Black & Decker Steam Advantage F2200 Iron with Auto Shut-off

I had this iron less than 3 weeks and it has stopped working. After my first ironing session, the sole plate accumulated the brownish gunk. I did some research and found out it was because the cotton setting is too hot for cotton(?). After cleaning the sole plate, I kept it on the wool setting and it did fine. During my last ironing session, I ironed numerous shirts and decided to take a break. I left the iron sitting upright, which will cause it to automatically shut off after 8 minutes of being idle. When I came back to the iron, it would not heat back up. I don't know if the auto shut-off is the problem. I shook it gently, as told to do in the owner's manual. Didn't fix it. I've tried shaking it, tapping it, unplugging and plugging it back in, and tried it again the following morning and it still will not heat. I e-mailed B&D customer service--the only response I received was a generic reply quoting paragraphs in the owner's manual. Since you have to pay for S&H to send it in for replacement and be without an iron until it's fixed or a replacement is received, I've decided just to buy another iron--and it is not a B&D iron. I am very disappointed with this iron and even more so with the customer service response.