As if there isn’t enough about the February 2009 conversion to digital TV to confuse consumers, now comes a warning from the national office of the Better Business Bureau that an Ohio electronics firm is touting a "free" DTV converter that actually will cost a consumer more than $100.

The BBB said the firm, Universal TechTronics of Canton, Ohio, has placed ads for a converter in publications across the country that represent a "bait and switch" scheme on behalf of the firm.

The ads are for the Miracle ClearView TV converter. The ad copy promises the hardware will free consumers of bills from video providers, for it "receives free channels …in digital video and sound." Other copy states the boxes can provide the public with free TV without the use of those $40 coupons issued by the government to financially aid broadcast-only homes with hardware for the transition.

But when consumers try to order the "free" box, they are told they must agree to a five-year warrantee, priced at $59. Add shipping and handling to that and the price of the "free" box escalates to over $100, certainly more than the out-the-door, coupon-free price in local markets for the hardware.

"The bottom line is that these ads confuse and mislead consumers," said Steve Cox, vice president of communications for the BBB, in a prepared statement.

When I called Universal TechTronics at the number listed in its BBB file, I got a recording requesting me to enter the name of the executive in order to reach a live person. "Operator" was an invalid entry. I was unable to raise a live person to ask about the BBB warning.

Perhaps a clue to the company’s problems is on its website: it’s trying to hire a director of communications (perhaps to fend off people like me) and a new copywriter (that sounds like a good idea).

United TechTronics was already in the sights of the BBB: it opened a file on the company last October and already has had 184 complaints, ranging from non-delivery of products to poor customer service, to misleading advertising. Seems most of the complaints are about another product line, though, the "roll and glow" portable heater. That’s a fireplace imported from China, fitted with an "Amish" mantle and sold to consumers. Among the complaints: the BBB has had to check out the Amish connection and found the mantle is locally constructed. But there are enough other complaints about the firm that the BBB has given United TechTronics an unsatisfactory ranking.

It’s obviously gotten to the point where consumers need to check out niche retailers before they agree to purchases; and to make the transaction on a credit card from a company that will assist the buyer seeking a refund from an untrustworthy retailer.

But the best advice is your mother’s: free is rarely free, and miracles aren’t bought with a credit card.