AT&T Dead Last in Consumer Reports Wireless Survey

[lakebum431]

AT&T dead last in Consumer Reports wireless survey : Ben Patterson : Yahoo! Tech

Respondents in the annual survey hammered AT&T in just about every category, from voice service to the frequency of dropped calls. The big winner: AT&T's nemesis, Verizon Wireless.

Covering about 50,000 wireless chatters in 26 major cities, the Consumer Reports survey had little in the way of good news for AT&T, which has been taking a shellacking in recent weeks from Verizon and its devilishly effective "There's a map for that" ad campaign.

According to AllThingsDigital, the exclusive iPhone carrier ranked lowest in overall consumer satisfaction in 19 of the 26 surveyed cities, ranging from New York and San Francisco to (as FierceWireless points out) Atlanta, Cleveland, and Houston. Verizon, meanwhile, ranked first in all 26 cities in the Consumer Reports survey. Ouch.

The overall satisfaction scores over all 26 cities puts Verizon on top with a score of 75, according to AppleInsider. T-Mobile comes in next with 70 (buoyed by its "superior" customer service), with Sprint trailing with 67 (due to "poor customer support") and AT&T pulling up the rear with 66.

This isn't the first time this year that AT&T has had a poor showing in a wireless survey. Back in May, the annual American Customer Satisfaction Index gave AT&T a 67 out of 100, good for third place among the four biggest U.S. carriers (Verizon was first, Sprint came in last) but also representing the steepest drop in the group.

As you might expect, AT&T's worst marks in the Consumer Reports came in such categories as "service availability," "circuit capacity," "dropped-call frequency," and "voice service," according to AllThingsDigital. That sounds an awful lot like the earlier ACSI survey, which dinged AT&T for "complaints about slow and spotty performance."

So, how does AT&T respond to the survey? A rep told AllThingsDigital that the carrier "appreciate and value all customer feedback," and argues that the "surest indication of customer satisfaction is churn" (or subscriber turnover), which for "postpaid" customers was "just 1.17 percent."

Huh ... so now I'm supposed to think about AT&T's churn rate the next time my iPhone drops a call? I think I liked those Luke Wilson ads better.

So, what about you: Who's your most/least favorite wireless carrier? Satisfied with the carrier you have now?

Related:
AT&T Ranked Last in Consumer Reports’ Best Cellphone Service Survey [AllThingsDigital]

 

[TheForce]

So, how does AT&T respond to the survey?

Oh that's easy- Sue 'em :sob:


Heck, I should be upset as I own AT&T stock but the reality is when they dropped the suit, the stock began to move, upward. Now lets see how it does with this piece of bad news.

 

[Hall]

So, how does AT&T respond to the survey? A rep told AllThingsDigital that the carrier "appreciate and value all customer feedback," and argues that the "surest indication of customer satisfaction is churn" ...

Hmmm, I thought it was the ability to talk on the phone and surf that 'net at the same time...

Hehe, I'm guessing that VZW's churn rate is 1.18% or higher. Maybe that's about the only statistic ATT can claim over VZW.

 

[meStevo]

Heh, in an industry full of ETFs and mutli-year contracts, ATT says to ignore the complaints and dropped calls and instead points out that not as many people are leaving (right now). Wow.

Where would they be without the iPhone? Potentially better because they wouldn't have such a taxed wireless network? Or just bankrupt and sold 2-3 more times?

 

[Ira Lacher]

I'd be willing to bet that subs aren't leaving because of the iPhone. If another carrier ever cracks AT&T's exclusivity, the carrier can fold it. I am convinced that the iPhone is the best device on the market -- plus I work with a developer -- so I will keep AT&T and grit my teeth through every dropped call and slow-loading website.

Funny about T-Mobile customer service. Yes, they are excellent. They let me out of my contract with no early termination fee when I finally conbvinced them -- after several months of trying -- that their service was near-nonexistent in the neighborhood around my home office, where I needed it most. They even told me flat-out that they had no intention of upgrading, either.

I can also vouch for Sprint's horrible lack of service, having spent several hours in one of their stores trying to convince them that my phone wasn't functioning correctly and needed a replacement because it was less than 30 days since I'd bought the thing.

 

[thowe21]

I have had the iPhone and AT&T since release date and have been pretty satisfied with my service. I haven't had any problems or dropped calls, but I do live in the metro L.A. area where there are plenty of cell towers. Although when I do visit relatives out in the wastelands of Riverside I get spotty service so I can see where some people are coming from.

I'm also constantly on the phone with Verizon weekly since I'm the admin of the wireless service at my job and can say that Verizon does have excellent customer service and great coverage area since most of our reps out on the road are away from the city and never complain about coverage.

 

[mike123abc]

ATT is in a race to build out their network before they lose the iPhone exclusivity. T-Mobile is now viewed as more likely to be the second carrier over Verizon since T-M is GSM.

I personally have not had a problem with my 3GS, but then I have not been to NYC where they seem to have the worst issues. It is just hard to believe that all the billions ATT has spent they are still so far behind. I guess they have just been doing the minimum to get by and not planning ahead.

 

[TheForce]

mike- I think once ATT loses the iphone exclusivity and many of their subs, they won't need to increase network capacity.

T-mobile actually has the lowest coverage geographically. I think what happened to AT&T is the iphone sales overtaxed their network and with GSM, this is exactly what the cause - effect is, dropped calls and voice quality drop as the density increases.

I can say that when I had T-mobile dropped calls was statistically, about 1 in 3 phone calls. Since moving to Verizon, I never have a dropped call except with one of my clients who is on T-Mobile and my daughter who is on AT&T. Most of my calls are business and most business people I speak with on cell phones use Verizon or Sprint. I do not ever see T-Mobile be anything more than a way for people to have the cheapest cell service available. With T-Mobile, it's all about cost regardless of quality. With Verizon it's all about quality and hiding the fact you are on a cell phone as it usually sounds like a landline except with some Blue Tooth sets that are tinny to begin with.