Carphone Warehouse tops dissatisfaction poll

Carphone Warehouse has the worst overall customer satisfaction record among all the leading mobile phone retailers, according to a new survey by JD Power and Associates, the influential market research analysts.

Carphone Warehouse has the worst overall customer satisfaction record among all the leading mobile phone retailers, according to a new survey by JD Power and Associates, the influential market research analysts.

T-Mobile came top after recording the lowest waiting time that customers have to endure before being served. Its customers wait for 1.6 minutes on average, while Carphone Warehouse customers wait for more than 2 minutes

The survey's findings were based on detailed questions of customers relating to staff, products on offer in stores and the state of the store they visited.

Out of a possible 1,000 points, T-Mobile scored 801, while Carphone Warehouse scored 766. Vodafone and Orange were also below the industry average of 780 points. Charles Dunstone, the chief executive of Carphone Warehouse, said: "We are trying everything to make it better."

Carphone Warehouse believes it is a victim of its own success, although the rival independent chains Phones 4U and The Link outscored the company. Gunda Lapski, at JD Power, said Carphone Warehouse scored higher among people who went to its shops to browse rather than those who stayed on to be served. "Maybe the Carphone Warehouse process just takes longer than [people] thought," she said.

The survey also uncovered general findings on customers' attitudes toward mobile phone retailers. It said pushy sales staff were putting shoppers off, with 40 per cent of customers saying they would not revisit a mobile phone store if they felt they had been pressured within it. The survey found that the average customer spends £36 a month on their mobile phone service - more than the average monthly spend on electricity of £31.30 and £29.78 on gas.

In the past 12 months, 51 per cent of customers have upgraded their handset or switched their phone service.