Haier TST850DS Die-Cast Stainless-Steel 2-Slice Toaster

Comment: Toasting is even and fast. The toaster wider than most. The ventilation slots in the sides keep it cool. The crumb tray slides out for easy cleaning The cancel button is a nice feature, better than having to jiggle the lever to stop the toaster. The bagel setting toasts just one side, great for bagels and English muffins. The defrost setting work great. The dial allows a wide range of settings.

Comment: Wanting to believe all the good reviews, and really liking the sturdy, business-like appearance of this toaster, I purchased this thing to replace my last toaster which was made in China and wasn't performing well. For some reason (the brand name?) I got it in my head that this Haier stainless steel toaster was German. Ha!

Okay -- guess what? Made in China. Same problem as the toaster it was replacing, namely that the center heating elements do not heat up. When I look inside this toaster, I do not see an even red -- but a spotty pattern of dark coils with some red here and there.

It takes forever to run a piece of toast and even then, I need to turn it upside down and reverse the direction for a second pass through.

The crumb tray is shallow and overflows if the toaster is bumped or moved on the counter. The toaster is huge -- but why? The slots aren't all that big and there are only two slots, for heaven's sake. This thing is a monstrosity. If it performed, then all would be forgiven, but it takes up so much space, takes so long, and does such a poor job that I am disgusted every time I look at the thing.

So if I'm so unhappy, why don't I return it? Give me a break. Cram all that styro, cardboard packing material, plastic bags, etc back in the box, run to the PO or UPS, pay for shipping, all just to get my price back minus the cost of shipping in two directions? Ordering from Amazon is great if you know exactly what you're getting but buying a pig in a poke like this was a very big mistake. I have been forcing myself to do penance for making such a rash decision, and keeping this hideous excuse for a toaster for the time being. It's been over a year now and the thing has only gotten worse.

Lessons for next time: buy your toaster from a store you can run back to with it if it doesn't work -- which it won't if it is made in China. They all have the same insides -- defective heating element, etc. Remember that you can be deceived by an impressive looking exterior and all this talk about "stainless steel". The exterior doesn't mean squat if the working parts are inferior. And I use the term "working" loosely. In the store, plug the thing in, look down inside and check if the heating elements are actually heating up.

I was on this site, actually, looking (finally) for a post-penance replacement for this Haier, was attracted to this picture (for all the reasons listed earlier) and then gave myself a slap upside the head as I realized how I had made such a mistake in the first place. It looks great, the price is right, good solid stainless steel -- must be quality. Oh, and it's "imported". You bet it is.

Oh -- and you will see lots of stars beside this product, but note the date they were written -- did "outsourcing" take place somewhere along the line? Was the product good at one time and then the factory substituted inferior parts? Who knows? But I'm telling you...I've used this POS every day for the last year and I should have been putting 25 cents aside for each piece of toast, and then buying a GOOD toaster no matter what the price.

And then, of course, the reviews! All these wonderful reviews. I don't know what's going on -- but it ain't toast!

Comment: I bought this product on 10-2-09. Looked like a solid device, liked the wide openings as I thought it might be great for bagels.

Turns out after two months the inner heating elements stopped working.

Spoke to Haier, and they ONLY offer a replacement, if you'll go to the trouble of providing a section of the Power cord, and the receipt (of course). BUT, there's a $14.99 shipping/handling fee. The Unit cost $25 to start with. So, while it looks good on the outside, it's actually just another junkie product from China that fails after the short term. Save your money.

Comment: this is a big hit in the household. Looks great and does a good job toasting. The low price is impressive. I think someone who has high technical demands of their toaster wold look elsewhere. This one is fun.

Comment: I thought I would step up to a higher rated toaster but after 1 years use I can tell you this is not worth the money. It takes a very long time to toast bread and the toast isn't done evenly and it's been doing this since day one. It is possible I got a lemon out of the bunch but when you buy a product that is supposed to be a quality item such as this, that shouldn't happen. In fact if you go to the Haier website they don't even make this toaster any longer, the page states says inactive item. BUYER BEWARE!!!! I would not reccomend this toaster to anyone based on the experiences i have had with mine.