Beware Mosh Pits, Portaloos and Mud: Lost and Broken Mobile Phones Cost UK Festival Goers £130 Million Per Year

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Aug 30, 2012, 12:09 ET

LONDON, August 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

As festival season begins to near its end, new research reveals that one in ten music fans have lost or damaged their mobile phones at festivals this year. In a study of over 1,000 festival-goers, SIM-only mobile network giffgaff found that over £130 million worth of handsets are lost, damaged or stolen during festival revelries each year.

giffgaff's research, released today, reveals that:

Mobiles are the third most likely thing to lose at a festival with clothes (22%) and friends (19%) leading the lost list
On average close to 650,000 phones are lost or damaged at festivals each year, an equivalent of over £130 million worth of handsets*
An estimated £14 million worth of lost call credit is left behind with misplaced phones
One quarter of respondents claimed it would cost them over £300 to replace their phone or handset if it was lost or damaged

The party mindset leads to carelessness for many festival goers: misplacing a mobile is the most common reason for loss. Of those who lost or damaged phone their phone, more than one in four (27%) say they misplaced it or it fell out of their bag; a fifth (20%) say they accidentally dropped it and smashed it; while 15% said their phones were stolen. Nearly three quarters (72%) of those who lost their phones never got them back, with just 28% finding their mobiles with stealth tactics such as GPS tracking.

Festival lovers should take note as the research reveals a variety of ways for reeking phone damage at festivals. Water, or in some cases, alcohol damage seems to be the fate for many: almost one in ten (9%) phones are damaged by rain, 7% dropped down portaloos and 5% dropped in a drink.

Meanwhile, the research hints that mobiles are taking the place of the Swiss Army Knife as a handy go-to tool for festival folk, with one in ten (10%) using their phones as a torch, one in twenty (5%) using them for maps or GPS, and one percent even using their handset as a hammer for tent pegs.

For the 57% of festival goers who keep track of their friends via text and the 42% who rely on voice calls to locate their mates, losing a phone carries obvious frustrations. Yet for many, mobiles are a vital connection to social media at festivals, with one in five (18%) saying they upload pictures, statuses and videos of their festival frolics on the go. Of those, 18% say that they update pictures and videos to social media sites straight away, making 'drunk posting' a potential problem.

Tom Rainsford, Head of Brand at giffgaff gave some advice for festival-goers this weekend: "Our research proves that a music festival really isn't the friendliest environment for a smartphone to be in, especially considering many of the latest models have a value of around £500 when you buy them SIM-free. They also run out of battery fairly quickly, so a smart option would be to take a cheap feature phone with you instead. You can get a decent one for under £50 and providing it's been unlocked, you can simply slot your current giffgaff SIM card inside it.

"If your phone does end up in the mud, remember that most household contents insurance policies cover mobile phones, so there's often no need to double up with costly mobile phone insurance."

For more ideas on keeping your mobile safe at festivals, see giffgaff's top 10 tips. http://community.giffgaff.com/t5/Blog/Top-10-Tips-for-Using-Your-Mobile-Phone-at-Wychwood-Festival-amp/ba-p/4523340

Notes to Editors

*Based on current figure of the GB adult (18+) population, 97% of 18-65 year olds own a mobile phone, which is 38 million people. 13% of adults have attended a music festival in the last year. Opinium Research shows that the mean average estimated cost of replacing a handset is £202 and the mean average call credit is £21.88.

The giffgaff research was carried out by Opinium Research in August 2012. Total sample size was 1,009 adults who have attended a music festival in the last 12 months.

What is giffgaff?

giffgaff is a community-led SIM-only pay as you go mobile operator which keeps costs low by encouraging its community members to help grow and run the business
giffgaff has an customer satisfaction index of 84% and a Net Promoter Score of 75% (July 11)
giffgaff doesn't do big budget advertising, instead it keeps costs low by using online channels and encouraging its community members to spread the word amongst their friends
giffgaff has a simple, competitive pricing structure for PAYG, with absolutely no sting in its tail:
- Calls are charged at 10p per minute and 6p per text
- Free member to member (giffgaff to giffgaff) calls and texts
- Competitive international call rates
- Free calls to 0800 numbers