Over 11 million mobile customers switched networks in the past year, but spent over 143 million minutes in phone calls and on live chats trying to leave – an average of 25 minutes per customer
More than four in 10 (41%) contacted their mobile networks twice or more to leave; while 11% called or had live chats with their network four or more times
Almost one in 10 (9%) mobile customers have stayed loyal to just one network, but the average saving for moving to a new operator is almost £100 per year
One in 10 (10%) save more than £250 per year just by switching to a new network
Uswitch.com calls on Ofcom to bring the mobile industry in line with energy, current accounts and Openreach broadband, where the provider you are moving to handles the switch, rather than the one you are leaving.
In the past 12 months alone, mobile customers have lost 2.4 million hours in talks to leave networks, according to price comparison and switching service Uswitch.com. The 143 million minutes – an average of 25 minutes per customer – include calls, live chats and time spent on hold waiting to speak to an advisor.
And it seems one conversation won’t do either, as the average customer must speak to their network twice before parting ways. More than four in 10 (41%) have to contact their network at least twice, and more than a tenth (11%) four or more times.
Moving easily between networks is worth almost £100 a year to individuals, who can save an average of £99.84 each by simply porting their number to another network on a new deal. A tenth (10%) of customers save more than £250 a year but, in spite of the financial rewards, almost one in ten (9%) mobile customers have remained loyal to one network since they first started using a mobile.
Nearly a quarter (24%) successfully switched provider in the last year, but only 23% described the process of leaving their network as ‘easy’. More than a fifth (22%) felt pressured into staying, while a similar proportion (21%) were bombarded with questions. Another 16% said the conversation was ‘awkward’.
Contributing to the problem is that mobile customers have to contact the provider they are leaving to kick start the switching process. By contrast, if you switch energy supplier, or current account, the provider or bank you’re moving to handles the switch. The broadband industry started moving towards a switching process led by the gaining provider back in June 2015 – although, for now, this only applies to Openreach customers.
Close to seven in 10 (69%) mobile customers said they would support industry change so the network they are moving to handles the switch, rather than the one they are leaving. Ofcom has launched a consultation on the mobile switching process and is recommending a fully gaining provider led system.
Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at Uswitch.com, says: “We’ve heard of all sorts of retention tactics deployed by mobile networks to make people reconsider leaving.
“For example, one in 10 switchers told us the tone of the customer service staff actually became more unfriendly when they insisted they wanted to leave – hardly a good way to entice customers to stay.
“Part of the problem is you have to contact your existing network to request your PAC – a unique code needed to take your mobile number with you – increasing the hassle and giving them one last chance at keeping your custom. Our data shows over a fifth have never switched because they believe the current process is too much hassle.
“An issue our research highlights is that in a market where the operator you’re attempting to leave handles your switch, there is relatively little incentive for networks to make it easy. The broadband market has already started shifting towards a common-sense system where the provider you’re moving to handles the switch, but there’s still a way to go before all customers are protected.
“Ofcom has launched a consultation that includes an option to change the mobile switching process to one where it’s all handled by the new provider, but at the moment the old system still stands – and it’s clearly costing people both time and money.”
For more information visit www.uswitch.com or call 0800 093 0607
Unless specified below, the results are based on a Uswitch.com survey of 2,000 UK telecoms customers via Censuswide, carried out between 11/3/16 and 14/3/16.
In a survey of 2,000 UK mobile customers via Censuswide carried out between 6/5/16 and 10/5/16, 24% of mobile customers had switched network in the past 12 months. 93% of UK adults personally own/use a smartphone. There are 50.9 million people aged 18 and over in the UK. 93% of 50.9 million is 47,337,000. 24% of 47,337,000 is 11,360,880.
51.3% used phone or live chat to switch and took an average of 25 mins to switch. 51.3% of 11,360,880 (see caveat 1) = 5,828,131.44 x 25mins = 145,703,286 minutes, which is 2,428,388.1 hours.
Respondents were asked: ‘How many times did you have to contact your mobile network before you managed to leave? Please include telephone conversations, live chat and letter and email exchanges in this’ – The mean was 1.89 times, 58.7% said 1, 21.3% said 2, 9% said 3, 5% said 4, 2.3% said 5, 0.9% said 6, 1.4% said 7, 0.6% said 8, 0.4% said 9, 0.4% said 10, 0.1% said 11+
In a survey of 2,000 UK mobile customers via Censuswide carried out between 6/5/16 and 10/5/16, respondents were asked: ‘Have you switched mobile provider in the last year?’ – 0.70% said ‘Yes more than once’, 23.20% said ‘Yes, once’, 66.10% said no, 9.00% said ‘I have never switched mobile provider’ and 1.10% said ‘I have never switched mobile provider, but I got my first mobile phone in the last year’.
Respondents who have switched mobile network were asked ‘thinking about the last time you switched on average how much did you reduce your mobile bills by per month?’- the mean saving was £8.32 (x12 to get annual saving of £99.84).24.7% said their bills stayed the same, 20% saved up to £5, 20.2% saved £6-£10, 9.8% saved £11-£15, 6.3% saved £16-£20, 3.7% saved £21-£25, 2.6% saved £26-£30, 1.6% saved £31-£35, 0.8% saved £36-£40, 0.8% saved £41-£50, 0.6% saved £51+. Not included in the mean saving were the 9.1% who said their bills increased when they switched
Respondents were asked: ‘Would you support a change in the mobile market, whereby the network you were moving to handled your switch, rather than the network you were leaving?’ 69% said I would support this, 5.7% said no I wouldn’t support this, 25.3% said not sure
Respondents were asked: ‘How would you describe the conversation you had with the mobile network you were leaving?’ 22.9% said it was easy, 21.9% said I felt under pressure to stay, 20.6% said there were lots of questions, 19.8% said it was quick, 16% said it was awkward, 15.3% said the conversation was pleasant, 8.8% said it was confusing
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/consumer-switching-mobile/
Respondents were asked: ‘Thinking about the last time you switched mobile network, did you experience any of the following?’ Out of the list of options, 10.1% selected ‘the tone of the person I spoke to became unfriendly when I insisted I wanted to leave’
Respondents were asked: ‘Which of the following reasons explain why you have never switched mobile network?’ Out of the list of options, 21.8% said ‘It’s too much hassle’
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