dslreports logo
 story category
Computer World Survey: T-Mobile Customer Satisfaction Surging
A new survey of Computer World readers suggests that T-Mobile is making huge strides in customer satisfaction thanks to the company's "uncarrier" efforts. Verizon usually sits on top of most surveys when it comes to overall satisfaction, and does so again here with 69% of Verizon customers satisfied (compared to 67% for AT&T, 54% for T-Mobile, and 39% for Sprint). Looking at satisfaction with network speed alone, and it's clear that T-Mobile is making significant strides among consumers:
quote:
T-Mobile is on top in the current survey with a 65% satisfaction rate, followed by AT&T at 62% and Verizon at 59%. Sprint is far behind with only a 43% satisfaction rate, barely beating out its 39% dissatisfaction rate. Although all four carriers' download speed satisfaction ratings dropped somewhat year over year, the most notable drop is for Verizon, which went from first place and a 71% satisfaction rating to third place with just 59%.
T-Mobile also scored well when consumers were asked their opinion on the value they receive for their money, with 70% of T-Mobile customers happy on the value for price front. That's compared to 48% for AT&T, 43% for Sprint and 39% for Verizon. That last one is an interesting statistic, since Verizon continues to refuse on price under the justification that their network is just that good. It's not clear if that reasoning is going to hold up under increased pressure from T-Mobile and (possibly) a healthier Sprint.
view:
topics flat nest 

bluefox8
join:2014-08-20

bluefox8

Member

Concur

My experience with Tmo has been great so far and I'm not easy to please. They seem enthusiastic and wanting to help. Their department seems a bit overwhelmed with call volume though.

carpetshark3
Premium Member
join:2004-02-12
Idledale, CO

carpetshark3

Premium Member

Re: Concur

I've been happy with them for over 7 years. Especially the "bring your own device"

I haven't bought a branded phone in years - I buy unlocked with TMO bands.
The prices for family plans are also better. Not all my lines need data or other services. Bucket pricing usually assumes that you are sharing with heavier users than I am.

jseymour
join:2009-12-11
Waterford, MI

jseymour to bluefox8

Member

to bluefox8
said by bluefox8:

My experience with Tmo has been great so far and I'm not easy to please.

Same here. My wife and I are exceedingly pleased with TMO, in fact.

Jim

Da Geek Kid
join:2003-10-11
::1

Da Geek Kid

Member

Re: Concur

Been a Tmo sub since back in the days of VoiceStream and cannot ever imagine going to anyone else. The tech support has been above and beyond outstanding when you report places with no signal and they will make every attempt to make it better, by putting up a new Tower. Trying talking to Vz, ATT or Sprint about that and the result is a none stop loop of "Becky Transfer"

»www.youtube.com/watch?v= ··· QqxHp5E8

YukonHawk
join:2001-01-07
Patterson, NY

YukonHawk to bluefox8

Member

to bluefox8
Same here. I've been with TMO now since 2007 as a pre-paid customer. I am looking to cross over into a data/call plan soon.

Boricua
Premium Member
join:2002-01-26
Sacramuerto

Boricua

Premium Member

Give it time...

VZW WILL wake up and smell the coffee once they see the truth (that people are leaving in droves). Just give it time...

Zenit_IIfx
The system is the solution
Premium Member
join:2012-05-07
Purcellville, VA

Zenit_IIfx

Premium Member

Re: Give it time...

Perhaps at a time in our lifetime we will see VZ invest in its crumbling wireline in a major way again and finally upgrade some areas they left in the dark ages.
DigitalRain
join:2013-03-16

DigitalRain

Member

Re: Give it time...

said by Zenit_IIfx:

Perhaps at a time in our lifetime we will see VZ invest in its crumbling wireline in a major way again and finally upgrade some areas they left in the dark ages.

Why the FCC isn't putting a gun to their temple with respect to this baffles me. Three options: copper, fibre, or nationalization. Not ignore or wireless.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy to Boricua

Premium Member

to Boricua
And VZW can't fix a simple billing error with their Edge program. Small claims court here I come.

I got billed the remaining balance on an edge upgrade on a phone that I had returned. I have the tracking. And calls to CS have been futile. The problem is that the phone was a warranty replacement provided by Apple so the serial numbers didn't match.

I'm seriously thinking of going back to AT&T if I could afford to leave Verizon. Or I'll just finish the contract and leave Verizon.

Zenit_IIfx
The system is the solution
Premium Member
join:2012-05-07
Purcellville, VA

Zenit_IIfx

Premium Member

Re: Give it time...



Try T-Mobile. Really. Before I had the 5s I got a lot of edge, now that I have support of their bands I see LTE everywhere

michieru
Premium Member
join:2009-07-25
Denver, CO

michieru

Premium Member

Re: Give it time...

 
 
This area was sometimes 2G when I drove to Port St Lucie, FL. The other speedtest is in Miami, FL around lunch time at home.

KennyWest
@sbcglobal.net

KennyWest to IowaCowboy

Anon

to IowaCowboy
Oh vzw isn't so great eh?? And you claimed they were the best. Btw what's small claims going to do?? Issue an order that youll never get them to pay??? Or get them to disconnect your services???

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

Re: Give it time...

Then I can be like the guy that sued Bank of America and he actually showed up with a sheriff to auction off a branch. I could show up at a VZ store with the judgement and a sheriff and seize 374 worth of merchandise for auction. In the BofA case the manager cut the plaintiff a check to satisfy the judgement. It was a lawsuit over a house that they foreclosed that he owned outright. In my case I got charged the non return on a edge up when in fact I returned it.

Selenia
Gentoo Convert
Premium Member
join:2006-09-22
Fort Smith, AR

Selenia

Premium Member

Re: Give it time...

Told Ya Verizon billing sucks and does not budge when they are clearly in the wrong. That is how they lost me. I had 1 billing error with AT&T and while the rep was dense as hell, she stayed on the phone with me and eventually understood, then reversed the mistake. I crawled back to AT&T, but that time to prepaid with my own device. Have seen the light and have never done contract since. The last 2 years, I been on T-Mobile and been very satisfied. LTE has been popping up like crazy. I was in Springfield a few months ago and I am telling you I had a constant LTE signal. I have family in Massachusetts and visit every so often. Not so much in Springfield but I usually end up stopping there.

Zenit_IIfx
The system is the solution
Premium Member
join:2012-05-07
Purcellville, VA
·Comcast XFINITY

Zenit_IIfx

Premium Member

Go T-Mo

Ever since I upgraded to a device made for T-Mo 95% of the EDGE in the areas I go to has vanished, I get LTE now, even out in the boonies. It turns out its true that they are skipping refarming the EDGE to 3G (this stopped sometime last year) and they are instead going directly to LTE with enough EDGE left for voice/SMS to get to the end of 2015 deadline for 100% LTE in the network.

Their network literally got more awesome for me overnight switching to a device with support for all of the T-Mobile bands.

This means I am more satisfied - 10-30mbps down LTE is much better than 20kbps EDGE! Sometimes the T-Mobile LTE is faster than my home Comcast line when things get congested (cmon Comcast, you never had these problems in my area before the end of 2014)

buddahbless
join:2005-03-21
Premium

buddahbless

Member

Re: Go T-Mo

Same thing happened to me.. just in reverse, a year ago. I went from A TMO G2X ( best signal on that phone is HSPA+ )to a Google play edition Nexus 5. All I could say was wow, what a difference. Little out of the way towns ( example: Grant park IL). had LTE service I couldn't believe it.
elefante72
join:2010-12-03
East Amherst, NY

elefante72 to Zenit_IIfx

Member

to Zenit_IIfx
The key to these rating is coverage first, speed next. And customer service doesn't hurt either. Churn is really low, so Verizon can take the high road for now.

Almost any mobile app can get by w/ 3 Mb or less. And AT&T/VZW have the best coverage, period. For urbanites, TMO Sprint may be just fine, but if you live outside the interstate belt, T/VZW is your uncle.

The TMO signal and speed in the NE is nothing short of amazing when you can get a signal. In major airports I don't even try to use my Verizon phone. I simply pull out my TMO hotspot and an off to the races. Verizon speed is average at best these days. I have even began seeing Pandora buffer, and with their old 3G that rarely ever happened. Bluntly there network is now average, so either they invest or they will have to lower price at some point.

The TMO coverage is nowhere near Verizon or AT&T though in the NE, and that is a FACT. I'm not sure what Sprint did (I think they have major backhaul issues), but they really suck.

The other issue is since they are higher frequency in buildings/basements TMO signal drops like a rock where ATT/VZW with their lower frequencies still work.

So I would never switch my phone to TMO today, their internet is top notch. Sprint has lots of work to do, lots--but they have oceans of spectrum. If Google bought them, you bet ATT/VZW would be shaking in their lazy boots.

buddahbless
join:2005-03-21
Premium

buddahbless

Member

Re: Go T-Mo

Hopefully Tmobile will shore up there lack of coverage after the 600 mhz auction, with that and new roaming agreements but only time will tell. However I do have a solution for that signal loss in buildings and basements... cel-fi duo. I use one and it works great for me but some firmware updates do play differently with different phones
KirkyInCT
join:2008-11-04
Higganum, CT

KirkyInCT to Zenit_IIfx

Member

to Zenit_IIfx
Just ditched ATT (been hanging onto a couple unlimited data plans) for T-Mo and honestly my coverage is better with T-Mo. Couldn't even get text messages with ATT at work, now I'm rolling 3 bars of LTE; same at my boonie house.

Very happy moreso since I dropped about 1/3 of my bill in the process.

Damko
@rr.com

Damko

Anon

Great Company

I've been with them for 7 months now and all I gotta say this is a great company.

cb14
join:2013-02-04
Miami Beach, FL

cb14

Member

Re: Great Company

I am with them since 2007 and the only time when I was less than happy was the time around the misguided sell of to Tea when they started to neglect the network. Other than that, they are great and getting better. I am really sorry for the suckers who stick with Verizon because of coverage half of them does not really need.

CharlieF
@ticketsoft.com

CharlieF

Anon

MetroPCS

I had MetroPCS, and when they were bought by TMo, I was scared that TMo was going to push pricing and guidelines to MPCS subs. But they went the other way, yet they allow MPCS to ride on their towers. Best of both worlds!! So far this has been great!!
me1212
join:2008-11-20
Lees Summit, MO
·Google Fiber

me1212

Member

I'm not surprised

Had them since october, love them. My family has 4 lines and it costs us less than 1/2 of what my aunt's VZ bill for her and her son is per month. And thats after we calculate in the phones we are still paying off. Tack on the no data cap, yeah it slows down after 1GB but all we use it for is google maps and facebook(well I use fb) when not at home so its not like 2g speeds would effect us even if we used more than a couple hundred MB a month.
firedrakes
join:2009-01-29
Arcadia, FL

firedrakes

Member

Re: I'm not surprised

they finale added more tower in florida and contract with att is going soon and really looking into t mobile
me1212
join:2008-11-20
Lees Summit, MO

me1212

Member

Re: I'm not surprised

Therea a good chance your device will work on the tmobile network so that could save a bit of money.

chazwr
Premium Member
join:2002-08-18
Spring Lake, NJ

chazwr

Premium Member

Customer Service has been excellent, signal coverage improving

I''ve been with them over ten years, and have always had a good experience with customer service. As an example, when they re-configured all customers' plans I lost tethering capability. With one call they set me up with a plan at the same cost that had exactly what I needed, and nothing I did not need. While their signal coverage outside large metro areas can be spotty, it is steadily improving.

Rulds2008
@cox.net

Rulds2008

Anon

T-Mobile is a great company

I love there service, I love there employees willingness to help. However I don't like that I pay 10 bucks for a jump service and cannot jump without paying $486 bucks more then half the device up front and that is with a trade in. They rip you off on your trade and want huge upfront cost. I am just going to wait the 7 months so I can get zero down even tho I would pay it off before the 24 mos

anonomeX
@comcast.net

anonomeX

Anon

Not surprising

About 25 years ago a majority of the people who had cellphones also had landlines. They tended to roam about quite a bit and there were fewer towers (with all providers). Coverage was a concern--a rather significant one. Nowadays, the majority of these people have a cellphone instead of a landline. They might roam around a bit but mostly always in the same areas around home and the office or school--seldom traveling outside "their" area. Plus, there are more towers. Coverage isn't much of a concern, which is to say, very few customers have any interest in whether of not there's any coverage outside of "their" area. The relative quality of Verizon's network versus its competitors is minimal--in some places it's a little better, in others it's a little worse; primarily, though, it's a non-issue for most (given all providers can meet the basic needs of almost all of their customers). Customer service and pricing are way more of a concern these days and are becoming the driving forces behind churn.