You're rightfully entitled to fuss all you like. I'm simply pointing out alternatives at this point. It's a phone for cryin' out loud. When a piece of technology starts upsetting people, maybe it's time to step back and take a look at the big picture.
I paid full retail for my Note 2 ($741 to be exact) and I don't let it or anything else piss me off. It's a material thing. Would I want my two year old son seeing daddy getting pissed over a piece of plastic? What would that say to him? Nothing I'm interested in.
There are way too many important things in life to worry about something so small and insignificant as this. Install a third party call blocker and be done with it. Plus, third party apps are what make Android so awesome. Support the devs.
It's the principle of the matter, not the emotional trigger it causes.
Do you get upset when you order food and they get it wrong? You should be. And if you aren't then that's on you. If I order a hamburger with cheese and it doesn't come with cheese, I take it back and demand what I paid for. Obviously blocking mode might not be the equivalent to cheese on a burger to some people, but to others it is. Just saying, why let this one company bend you over and take it without even making a fuss? That passiveness is how they get by and are allowed to take more and more from you, the paying customer.
I do not have children yet, maybe in the next 5-10 years, but if I did have a son I would want him to grow up valuing his hard earned cash and making sure he gets what he pays for.