T-lock Call Blocker Version 5.0 by hqtelecom (OEM)

I needed a call blocker for our business because nearly half of the calls we were getting were unwanted spam or scam calls. Having to stop what I'm doing and answer the phone only to be greeted by a robocaller or "Bill Gates" from Microsoft telling me that my computer has a virus was a huge waste of time and extremely annoying. So after looking at several different call blockers I settled on the T-Lock call blocker.What a fun little toy! It feels so satisfying to hit the red "blacklist" number to add scammers and annoying telemarketers to the blocked number list. It's also satisfying when the blocker automatically hangs up on a call you don't want.The good:1. It doesn't require any kind of batteries or external power at all. It's completely powered by the phone line. And if you disconnect it from the wall jack, it retains all the memories.2. It does exactly what I need it to, that is automatically hang up on the numbers I program into it.3. It's easy to go through its caller ID history and press the red "blacklist" button to block specific numbers.4. It can block 1200 numbers, whereas some blockers only hold about a hundred.5. The unit is small (about the size of early caller ID units, remember those?) and doesn't take up much space on the desk.6. This unit can block all numbers from 10 area codes.7. Using the instructions, it's fairly easy to set this unit up and program it using a phone plugged into it. The hard part is remembering which number on your phone's keypad controls what function, but that's why I keep the instructions handy.8. Callers won't know they're being blocked since it just answers & hangs up on them after the first ring. Therefore they won't be as likely to spoof their caller ID with a different number in order to get around the block (until you add that number too).9. It has the ability to block any callers who are blocking their caller ID. So if you turn this feature on, no more calls from "NUMBER UNAVAILABLE." The way I see it, if someone really needs to speak with me they will do it from a phone that doesn't have blocked caller ID.The bad:1. The display is kind of hard to see unless you view it from an angle.2. I wish it had bigger EEPROM chips in it, because I'm afraid that I might fill up its 1200 number memory at some point. With as cheap as memory chips are nowadays, it should be able to hold thousands of numbers. It would be nice to have a blocker with a virtually unlimited number of potential blocked numbers.3. The blacklist of blocked numbers displays in numerical order, and not in the order you add them. If I ever do have to erase some older numbers which haven't called for a long time in order to add new numbers, it's going to be hard to figure out which ones they are.4. It only blocks 10 area codes. I wish it did more, because there are a few area codes which are the worst offenders. 202 is probably the worst.The indifferent:1. Scammers and shady telemarketers tend to spoof their caller ID information, so they may call you from one number and the next time call with a different CID number. So far, very few numbers have been repeat offenders, so to speak. But they have called back with the same number and they got blocked, so it's well worth it.2. The need to have a phone hooked to the blocker in order to program it. While it's easy to go through the caller ID list on the blocker and choose which ones to block, to access any of the other functions you will need to have a phone hooked up to the blocker. The instructions explain how to do this. It's clumsy, but not hard to use. It would be easier if the unit had a keypad on it, but it's not a deal breaker for me.3. The way I had to set up the blocker for our business was to hook it between the line and the cordless phone base. The desk phones are two line phones (2nd line is for the fax/data), so it wouldn't work on them. However, it does work with the cordless. This means that when an unwanted caller calls, the desk phone will ring but the cordless ones won't until it gets the caller ID info. If the call is blocked, the desk phones will ring just once and the cordless ones don't at all. Which is fine for me because I never answer the phone on the first ring anyway, and one ring just lets me know that someone was blocked.Overall, I wish I'd gotten one of these a long time ago. It would have definitely cut down on the annoyance calls from both legitimate telemarketers and scammers. But as it is now I can go about my work and not be bothered by annoyance calls.

My original motive was: Between getting a flood of political calls and just plain creep calls I was getting a mite perturbed.So instead of getting angry I got this call blocker. (THEN I REALLY GOT ANGRY, $40. WASTED)I bought this and installed it two days ago, and boy HOWDY! does it ever work! (NOT REALLY, TIME SHOWED THAT IT DID NOT)NO political calls got through at all! ls got through. (NO CALLS GOT THROUGH)Time will be the test, but it has already paid for it's self imo. (Less than 1 WEEK showed that THIS IS WORSE THAN USELESS, YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT IT'S BLOCKING. I COULD HAVE TAKEN THE PHONE OFF LINE WITHOUT WASTING $40 on THIS THING).I'll update this review after I've had it installed for a while later on.-------------------One week lateryeah it was quiet, TOO quiet. This thing was blocking every ground call into my place. (EVERY CALL)That "manual" really is one of the worst that I've ever seen. (THAT'S IN MY OVER FOUR DECADES IN ELECTRONICS/FIELD SERVICE /SERVICE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE)I'm going to mess with this thing some more, but if I can't get it to work this week it's getting returned. (I DID MESS WITH IT WITHOUT POSITIVE RESULTS)I can't even get the change in the year to stay updated. (IN MY EXPERIENCE, HALF AZZED DESIGN AND EXECUTION IN MINOR DETAILS IS INDICATIVE OF HALF AZZED DESIGN AND EXECUTION IN EVERYTHINGI----------------------Six weeks later.I got busy and then forgot about this thing, (you know like getting distracted when actual LIFE happens)? (OH WELL ...)And now I can't even return this thing, (which I FREELY ADMIT WAS MY OWN FAULT for missing the time limit). (THIS IS WHAT HONEST SALES AND SERVICE CALL AN OPPORTUNITY. I GOT WHAT I EXPECTED HERE, NOTHING)IMO it's a very good idea but the actual thing is very hard/clumsy to use.Live and learn. (PLEASE NOTE AND LEARN FROM MY ERRORS HERE! SAVE MONEY AND HASSLE, AVOID THIS FLAKY PIECE OF JUNK.)..............................DO NOT BUY THIS FLAKY PIECE OF JUNK.IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO PROGRAM IT. YOU CAN NOT MONITOR IT'S OPERATIONS. YOU CANNOT DEPEND ON IT TO WORK FOR ANY SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF TIME.I had nothing to say about the seller until I realized that this seller is selling a "product" that about 45% of their customers find useless. What kind of business plan is that? Yeah.