believe it, it’s absolutely amazing how something so simple could be screwed up, I guess it’s true about designing things using committees!
Im in the boat with the everyone else. My coupons are expired also. I moved and packed them down. Once I relocated the stores were out of stock of the affordable ones. Then they expired. I really need the coupons. Im a single mom of 3, I need to keep it affordable
Thank you very much!
I am also a holder of 2 expired coupons!I confess to negligence in checking for dates,assuming that the cards were valid until feb-09 i waited & rested my confidence on uncle sam,whos sole purpose was ,to help the unfortunate owners of OLD TECHNOLOGY.And guess what?, the new technology is unable to remedy the problem!! ,and there goes another great government commitment to the mass of the techno-backward populations!!
NICE! STUCK WITH NO WAY OUT. HOPE THIS GET’S FIXED BEFORE PITCHER’S AND CATCHER’S REPORT IN MARCH 09.
I did not realized that the coupons had an expiration date please They expire 10/22/2008 let us validate them …..I think that they shoud have being set for March 2009
i am disabled unable to get around to much plus by the time the converters were available my coupons expired… please help me and tell what i can do… thank you
my coupons expired just two weeks before I got them out to purchase the convertor box I wanted. It was not so easy to decide what to get, as they were just beginning to show up in stores, and we were noticing differences that may affect our choice later. I still have the coupons, and am hoping there will be an extended date to use them.
February will soon be hear and I’ve heard nothing about the use or non-use of the expired cards. When will a decision be made? I don’t see that there’s a major problem here. I would like to get my box by the end of the year, so someone needs to make a decison and soon.
Well, it’s good to know that i am not alone with
these expired coupons.Any idea when we will get the okay to use them.
I got one converter box,but the other coupon expired before I could use it.It’s about as hard to find a converter box as it is a nintendo Wii(lol).
My coupons expired Sept.26,2008. I was unable to purchase them at the time. Since I already applied,I was blocked out. I feel sort of helpless to know that I am refused a reorder. I can understand that are greedy people that want more than they need, but there are some us that are HONEST and the coupons expired before we could financially be able to purchase them. But we need to stay connected to the rest of the world too with television after Feb.17, 2009.I understand that papa may have and the rest of that,but God bless the child that have his own. Right now I have two expired coupons that are of no use to me.Have everyone to send these expired coupons back to the gov. just so you will know that there are some true HONEST PEOPLE that need the help from the gov. Please re-think things over and re-consider the method that you have chosen.
DID NOT SEE EXPIRATION DATE ON CARD.THIS SEEMS FOOLISH SINCE WE HAVE TILL FEBURARY 17BEFORE IT GOES INTO EFFECT.THANK YOU
I’m not on assistance, I’m not elderly and I am not hadicapped. I work for a living! Therefore I have no logical reason to re-apply for new converter cards. It doesn’t matter, when I ordered them months ago, no one in the area had any boxes. I gave up and threw them away after they expired. At the time gas was over $4.00 a gallon and driving a couple hundred miles to hunt for a box seemed like the logical thing to do. After all, we have to support the oil barrons. I hear they’re haveing a rough time too. Then again maby I should just go buy a new T.V. and support the foreign country where it was made. They have people out of work! Guess I’ll just keep working, as long as I have my job.
my converter box coupon said it was valid thru 12/05/2008
well i tried to purchase a converter box @ walmart on 12/05/08
and the scanner would not allow it. it had not expired yet.
what gives with that. i need a coupon reissued to me.
we also didnt realize (and wondered why) there was a expiration on the coupons and threw our expired coupons out. we live in a rural area — cant afford dish and no cable comes our way. I am resentful of having to go to “electric tv” as we often have storms & we can watch the weather if it comes our way. our storm shelter has a little 9″ battery tv we can watch while there. and the radio in the storm shelter is our only solution if that too doesnt go down. thankfully the longest weve been there was 2 hours during debri on doors but it sure helps to keep in touch. please help us get 2 more coupons…for our safety and sanity can be at stake here.
Did not see expiration date on cards and when we went to buy boxes, we were told the cards were no good, but we could resubmit for a new set of coupons. However, we can’t get an answer from the phone number listed and can’t find out from website how to re-apply. Since our current cards have NOT been used yet, what do we do now??? We were only 3 days late from our card date…..
my coupons have expired. i requested them early so when money was available i could run out and buy the box at my convenience. when i had the money and time i find that these coupons have an expiration date far before the transition date feb 09! what sense does that make? you force me to buy something i don’t want and you limit my time to do so. give me a break! allow us to reapply and get cards with no expiration since this isn’t the peoples’ decision, but the politician’s demand.
Glad Im not the only one who didnt see expiration date…what a farce. They need to just ignore the exp. date.
I was on vacation when the coupon was delivered. Coming home after 3 wks away I just put the most important matters (bills) in priority order, seeing the coupon I thought I had plenty of time for this. Like many others I didnt realize it had a expiration date. What was the purpose of an exp date? We have till Feb.
When California’s budget was finally signed it did not include the normal Renter’s Rebate that I relied on to purchase the boxes and the few necessities a few extra hundred bucks can provide this disabled granny. Now I guess I won’t be afforded the priviledge of tv in a few short months. I WILL be calling (as YOU should) my elected officials, flooding them with calls until they get sick and tired of this old granny, get off their bumms and get us a solution before 2/17/09. When Obama is sworn in let us choose the day after he officially becomes our President to swarm the white house with our plea for a solution. YES WE CAN! Pass this idea to others for the day after so we can be able to SEE tv in the near future.
This is really a sad program I went to best buy to purchase my aloted converter boxes butt the sale was over and had no choice but to buy the boxes at regluar price. I used my coupons two buy but i found them cheaper at aother store I returned just one within five minutes of the purchase and couldn’t get my coupon back but i got my cash so now what. I need another box so how do i get aother coupon while on the other hand best buy they got the money for the coupon this is turning out to be just a SCAM!!!!! Now what us, the public, just has to eat it for the BIG CHANGE some imporvemnet. This will be JUST MORE MONEY FOR THE CORPERATIONS OF THE WORLD. THANK YOU FOR DIGITAL TV.SO NOW WHAT IS NEXT HOW IS THIS MESS GOING TO FIXED. ALL I CAN SEE IS TURNING OUT TO BE JUST A BIG JOKE WITH NO HOPE OF ANY SOLUTION. I wish i could wave the magic wond and everything would be ok but my seems to be broken. So now it is up to you all. SO FIX THIS COUPON MESS and do it soon Febuary is comming really fast.
I AM JUST AOTHER PERSON WHO IS JUST BLOWN AWAY BY THIS COUPON PROGRAM THAT DOES NOT WORK. The first problem I ran across was the fact that I share the same address as my landload. I live in the apartment in back, so now he can not get his coupons so NOW WHAT. The next thing is what do i do with COUPONS THAT ARE EXPIRED. This looking more and more like big pain in the —. SO NOW WHAT OR HOW IS THIS GOING TO BE FIXED AND DO IT ALL BEFORE FEBUARY.
What a brilliant idea. Put a 90 day expiration on these cards and don’t tell anyone, it will save the goverment billions on nonuseable cards. When ours arrived I put them in a safe place until we could get to an electronics store that had then in stock. Now they are expired.
I have 1 more coupon that expired June 13 2008 which like everyone else can not use. Expiration date on these cards is useless. Another one of those things that the government will benefit from & John Q public will get *******. The government is supposed to be for the people that helped put them in office, it’s no wonder that folks don’t trust politicans & that they are all crooked as they think only of themselves.
I was amazed at how many people had weird things happen with the expiration date, etc. on these cards. I felt alone. In my family, some came expired. In one situation, no one ever ordered the coupons and none ever were delivered. But it shows that they were requested in the system. What I don’t like about this is that with these types of glitches, unavailability of converter boxes, it puts additional stress on the poor (particularly disabled and seniors). I fall into the disabled category. I agree-no expiration date should be there. The first couple of posts said it all and I hope they fix it. Expecting people to ask others to use their address is insane. Lots of people reacted immediately and there coupons expired because of all the hype. I am glad that there are others, because perhaps the pressure will cause reaction from the government. I am not holding my breath.
Another way to get us to FIX something that wasnt broke to begin with!!!…I was perfectly happy with my TV!!…Now i either have to BUY a converter box or a new TV …and trying to use the cards before they exspire …What a joke and yesss a SCAM i think …If it wasnt broke whyyy did we have to FIX it?…Tell me again how this works again..>..”we the people”??…requested this?..WHEN, WHERE, HOW and WHYYYY??….This is all just a pain in the Arse!!…What a MESS !!
If we vote our officials into office and we all agree that this 90 day expiration is uneccesary then why is there an issue? Contact your legislator and request that they take action. We pay them to represent us, make them work for their pay like we have to.
when i went to redeem my coupons my local stores were waiting on a shipment of converter box’s .then along came 2 storms by the time we went to redeem them they expired.
same here i got coupons for me and my mother and they expired and thing is we can’t even find the coupons we most have throwing away so now we wont beable to watch tv cause our tv are old and we are disable.
Well I can say also that my coupons are expired, I would not have cost again if the expiration date was not put on there to begin with- the boxes are hard to find in small towns-I vote for the cancelation of the valid date and secutity card - what elce could you use them for anyway.
Tell all stores to honor them as is! Mrs Holladay
Obviously the Government was banking on the consumers being stuck with expired cards. When the program was first introduced, it appeared as though the Government was serious about assisting consumers who still utilized analog. Now I’m not so sure about the Government’s sincerity. It is odd that the designated retailers could not keep up with demand resulting in many retailers running out of converters before they could fill the consumer’s Government Coupon purchase.
Since the card could only be used once, there was not need to have an expiration date on the coupon. The only expiration date used should have been the expiration date for the entire program. Just another way in which the Government has jerked the consumer around. The Government should belly up to the bar and honor all the coupons that were distributed in response to the consumer ordr.
If the Govt. wanted to have an expiration date on these coupons it should have been “one year” after the official change over to digital. A “90 day after mailing” makes absolutely on sense unless it was a GOVT. SCAM to make people think that the Govt. was really giving them something good, vice the shaft.
People ahould not have to reapply. The Govt. should change their computers to either eliminate the expiration date or set the date to sometime well after the analog to digial change over.
Like so many others have said already, I requested my coupons early. Set the coupons aside for safe-keeping while I did my research on the offerings, reviewed ratings and comparisons, etc., only to discover my coupons were expired when I went to buy some converters today. @*&*! expiration date!!??!?!?? This is asinine! Has anyone organized an online petition to push our representatives in Congress to fix this? No need to reissue new cards to those still holding their expired cards–just extend (or drop) the expiration date.
coupons expired 5mos ago I did not know if I would need them in Feb 09 hence disposed of mine.. tried to reorder and was rejected cannot get a reply on an appeal process through the website what do ido??
Another idea is that if cost of printing is such a huge issue another method could be to use an e-coupon which would allow the customer to use their own ink and paper. Especially when it comes to expired coupons. This program is to help ease the transition of analog to digital for the American people, right ? It makes no sense to have an expiration date that does not go through March 2009 and what is this limit of two ? We’re Americans with families all in one household.