Disgruntled mobile phone users made more than 2,000 complaints to Kent Trading Standards last year.

High on the list of grievances were third party companies touting for business and technical faults with mobile phones.

Kent Trading Standards is attempting to crack down on the rising number of unsuspecting customers being contacted by businesses selling confusing deals.

Richard Strawson, the KTA's regional area manager, said these types of deals can be problematic for customers.

He said: "Some businesses telephoning people and offering upgrades are potentially from third party companies. If you agree to contract with them, you're in effect tied into two contracts and end up paying for both even though you've only got one phone.

"People get very frustrated when they're called by people purporting to be their service providers and in some cases that's not true.

"We've been helping authorities outside Kent to try to pin these people down because they are misleading consumers."

High-tech phones, which often break before the end of the customer's contract are equally frustrating, with many companies requiring the device to be posted to their factories.

The number of complaints about phones being made to the KTS has gone down in the past year though. In 2007, there were 2,311 complaints compared to 2,098 in 2008.

The complaints concerned a number of issues, including third party companies touting for business, technical faults, handsets, service agreements and premium rate services.

But Mr Strawson said mobile phone retailers in Kent are largely compliant with regulations.

He said: "The danger is that people are taken in by the large, bold advertising and the phone and what it's like - but they need to step back for a moment and just think about making sure it's right for them and what the commitment is."