2m mobiles on the blink last year

Says Which? survey

By Tim Richardson • Get more from this author

Posted in Mobile, 4th August 2005 09:57 GMT

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One in seven mobile phone handsets goes wrong within a year, according to consumer watchdog Which?.

If the survey of some 5,000 punters is anywhere near accurate, it means that at least two million of the 18 million phones sold in the UK last year could have developed faults.

And the worst offender, according to Which?, is 3G network operator 3 with one in three of its handsets developing a snag within 12 months.

Hitting back, a spokewoman for 3 rubbished the survey saying that it just wasn't representative.

"Which? only spoke to 50 of our customers out of a customer base of three million," she told us.

The survey also found that Motorola and Sony Ericsson handsets were most likely to go wrong with around a fifth of owners reporting faults.

Nokia and Samsung were the most reliable, although one in ten users still had faulty phones, said the survey.

To compund matters, Which? found that consumers found it difficult to get the faults fixed.

"A one-in-seven chance your phone's going to develop a fault is way too high," said Which? editor Malcolm Coles.

"Not only that, but retailers who should be bending over backwards to help customers who've already suffered the inconvenience of a fault aren't giving people the help they need when they complain." ®