Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I really couldn't decide how to rate this thing. At first, I was going to give it 2 stars, but in the end decided to give it 1 star, because it was the first toaster I felt obliged to return. I've purchsed 6 toasters in the past 8 years - what the heck is going on? This thing had excellent reviews, even Consumer Reports! Yep, I'm old! Now befoer you dismiss this as a review by someone that doesn't know how to operate a toaster, let me tell you that I tried everything... I was convinced that I was doing something wrong. There was no way this thing could be this bad! I tried three different settings and could not get a consistent piece of toast ot of this thing. One side would toast and the other side was barely warm; no, I did not have it on the bagel setting! To top it all off, the side that was toasted, was uneven - toasted more on top than the bottom and obvious verticle banding... (see attached photos) I've given up and am making my toast in the broiler!