According to the survey on behalf of Teleplan, 68.8% of respondents had broken at least one electrical item in the last two years. And more than one in five said they break between two to four devices a year. Most of these devices 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 also blamed other family members. One in five said their children were at fault, 12.8% said it was their partner's fault and family pets got the blame for 7.4% of damage – perhaps the high tech version of 'the dog eat my homework'.
Here's some of the common problems: scratches (46.8%); cracked screens (43.3%); dropping (39.8%) ; water damage (31.4%); pen marks (13.4%) and – perhaps of most interest – 3.2% claimed 'high jinks at Christmas parties' were to blame.
But the survey does raise an interesting question: why is it that, with a market potentially worth £1billion, there isn't a vibrant consumer electronics repair network? Scratched screen? Just an excuse to upgrade to the latest iPhone, perhaps?
