Revealing Integral Role in Mobile Carrier & OEM Churn

According to the global survey of over 1,400 mobile users, patience isn’t always a virtue and 49 percent of respondents will seek help within the first three days of experiencing device issues. Plus, 9 percent would seek help in less than three hours. But one of the most noteworthy findings indicates that the combination of faulty mobile devices and ineffective care would cause 31 percent of respondents to switch to different mobile carriers and another 33 percent would change their device manufacturers.

“When consumers head in-store for help, they’re usually under the assumption that customer service agents, sales representatives and repair specialists are geniuses in troubleshooting and fixing their mobile devices,” says Amit Mahajan, CTO of SmartChk by Xcaliber Technologies, a division of Blancco Technology Group. “In reality, a vast majority of support staff are young, immature and lack adequate training – and there isn’t any mobile diagnostics solution or technology onsite to close that skills gap.”

With Accenture reporting that large network operators handle more than one million repairs each month, Mahajan attributes the rapid growth in the number and complexity of customer service complaints and repairs to what he describes as a “return and churn” problem. “Since nearly 60-80 percent of devices being returned are not actually faulty, consumers are swapping their perceived ‘faulty’ devices for new ones or having to spend money on replacement phones, when they could, in fact, easily be repaired. Given that the costs associated with these ‘no fault found’ returns can range from $50-$100 per device, it’s also putting a significant, yet avoidable, burden on network operators’ retail operations,” concludes Mahajan.

Additional key findings from the report include:

• Faulty mobile functionality is the norm, not the exception. 31 percent of respondents typically experience problems/issues with their mobile devices at least once a month and as often as several times in a year.
• Short-lived batteries and frozen/crashed apps are the root of mobile woes. 38 percent of respondents cite battery life as the most common type of device issue they experience, while 13 percent say frozen/crashed apps occur most frequently.
• Camera/video quality and lack of storage space rank low among consumer priorities. Only 2 percent of respondents cite poor camera/video quality as the most frustrating fault with their devices, despite our ‘selfie-obsessed’ culture. Meanwhile, just 8 percent are bothered by insufficient storage space.
• Seeing is believing – consumers want tangible proof of device errors. For 26 percent of respondents, a physical report displaying all diagnostics tests run on their device would 100% affect their satisfaction and loyalty with their mobile carriers and device manufacturers. Plus, it would factor into the overall satisfaction of 31 percent of respondents.

The study surveyed over 1,400 consumers in the United States, Canada, UK and Australia and was fielded from June 5, 2015 through June 11, 2015. The responses are comprised of consumers, aged 25-65 years old, who own at least one mobile device (smartphone or tablet).

About Blancco Technology Group

Blancco Technology Group is a leading, global provider of mobile device diagnostics and secure data erasure solutions. We help our clients’ customers test, diagnose, repair and repurpose IT devices with the most proven and certified software. Our clientele consists of equipment manufacturers, mobile network operators, retailers, financial institutions, healthcare providers and government organizations worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alpharetta, GA, United States, with a distributed workforce and customer base across the globe.