West Bend 78002 2 Slice Toaster, stainless steel

I decided to buy this toaster after seeing a review stating that it's an excellent, made-in-the-USA product. When it arrived, my wife immediately pointed out the made-in-China logo. Well, the new manufacturing plant doesn't appear to be able to build this product right. When we first started using it, it seemed like the five darkness settings were: 1-warm, 2-toast, 3-burn, 4-carbonize, and 5-self-clean. But within a few weeks it started to toast less and less, so we had to turn the knob higher. But then it started to produce more-or-less random results. The other problem is that the darkness fades from left-to-right across the bread; it seems the heating element is stronger near the controls than at the far side. The only plus to this toaster is that it lifts the toast up high so that it's easy to remove; otherwise this would be a one-star product.

After searching the internet for a Made in America toaster,
I thought the West Bend brand was it.

I was WRONG!

None of the West Bend small appliances
are Made In America. They , like many corporations
have shifted production to a factory in China leaving
hundreds if not thousands of Americans out of work.

Currently the government states that unemploymentis ONLY 9.6 %,
BUT do you believe it ? Look at clothing labels, read the boxes
of every product you buy and guess what! Chances are it wasn't made here.

I will be returning this cheaply made toaster today and
look to other manufacturers like Haier and Sharp USA.

I bought this great looking toaster back in June of 2006. I first noticed that it toasted darker on one side (when not on the bagel setting), but I was willing to overlook that "problem". After just a few months of use, the lever pops up after a few seconds and I have to push it back down 2 or 3 more times in order for it to toast my bread. Back to West Bend it goes!