Before throwing away even inexpensive electrical devices, you might consider the following:

1. Is it plugged in?
2. Is it plugged in to an outlet that's functioning?

Because those clever grounded outlets by sinks? They're awesome for detecting surges and stuff... and when they have been tripped? You have to press the button before they'll conduct electricity again to your handy appliances.

(i.e. Day shift appears to have thrown away a functional toaster because no one played whack-a-mole with the nifty button. On the plus side, they've freed up space for me to have a lurvely electric kettle by the sink. Yay for tea! Tea makes everything better. And now I really want a copy of that awesome animated icon with all of the things that tea will cure (or at least ameliorate), which includes terrorist attacks.)