Black & Decker should be ashamed of this product!!

I have never owned a Black & Decker toaster oven. I've always had other brands, but my sister has had several Black & Decker and was always pleased with hers for toasting and baking so when I started to shop around for a replacement for my "dead" toaster oven, I chose a Black & Decker model TR0962. I don't think there could be a worse toaster oven on the market.

The Black & Decker model TRO962 toasts, bakes, and broils. The design features 2 dials on the front, 1 for toast and the other for bake/broil, and a light to show the toaster/oven is on. The crumb tray is a flip down style, which requires you to hold the toaster over the sink, trash can, etc. when you unlatch the tray and the crumbs fall out. This tray style is very inconvenient to clean. The best feature is the rack slides out as you open the door, making it easier to get your food out and less likely to burn your hand.

To toast, you must be sure the bake/broil dial is turned to the off position. The toast knob has a range of darkness, and the instructions suggest using medium. There is a button that you push to start the toasting process. When you open the door, the toasting stops and you must push the button again to restart it. I found this a little hard to get used to. This model does not have an audible signal (bell) to alert you when the toasting cycle is completed, which can be a problem if you're not standing there watching it. This is probably what I dislike most about using this appliance for toasting. If I knew the cycle was done (a bell) it wouldn't be a big problem to make a quick visual check to see if the cycle needs to be restarted, or to know it's time to take that batch of toast out and put more in, etc.

To use the bake/broil feature, make sure the toast dial is turned off, then turn the bake/broil dial to the desired temperature. The instructions state to pre-heat 5 minutes before placing items in the oven. The instructions do not indicate whether you should use the same temperature as you'd use in a regular oven.

The first disappointment was when I unpacked this toaster oven at home and realized it did not have an audible signal when the toast cycle was done. Oh well, my mistake and I could adjust to that minor thing I figured. I didn't realize how inconvenient this would be. I guess I'd been spoiled more than I realized by other brands I've had that did have a warning bell.

First time I used this toaster oven was just for toast - 1 slice, and it took several "re-sets" to get the toast done to my preferred darkness even though I had it on the medium setting. I assumed it would take a few trys though to find the correct setting. However after using it several days, sometimes for 1 slice and sometimes for 2 or 4, I realized there is no accurate setting for various number of pieces. If I leave it on the setting that works well for 1 slice it burns the toast if I am toasting more. So every batch I have to play with the dial and keep re-setting it most of the time until the toast is finally done. Since this model doesn't have a bell to tell you when the toast cycle is done, it can easily set there, with the cycle complete, but the bread not toasted enough for a minute or two before you notice it. By that time the toast has gotten cool/cold, and if it isn't brown enough you have to reset the toast cycle. This makes the toast hard and not very warm when it finally gets brown enough.

Even though the toasting feature was not up to the standard I was used to or expected from a Black & Decker product, I was still willing to "work with what I had" if the oven worked well. And working well, IT DID NOT!

The first thing I tried to bake was a frozen biscuit, that was supposed to be baked in a 350 degree oven. I pre-heated to 350 degrees like the instructions said, then placed the biscuit in the baking pan provided with the oven. In less than 10 minutes I checked on the biscuit and the top was burned - black, but the biscuit was still just a mass of uncooked dough. I immediately turned the temperature down to 250, thinking maybe since the oven was small I should bake on a lower temperature, and turned the biscuit over to see if that side would continue baking normally. Within just a few minutes that side was also starting to get very dark.

A few days later I decided to try the bake feature again, this time to reheat an already-baked roll. I set the temperature to 250 degrees. When I checked on it about 7-8 minutes later, the top of it was starting to burn and the roll wasn't even warm.

I believe that for some reason the rack is too close to the top heating element or the element is too strong, or there is some other flaw with this model. Everything I have tried to reheat or bake, regardless of the temperature I select and how much time I let it preheat, etc., the top burn before the rest of the item even gets warm.

This appliance takes up too much room to be used for nothing more than sub-standard toasting. I've written Black & Decker customer service and all I've heard back is a "thank you for your comments" e-mail. They should be ashamed of having a product like this on the market. I'm seriously considering throwing mine away and I've only had it a couple of weeks. Now I'm very skeptical of buying anything made by Black & Decker.

Seriously though, I'm trying to get someone at the store where I bought this appliance to give me a definite answer about how they'll handle it if I take it back. I don't want to lug it back to the store and wait in line to be told I have to return it to Black & Decker. I really don't want another one like it after reading others' reviews of this model and the bad experiences they've also had so not sure I'd spend the postage to ship it to Black & Decker for a replacement.