The brand name appliances that I have purchased in the past came from stores that were really sometimes too big for me to find what I was looking for. Sure, I liked that there was a selection but once I had the brand in mind for what I wanted I did not need to look through rows of appliances or parts or accessories for that matter. When I found the hotpoint fdm550p model I went ahead and went to the company directly. That way I could bypass the big stores and I could work one on one with a customer service representative that knew exactly what I needed.