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- Verified Buyer
I saw this and immediately thought this lock looks like it would be a game changer. Just imagine not having to remember a combination of 3 two-digit numbers for your Master Lock?! Imagine not having to spend time very carefully unlocking it by dialing in those numbers super super carefully (frankly usually having to do it more than once to get it open). Imagine being able to open your gym locker with only one hand!? Yes, you can actually open this lock with only one hand folks! So the concept of this is great, even brilliant. If you are thinking of buying this however read the reviews first and see if it sounds like it is for you as there are a few caveats.First thing is yes, bizarrely, you the customer can't pick the color of the lock you want and pay for. When I ordered this I saw a picture of a blue lock and assumed thats what I ordered and would get. No, I got a red lock. OK I thought Amazon had made a mistake and I might send it back for an exchange but reading the description carefully I did find that it actually says somewhere in the description "You don't get to pick the color. You get what we pick"! So yes, let's confirm you the customer has no choice in picking the color. Great customer service.Next: the packaging this comes in. After dealing with opening this for 5-10 minutes I can only say, "MASTER has got to be kidding us! This has to be the worst packaging ever invented for any product. It should win the "Worst Package Design Award" if they have such an award.To get this lock out of the plastic package it comes in, first you must open it. To open it, you have to somehow read tiny print on the package that you need to cut open a tiny area near the bottom of this thick plastic where Master has HIDDEN a folded piece of paper that contains the combination you need to get this lock out of the package. Cut the thick plastic carefully without cutting yourself. Its easier said than done. I wondered how many people doing this cut their finger trying to open this stupid package! This looks like a class action lawsuit waiting to happen.When I cut it open, no I didn't cut a finger but in the process I did slice up the paper instructions that have the combination. I had to tape it back together to read it. I found your packaging Mind Boggling, MASTER LOCK. Did you do your best to make it almost impossible for the consumer to open this? Is it a test?THEREFORE SOME TIPS IF YOU BUY THIS:1. You will get get the color they pick, by chance. You don't get to pick. I got fire engine red. At least I will always see my lock easy among other locks.2. Carefully look at the whole package. On the back, near the bottom, it says "cut the dotted lines". Why? Behind is a "secret compartment" with a piece of paper with the COMBINATION inside you will need to get this lock out of the package. Use an X-Acto knife if possible, and cut very carefully, and don't cut yourself in the process. The plastic is thick. Actually just the two dotted lines as they describe is not even enough to get inside. You need to pry open the plastic or cut an additional line right above or below the dotted lines to open up to the Secret Compartment. (SEE PHOTO) I used needle-nose pliers to pry open the plastic and pull the two pieces of paper out.On the Documentation in the upper right you will see a series of Arrows showing you the "combination preset" that it comes with. Example (arrows pointing L L R R) If you can live with the combo, you might just want to save yourself some trouble and use the one it comes with. Why not? If not, then read how to change the combo. Better still YOUTUBE has videos on how to open and change the combo. Watch and learn.3. ALWAYS CLICK THE LATCH TWICE FIRST BEFORE DOING ANYTHING. You MUST click the lock hinge down twice PRIOR TO INPUT OF COMBO SEQUENCE. This clears the lock for opening. This is the reason why so many reviews say it doesn't work.... They simply didn't read instructions carefully about this VITAL STEP so just get used to this double click down on the lock bar. Practice opening the lock. Do it 10-20 times and you will get the hang of this in about 2-3 minutes.Once I got the hang of this, I found the lock opens fine. You can unlock this with one hand, as they advertise. Fantastic. So that is kind of amazing. Time will tell if it holds up, so I may update this review.Summary : this is a amazing idea with very bad package and instructions! On YouTube you will find lots of videos about using this lock and opening the package. I may even make one!!Did some research and found this was actually a very secure lock for common use. I love to use it at the gym and it makes things so much easier by remembering a pattern versus a key or code. Simple to use, efficient, and secure, It is by far one of the best locks I've ever used.Third lock owed and still all of them work great. FOLLOW THE Instructions and review the video BEFORE you set the combination.I'm going to start off by saying that the security features on this lock are outstanding. It has an anti-shim clasp, and the method of unlocking the lock via multi-directional dial (with pretty much endless possible combinations) is a genius idea! You pretty much have to destroy (or dismantle) the lock to get through it. I've spoken to an industry expert, and he told me this is one of the best pad/combo locks you can get today.With that said, below is my personal experience with the lock:So, I bought this lock despite multiple reviews stating that resetting the lock combination could lead to permanent malfunction. When I received the lock, I played around with the default combination, and the lock unlocked without any problems. I followed the instructions and changed the combination to a personal one. I was disappointed when the lock did not unlock. I tried my new, personal combination a few more times, and still no luck. At that point, I figured I had a non-functioning lock and decided I was going to return the lock to Amazon for a refund.However, for some reason, I continued to play around with the lock, attempting my personal combination over and over again just for the heck of it (because I knew I followed the instructions perfectly). Don't ask me why I did this, because I wouldn't be able to tell you. After trying my personal combination approximately 10 more times, it unlocked! I thought to myself, "Hmmm... maybe it'll work from here on out!" Not so much. Again, it took many repeated attempts for me to be able to unlock it (same combination over and over and over again). My wife and another couple we were having dinner with made a game out of it and tried to see who could unlock the lock the most. Every now and then, we were able to unlock it. Once we were done having fun with it in that manner, I decided to reset the combination and change it back to the default configuration (once one of us was able to finally get it unlocked again). I was able to successfully do this, and the lock locked and unlocked just fine. I reset it again and changed the combination to my personal combination once again, and now it works perfectly without any issues.I don't know if it just needed to get "broken in" or something, but it seems to work just fine now. As a result, I probably won't be returning it. My suggestion to those who follow the directions and find their lock not unlocking with their new, personal combination is to just keep at it until (hopefully) it unlocks. Then, reset the combination and try changing it again. Maybe, just maybe, it'll start working like it should. If not, return it.With that said, I hope my lock doesn't freeze up on me again should I decide to change the combination (hence, the minus one star for my troubles)...Oh yeah... and another thing. I didn't like the fact that I wasn't able to pick the lock color I wanted (the description states "Assorted colors," leading me to believe Amazon picks and chooses which color scheme they will send out). With four different color schemes in the pictures, there was only one I was hoping not to get. That meant I had a 75% chance of getting a color scheme I liked. I thought to myself, "Those odds aren't so bad." Well, guess what? I probably shouldn't go to Vegas anytime soon...Nice lock for when you don’t want to wear your reading glasses at the gym. Bad that you don’t get to pick the color of the lock you want!?!!Works well for the gym locker. Bonus feature: I don't need my glasses to read the tiny numbers. No numbers here, just move the button in a preset pattern to unlock and done. Great for the visually impaired.This lock was a disaster. I got it and managed to unlock it without much problem. I then followed the instructions to change the code. In doing so it jammed mid way through but Then appeared to work okay. Anyway, once I finished the process the lock would not open again so was completely useless. I had a go at resetting it by opening it up and manipulating the insides (thanks to a nice little YouTube video). This worked well so I was able to try to make another combination. However, the same thing happened. I tried to fix it again but ended up with the lock in pieces. I know that trying to fix it myself was not the best plan and I should have just sent it back, but I fancied having a go and didn't want the hassle of going through the returns process. What I have now though is a £10 pile of metal and plastic. Regular combination locks are so much more straightforward. Get one of those instead and give this one a wide berth.Useful security for a locker room where you need to keep the honest people out, especially if you don't want to carry glasses or a key.I suspect that manufacturing quality is fairly low standard! The lock came with an initial combination that included a left-shift. Unfortunately the mechanism for left-shift does not work (well) and will get stuck without releasing freely. So the code wasn't recognised and would not unlock, after 30-40 minutes of trying one attempt worked. The only workaround (for me) was to use a combination that avoids the left-shift. Thats a huge reduction in security!!!Someone else at the gym, bought one but I only saw it being used once and then never again, I wonder if they had the same problem?Lock is light and internals are all plastic so it is a cheap lock as the price suggests.I would give this four stars but as price is cheap quality is cheap but design is very cool and unique so it is a good product for price range. Unfortunately I had to halve the rating due to the trickiness of changing default code. I would recommend leaving default code as provided as I managed to change it but what I changed it to did not open to lock!!! Therefore I am left with a lock that does not open :(A FEW THINGS TO SAY - BE CAREFUL HOW YOU SET YOUR OWN CODE IF CHANGING - THERE ARE VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE!MINE ARRIVED WITHOUT THE COMBINATION AS IT WAS A RECONDITIONED ONE - HOWEVER THERE ARE ONLY 256 POSSIBLE OPTIONS FOR THE DEFAULT 4 MOVEMENT CODE SO IT TOOK LESS THAN 1 HOUR TO OPEN GOING THROUGH THE DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS WHICH FOR LESS THAN A FIVER WAS WELL WORTH IT. THIS IS MY SECOND ONE AND I HAVE ALREADY ORDERED MORE AS I FIND THESE ARE GREAT FOR GYM, TOOLBOX ETC.Bought this padlock, managed to lock and unlock.all fun and sweet.put the lock to test by firmly pulling it.and yes it unlocked.tried changing passwords failed,All I can say I didn't get the best lock probably faulty.even pulling the lock with default combination it still unlocked.double clicking stil unlocked with pulling apart.I can't speak for others but I guess the old lock and key will always be the best.
