First press with the very tip of your finger or tip of your finger nail. You'll find it works with a very light touch this way, but this has nothing to do with your remote problem.
Does the remote work fine for all of its macros except the channel one? If so the IR emmitter probably needs to be turned down or repositioned.
If other macros misfire as well it is and RF issue. It is either overloaded or getting interference. If it is interference then the antenna needs to be repositioned or an RFX-250 antenna might help if you have an MX-3000 that was built within the last year or so. You'd have to send you serial # to URC and see if they can tell you if it has the newer transmitter that works with the RFX-250 antenna.
If you have no interference then move the remote further away and see if that helps. If it does then you need to place the anntenna further from your seating position. At 8 feet this is probably not the problem.
Did you test the remote with IR only first? I'd test the remote with IR first and if that works test it with the blaster only. If the blaster doesn't work it is definitely RF. If the blaster works then it is most likely emitter placement and misadjusted output.
