Rival 38651-C 6-Quart Slow Cooker

I purchased this crock pot in anticipation of making a huge spaghetti dinner for the Boy Scouts of America. What drew me to this particular slow cooker was the capacity (6 Quarts), the timer (4 or 6 hours high, 8-10 hours low), and the "keep warm" feature which it will switch to automatically when cooking tome has elapsed. The 1-year warranty didn't seem like it would come into play.

I added the ingredients, set it to 8 hours on the low setting and went to work. When I got home, the house smelled of burnt spaghetti sauce, and indeed, it was horribly burnt. The dinner was all but ruined, thanks to this stupid crock pot. I had to go out and spend about $100 on broasted chicken so that there would at least be food for all the scouts and their families.

When I called Rival the next day about the problem, I was told that this unit was made with a new heating element that they've since determined to be far too hot, and they recommended I try cooking on the "keep warm" setting in the future (which apparently is more than just "warm").

I also managed to get a sarcastic, smarmy customer service rep who said that I should have bought the kids all Happy Meals instead of worrying about the spaghetti dinner I'd planned for. I didn't even know what to say to him. I sat there in stunned silence. His next advice was to ship the heavy unit back, at my expense AND pay an additional $10 to have a cheaper model sent out to me. What a helpful warranty!

I would not recommend anyone buy this particular crock pot unless they really enjoy cooking one meal, throwing away the cindered remains of it, and then going out for dinner.