Lite On LVW-5001 DVD Recorder

I purchased one of these last July. The first one I rec'd did not work at all and had to be shipped back to retailer. The replacement worked fine - for two months and stopped working completely. I contacted the manufacturers support group who told me to send back the remote and a prepaid envelope to receive firmware. That was a month ago and I've received nothing back from them. Yesterday I sent another email and they are telling me to go buy a remote from some online store and download their firmware. First, why didn't they tell me to download the firmware. Second, why did they tell me to send them my remote if all I needed was firmware. Third, why are they telling me to go buy another remote when they were the ones who told me to send them mine. The player is a piece of junk and so is the manufacturer. Beware.