Allowed Contacts Not Working - Samsung E5

I can't get the allowed contacts to work. Do they work for anyone? I've tried everything I could find in the forum and everything else I could think of. I tried:

- the contact name is English only characters (always was)

- removing all dashes and country codes from the phone number

- adding a brand new contact, storing it on the device

- adding a brand new contact, storing it on the SIM

- adding the allowed contacts from the phone and from the web (even though that looks like it is the same thing)

- chatting with a support rep (they appreciate my patience in waiting for them...)

When the phone is blocked, it blocks the contacts, either directly or from the Phone app. It doesn't allow the allowed contact or show a list of allowed contacts on the block screen.

The phone is Samsung E5, if that matters.

(Was this feature tested?)