Over the years, I have bought 3 crockpots, all the Crockpot brand, and I confess, the first one was gold (the '70's color) and it was working fine when I donated it to Goodwill because I saw a 'pretty' blue and white one with a removable crock, so I used that one until just last year, again it was the original Crockpot brand and in perfect running order, never had a problem with this one either. I donated this one to Goodwill, and purchased a new oval one (again the Crockpot brand) that is programmable and has a Keep Warm function. So I have had really good luck with the Crockpot brand.