Oven temperature knob difficult to turn; tech support questionable

We purchased our convection toaster oven about 2 months ago. With the exception of slow toasting (not unexpected given how far away the heating elements are from the bread), the unit functioned quite well. We made pizza, baked a quiche and cooked ribs in it over the first weeks of owning the toaster oven. The convection feature reduced the cooking time significantly without impacting the end result.

However, within a month or so of purchase, the top knob, which controls the temperature, became difficult to turn, eventually freezing up until the unit warmed up. This made it impossible to reset to the toast setting the morning after using the oven the previous day.

When I wrote a note to Rival tech support, the response was that the unit had to be warm to turn the knob! This is not the kind of response I'd expect from *any* company that wants me to buy from them again. (And certainly it says nothing of this in the manual!)

Suggestion: if you have *any* sign of the knob problem, exchange the unit for another or return it.