Phonemate PMP-3875BK 2.4 GHz Analog Cordless Phone with Digital Answering Machine (Black)

One non-working phone might be just my bad luck. Two phones with serious issues and it starts to look like a pattern. Long story short, please learn from my mistake and DO NOT buy this phone. If you're interested in the details, read on. If you just want the summary, my experience with this phone is that it has serious quality control problems and should be avoided.

The handset for the first one of these I received did not work at all. I took it out of the package, plugged the battery into the handset, took out the base unit (which includes the answering machine) and plugged that in, and set the handset into the cradle to charge. The base seemed to work fine. The handset, however, didn't do a thing. No beeping (it's supposed to beep to show that it's charging), it didn't light up, it just kind of sat there like a brick. OK, I thought, maybe it just needs the recommended 12 hours of charging before it does anything. So I waited overnight and gave it a try the...Read more

For it's unbelievable price when I bought it (price has increased since then), this phone seemed too good to be true. It was the cheapest cordless phone and answering machine I could find online after extensive research and I was pleased with its supposed capabilities.

After receiving it, plugging it in, and charging it over night, I made a phone call on the very dim-lit LCD screen phone. It already had low battery and within 30 seconds or so an extremely loud beeping that both I and the other person could hear would come on signifying a low battery. Strange, as I had just charged it for a night. After repeated recharging attemps, I made no progress with charging the battery. The only remote reason I could see for this happening is that when I first charged it, I stuck it in cradle and it jiggled out a little bit, which may have meant to the phone that I had stopped it's initial charging cycle already and that was the maximum the phone would ever charge in the future. I'm...Read more

I am very satisfied with the phone and answer machine. It was simple to program and functions well. The contemporary style is eye catching. All in all, I believe it is a good deal considering the low cost for a phone/answer machine combo.