Survey finds mobile phone setup to be excruciatingly difficult

We can't say we've ever toyed with a mobile that was so difficult to setup that we'd rather move our bank account from one institution to another just to experience something easier, but apparently we're in a quaint minority. According to research gathered by Mformation, some 85 percent of those polled were "frustrated by the difficulty of getting a new phone up and working." Out of the 4,000 individuals that were surveyed, all but 5 percent said they would "try more new services if phones were easier to set up." In fact, 61 percent admitted that they would simply stop using an application if they couldn't get it working right away, with actions such as web browsing, reading email and sending picture messages being atop the list of "greatest wants." Hear that, carriers? That's the sound of lost revenue from selling phones that people can't operate.

[Via All About Symbian]

[PEZ Posted Jan 25th 2009 7:35AM]

the problem is, how do you get it working right away? Whats not working? How were these "people" polled?

If carries just PACKAGE a set up, and people start using things they dont know how to use in the first place (LIKE A WEB PACKAGE) and start getting charged, for things they didnt want, but wanted to TRY (but cant get it to work) there is going to be a lot of irate customers out there.

I say, make it MORE complicated to the customer has to call the kid next door to slap them in the face.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 25th 2009 9:52AM]

u r so right, thumbs up !

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 25th 2009 10:13AM]

I know! Throw Carrie an iPhone and she'll just throw it back, saying, "I don't know how to use this thing!"

[ai4281 Posted Jan 26th 2009 12:21AM]

I feel ashamed that I know what movie you're referring to :(

btw, what kind of people were they surveying?? +80 year olds? unless they were challenged to flash a new rom to a Winmo phone and edit the registry to make Opera the default browser or something, I really don't see how people found setting up phones hard.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 25th 2009 11:12AM]

Same thing in the computer industry, DSL/Broadband, home networking, heck - even home theatre set-up. Even though they have tried to make set up as painless as possible, it is still impossible for many.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 25th 2009 11:32AM]

It's true. When dilemma arose as to what to buy my wife, it came to the UI and it's ease of use, not it's feature set. Most tech oriented people would choose the BB Curve over what I chose for my wife, the Samsung Blackjack 2. It was all about "how easy" it was to use and the old BB OS is like trying to learn a foreign language, literally. My iPhone is a mystery to my wife as well, but the iPhone with a mac is about as easy as it gets to being "set up".

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 25th 2009 1:00PM]

I would have replied to this quicker but I had to reset my Windows Mobile phone twice before I could get online. I have to agree that these things are way too complicated and too buggy to be of any use to many people. I hear the iPhone is as easy as it gets but it is crippled to the hilt and doesn't work in my area.

[Ucbigmike20 Posted Jan 25th 2009 1:09PM]

Are they serious?
I wonder who are these people they surveyed? Were they senior citizens or what?
I can understand that some phones OS are more easy than others, but in general, it is not that hard to figure out how to send a mms or do some browsing.

[Ucbigmike20 Posted Jan 25th 2009 1:12PM]

Are they serious?
I wonder who are these people they surveyed? Were they senior citizens or what?
I can understand that some phones OS are more easy than others, but in general, it is not that hard to figure out how to send a mms or do some browsing.

[onlysoma Posted Jan 25th 2009 1:50PM]

I know exactly what they're talking about. I'm pretty tech savvy, so setting up my phone was fine for me, but setting up the plan was hell. Actually, I currently have an ATT prepaid plan and I want to move that number to my family's family plan, and so far after going to multiple ATT retail locations and talking to customer service, not one person has been able to help me with this. All I want to do is buy a better plan and they can't do it, it's absurd.

[SoCoolCurt Posted Jan 25th 2009 3:48PM]

are they talking about the settings on the phone? because i always look forward to changing the settings in a new phone. i usually take an hour doing just that and getting to work the way i want it to.

[Woody Posted Jan 26th 2009 12:06PM]

key word being "an hour". who would really want to take an hour to customize their phone. You and I may willing to do that, but to the average user, it is just not worth it and way too cumbersome.

[thethirdmoose Posted Jan 26th 2009 12:27AM]

Do you even have to do anything but hit the on button to be "up and running"?
On my phone, you have to hit *two buttons* to launch web, camera, etc.
How dumb are these people?

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 26th 2009 2:03AM]

I consider myself to be extremely tech savvy and I can really understand how someone not familiar with technology could be easily confused.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 26th 2009 2:33AM]

Surveys have found that most people aren't really that intelligent! LOL! :)

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 26th 2009 11:50PM]

That is why Sprint implemented the ReadyNOW porgram. That's why they closed down their retail stores for a full day to ensure that their employees knew everything there was to know about the devices and how to set them up. It's part of their costumer experience efforts and to reduce churn. It is vital to our everyday business. Every customer that walks out of a Sprint Corporate Retail or Authorized Retailer should have their phone completely set-up. Everything from e-mail, bluetooth or peripherals, contact transfer, content (ringtones, pictures and screensavers) as well as application set-up like Sprint Music Store, SprintTV, Sprint Navigation, PictureMai, IM and Social Networking. It helps the business in so many ways.