I am just apalled at these comments that
"if it's five years old it's probably worn out and should be replaced."
I hope that American manufacturers do a little better than that, though they do from time to time produce lemons. (Actually, I've had General Motors cars to which that applied, but I dropped them around 1992, and went with Toyota - built in America. My three kids go with Hondas - also US-built.)
My other appl;iances are plugging along just fine, as is the crappy cooktop.
We paid for a GE service call and, after 45 minutes of testing, the tech said "it's working just like it's supposed to." He only charged us the basic service-call charge - not for his time. He seemed embarassed.
I can't replace it without redoing my granite countertop and the custom cabinets below the cooktop, so I'm stuck.
Mike