In recent surveys, it has been discovered that UK consumers are paying too much on their mobile phone tariffs because they have remained loyal to their service providers. As many as 20 million consumers have stayed with the same providers even though many of them could find cheaper rates elsewhere.
Competitive rates are being posted every day but even so, it doesn’t appear that consumers are paying attention to the discounts they could be getting. Some of the problem is being termed ‘misplaced loyalty’ as those consumers have been with the same companies year after year and feel a sense of allegiance.
Which? Mobile’s Tom McLennan states that if a person has been with the same mobile phone provider for any number of years there is a good possibility that there are cheaper rates out there waiting to be found. Competition is stiff so those rates are indeed changing by the day.
Sometimes people believe that it is too frustrating to make the switch, but nothing could be further from the truth. Actually, switching providers is easy as the 5.3 million UK mobile phone customers who made the switch within the past couple years can attest to.
After being surveyed, many of those who did switch providers find that they did save a considerable amount of money. In fact, according to some estimates, they saved as much as £200 pounds in just one year. With the sluggish economy, that is music to the ears – and not on-hold music at that.
Further data suggests that as many as nine of ten consumers are actually on the wrong tariff and of those, only 30% actually use all their features such as minutes and texts. These findings were reported by Billmonitor.com. It stands to reason that a savings of £200 per year could go a long way, especially in these trying times.
