Drunk texts cost the UK £640 million a year as people make bad decisions under the influence
Text messages and other forms of mobile phone use while owners are drunk costs the UK approximately £638,6046,589 each year, according to a new study. This figure comes as the result of mobile users making financial promises and buying gifts on their smartphones. Drunk phone users purchase apps, shop online, make calls to international or premium rate numbers and, worryingly, take out payday loans while under the influence of alcohol. According to new research from UK mobile MVNO, giffgaff, almost 90% of those surveyed were smartphone users, meaning more opportunity for spending via app stores, retail apps and the ability to go online using Wi-Fi or 3G connectivity. At this time of year when alcohol pays a large part in celebrations, most stated that if they had not been drinking, they would not have made their expensive smartphone faux pas. Altogether, 68% of those who had taken out a loan, 68% of those who had made an online purchase, 75% of those who had contacted a premium rate number and 70% of those whose messages to their contacts resulted in a financial cost, said they were less likely to have done this sober. The survey also showed that Brits make 433,650,127 drunken communications annually. Texts were, unsurprisingly, the most popular method, with 27% of those surveyed saying they sent drunk SMS messages more frequently than any other type. This was closely followed by social media messaging, which occurred most for 17% of respondents. Friends are most often on the receiving end of our drunken mobile communication; 35% of people said they had contacted a friend via their phone whilst under the influence. Fortunately only 3% admitted to contacting a boss, but 11% had contacted an ex-partner. Additionally, more than half (54%) owned up to sending a message to someone other than the intended recipient whilst drunk. Just 12% of people said they had never engaged in any form of mobile communication when under the influence of alcohol. Finally, 34% of those asked said they had had a disagreement because of a drunken mobile communication, and 11% said they had broken up with a partner as the direct result of a drunken message, highlighting the effect our drunken mobile use is having on relationships.
