Hotpoint HW170GK

First cooker delivered 29 Nov, top oven faulty & control knob falls off when touched. Many phone calls and a day waiting in for engineer that didn't come, it was condemned and a replacement ordered. Many calls later I finally get replacement on 19th February. On Sunday 20th April all electrics in house blew, so no electricity in house till electrician came (at cost to me) on Monday pm and finds that cooker is at fault. I felt there was "a couldn't care less attitude" from staff on fault reporting number and a date for the engineer to call - 1st May between 8am and 7pm! So I have no cooker at least until that date and have to take another day off work!!Unless you have plenty of money for phone calls and other associated expenses and you don't have to go to work for a living like me, I would advise to steer well clear of Hotpoint!

I received my cooker today and have just cooked my first meal. The cooker itself looks pretty good, seems well built and the rings work well. Thats the GOOD news. I am 53 yrs old, and this cooker has the worst grill I have ever seen or used !!!!! Let me explain--,each time before you start grilling, you have to get out of a cupboard the " deflector plate " that comes with the cooker. This is a thin plate that you have to fit just under the gas knobs, to deflect heat away from them to stop them melting ! This plate sticks out from the cooker about four inches, gets VERY hot, and we are told to let it cool down before you remove it to go back in your cupboard, can you imagine YOUR child touching it when hot without realising it was so hot? Now to the REALLY bad news---- the grill itself--- A very weak flame comes out of the central partition, and heats up 2 thin plates, 1 each side to reflect heat onto food. These plates only go half the width of your grill pan!! Anything on the outer edge will not cook !!! The grill pan shelves to adjust height are so far from the flame it's a joke. Even on the highest one it me 20 mins-yes, 20 MINS, to cook 2 rashers of bacon !! If you put anything on the lower shelves, forget it, it will stay raw. If you buy one of these after reading this, you're nuts. Hotpoint are best known for washing machines, they should stick to THEM--------