RALEIGH, N.C. -- The digital conversion is coming.

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That means there will be a big change in the TV signal that is broadcast to your home.

 

But consumer advocates like Shana Becker with North Carolina Public Interest Research Groups say viewers wanting to keep their old TV’s tuned to their favorite channels should not have to spend lots of money to do it.

 

“If they do not have cable, it's fairly easy to address. There's a converter box that is $40 dollars to $70, and you can get a coupon online from the government that will offset the cost by $40,” Shana Becker said.

 

A Digital/Analog converter box is a simple piece of equipment you plug your basic rabbit ear antennas into and then plug into your TV.

 

According to a recent report by the NC PIRG, they found some problems with the way some electronics stores were selling the boxes.

 

“I think what stuck out in my head the most, was that a lot of people just didn't know about the converter box option and almost nobody seemed to know about the coupon,” Becker said.

 

NC PIRG published a report this February called “Mixed Signals.”

 

As part of that report, members of NC PIRG posed as secret shoppers to ask how electronic stores were handling sales of DTV Converter Boxes.

 

One excerpt from the reports reads:

 

“In a Raleigh, North Carolina Target, employees did not know when the transition would happen but one offered, "It will probably happen soon.""

 

NBC17 News decided to check out the DTV knowledge of sales people for ourselves.

 

Three members of our staff posed as secret shoppers and video taped our efforts using a hidden camera.

 

We took our hidden camera to two different local Target Stores and asked a few questions.

 

Those stores have not yet started carrying the converter boxes, so not surprisingly the sales people we talked to did not know much about them.

 

During one of our hidden camera visits this is what we asked one of the Target Employees:

 

“How much are they usually,” the secret shopper asked. “I have no clue,” the Target Employee responded.

 

Another salesman talking to a different secret shopper did not know much about the coupon.

 

“They're talking about some kind of coupon,” the secret shopper asked.

 

“Yeah, that's issued by the government.  I don't know how you apply for it, or how you get it,” the employee answered.

 

We then took our hidden camera to nearly a dozen other electronics stores including: Best Buy, Circuit City, Wal-Mart, and HH Gregg.

We found that for the most part, not only did these stores have the digital converters in stock like at a Circuit City at Crossroads Shopping Center.

 

“How much are these,” asked our secret shopper as she pointed to one of the boxed converters. “These ones right now are $59.99,” answered the salesman.

 

The sales people were also pretty knowledgeable about the government coupon offered and other information.

 

“What about the coupon that they're talking about or something,” asked our secret shopper at a Best Buy near Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh.

 

“You can go to dtv.gov and you can either mail out for it, or you can go online,” answered the salesman.

 

The results of our hidden camera investigation were welcomed news to NC PIRG.

 

“It's good to know that they are taking it seriously and changing some of the practices from what we saw a few months ago,” Shana Becker with NC PIRG said.

 

By the end of our investigation we found that even Target posted new information to help their customers.

 

At the Raleigh Target at North Hills Shopping Center, our secret shopper talked with one of the Target employees about a new display in the electronics department.

 

“Oh okay so this is a new display,” our secret shopper said.

 

“I've only been here a couple hours, I hadn't seen this display yet,” the Target employee responded.

 

We sought comment from the corporate headquarters of all the electronics stores we included in our report.

 

All of them said they were happy with the performance of their employees with our secret shoppers.

 

Joshua Thomas, a spokesperson for Target Stores offered this written response to our Secret Shopper Investigation:

 

“Target is taking a number of steps to inform our guests about the transition from analog to digital broadcast. We’re leveraging in-store marketing, Target.com, team member training and an informational brochure. Converter boxes will be available in May.”