According to the recent research from price comparison website uSwitch.com, 17 million mobile phone users in the UK are wasting money by not using all of them. To put it in percentages, that’s almost half (48%) of mobile phone customers who use just 50% of their monthly minute and text allowances. Furthermore, the wastage is even worse for some, with 25% admitting to using less than 20% of their texts every month while 20% use less than 20% of their monthly minutes.
Now you would think that folks are doing something to prevent this, but you would be wrong. In fact, four in ten (40%) mobile phone owners on monthly contracts have never switched providers, and just 5% of those who have switched did so because of wasted minutes and texts.
Here are some other findings:
- 41% of mobile phone users say they simply cannot be bothered to switch.
- Switching a network is perceived as too difficult by the majority, with 67% saying they would like to see the process made easier and 32% believing providers make it difficult to leave. Overall, more than one in ten (11%) say the whole process is too complicated.
- 27% claim providers are too pushy in their attempts to hold on to customers.
- Of those mobile phone owners on monthly contracts who have switched in the past, 20% say they have been with at least four different providers since they first owned a mobile phone and a further 39% say they have been with three different providers. 11% consider themselves to be “serial switchers.”
- The top reasons why people switch providers include moving to a cheaper deal (46%), seeing a more attractive deal with another provider (35%), poor coverage from their current provider (23%), and poor customer service with their current provider (17%).
- Almost one third of handset owners on monthly contracts (31%) are unable to identify what a PAC (Porting Authorization Code) is. This is the code issued to users to enable them to keep their existing mobile phone numbers when they switch networks.
So the conclusion is? You should shop around and don’t be afraid to switch operators…