T-Mobile and Vodafone mobile customers are the biggest wasters

Almost a thousand text messages and 20 hours of voice minutes unused each year by each mobile user.

One of the benefits of contract mobile phones is that often there are plenty of free minutes and texts included. However, research out today shows that, on average, people with contract mobile phones waste 912 inclusive texts and 19 hours 36 minutes of inclusive phone minutes each year. This is equivalent to an average of six months’ worth of free minutes and four months’ worth of free text messages.

The study, by price comparison website moneysupermarket.com, reveals that T-Mobile customers are the biggest culprits for wasting minutes, notching up an average of 170 unused minutes each month. When it comes to text messages, on average, O2 users have the most number of free texts included in their monthly allowance, but it is 3 Mobile customers who are failing to use their full allowance, wasting a staggering 99 texts every month – almost half their monthly allowance.

Almost 22 per cent of mobile phone users admit that their monthly bill is either regularly or always more than expected. This, again, differs between phone providers, with almost four in 10 (37 per cent) Vodafone contract users being surprised by their bill on more than one occasion compared to a quarter (27 per cent) of T-mobile customers. 3 Mobile customers are never surprised by their monthly bill, but, ironically, it is these people that waste the most texts and voice minutes each month.

Rob Barnes, head of mobiles at price comparison website moneysupermarket.com, said: “There is clear evidence some people are on the wrong tariff – while they may not be surprised by their bill each month, they are spending way over the odds for inclusive text messages and voice minutes they are not using.

“I would advise people to check their monthly bill regularly. If they are not using all their allowance it could be worth investigating whether their existing mobile phone provider offers a cheaper tariff with fewer inclusive minutes or alternatively swapping to a different phone provider. The amount of money people could save would be worth the effort. For example, an Orange Racoon 35 customer with 275 free minutes and 300 texts included each month (at a monthly cost of £48) could swap to the Racoon 30 (with 200 minutes and 150 texts) and save £12 a month”.

The research also showed some people are spending more than they planned each month but are not spending over their inclusive minutes. This is because people are using additional mobile phone services such as the internet but are unaware how much providers charge for these. For example, over four in 10 (43 per cent) have no idea how much they are paying to call the customer helpline, and more than one in four mobile users admit to having no idea how much they pay for using their mobile internet access service. A third (31 per cent) of people doesn’t have a clue how much it costs to call their voicemail. These services can cost up to three pounds per megabyte and 20p per minute respectively.

Barnes added: “The way mobile phone operators can offer such good contract deals is by trying to tap the customer for additional services. As our research shows, there is a real lack of knowledge about how much these additional services cost, with people being stung by hidden exceptions to free call time and text deals. I would urge people to read through their contract and ensure they are fully aware of all costs that are additional to phone calls and texts.”