We’re no longer thrifty. On the contrary, we’re rather nifty at throwing away electrical goods when they break. With more than £1.4bn worth of items breaking or damaged every year, Britain’s throwaway culture can lead to unwarranted expense, according to the latest survey from electronics after sales specialist Teleplan.
Schiphol (Amsterdam)/ the Netherlands 29th January 2015 – Teleplan – one of the top global integrated end-to-end aftermarket service solution providers – says Britain is becoming a throwaway society as consumers shun repairs to broken phones, TVs, kettles, laptops, tablets and consumer electricals.
According to its latest survey, almost two-thirds of respondents (68.8%) had experienced at least one breakage of an electrical item during the last two years*. More than one-in-five (22.8%) Brits appear to be especially accident prone, having broken between two to four devices every year.
Alarmingly, rather than opt for a quick and simple repair, most broken items ended up in the bin – even those with a relatively high value – adding up to the equivalent of more that £1.4 billion** of replacement goods every year.
Although most people admitted breakages were their fault (24.6%), they were also quick to place the blame on other family members. One-in-five (20%) said their children were at fault, partners were accountable for 12.8% and even family pets were responsible for 7.4% of damages.
Sven Boddington, Vice President, Global Marketing and Client Solutions at Teleplan said: “The results of the survey surprised us. Rather than in the thrifty post-war era, we are now seeing a generation of ‘Binsters’, those who believe broken goods are only fit for the trash. Not only does the throwaway mentality add to the e-waste problem, it ignores the consumer rights that many have to protect them from damaged or faulty items.
“Replacement and repaired goods can save customers hundreds of pounds and depending if they have the correct warranty plan, consumers can have the goods collected and delivered directly to and from their homes.”
Almost half (48.3%) of those with damaged devices said they weren’t worth replacing. Another 10.2% said they couldn’t be bothered to pay or claim for a repair and 34.3% said they went and bought a replacement device. Almost 1-in-20 respondents with damaged devices (4.9%) were covered by a warranty but still didn’t claim for a replacement, whilst an industrious group opted for the ‘patch it and see’ approach (8.4%) with their own DIY repairs.
In fact, for those that had taken the care to protect their items under a manufacturers’ warranty (of between one to three years), only one-in-four (23.8%) people had claimed when the item broke.
