JD Power: T-Mobile Tops In Customer Care Followed by AT&T, Verizon, and then Sprint Tipped by bdon78 
JD Power and Associates has released their 2010 Wireless Customer Care Performance Study, which tracks how well wireless carriers manage customer complaints using the Internet, phone support, in-store retail assistance, and via automated support systems. According to the standings, T-Mobile came in first place with a consumer care rating of 777 followed by AT&T (757), Verizon (749) and Sprint (734). The industry average score was 753. A few bits and pieces of the data you might find interesting: • 29 percent of customers visited a retail store to resolve their issue. • 60 percent still call their carrier to resolve support issues. • 39 percent of wireless customers contact their carrier due to service and equipment-related issues, while 34 percent contact for billing, 25 percent for incorrect charges, 23 percent for price or cost, 22 percent for call quality, 9 percent for messaging issues, 9 percent for network coverage, and 6 percent for credit issues. • 90 percent of customers get through to their carrier on their first try, but ten percent of customers are misdirected or are put on hold for too long and must make more than one contact. • The average wireless customer spends 5.27 minutes on hold when trying to reach their carrier via phone.
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 MySay
join:2008-04-08
Mansfield, TX
1 edit | Really? Followed by AT&T? There goes the credibility of that "study"... I call foul. AT&T shouldn't be anywhere near the top of that list! | |
|  |  IT GuyOw, My BallsPremium
join:2004-07-29
Las Cruces, NM
 ·Comcast
| Re: Really? said by MySay:Followed by AT&T? There goes the credibility of that "study"... I call foul. AT&T shouldn't be anywhere near the top of that list! TMO deserves to be at the top though. The CSA's are nice to the point where it's almost creepy.
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Don't worry, scrote. There are plenty of 'tards out there living really kick-ass lives. | |
| | | | | Re: Really? said by IT Guy:said by MySay:Followed by AT&T? There goes the credibility of that "study"... I call foul. AT&T shouldn't be anywhere near the top of that list! TMO deserves to be at the top though. The CSA's are nice to the point where it's almost creepy. Agreed. It seems like they are your best friends but it does get the job done. | |
| | | | | yeah i work for tmobile they are BIG on customer service and being effiecent and showing concern for our cust issues | |
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| talz13
join:2006-03-15
Avon Lake, OH | And I thought Sprint's customer service was heading more towards the upper end (not 4th place like it is here!). Was it really that poor before that being 4th place, but at least close, is a huge improvement?
I've had Sprint for a little over 3 years, and I've never had a complaint with their customer service. | |
| | | | | Re: Really? I've had Sprint since getting the EVO on release day and have nothing but good things to say about their CS. From porting to getting activation fees waived, they have been very easy to work with. | |
| | | |  MattAll noise, no signal.Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
kudos:12 | Re: Really? said by hamburglar_:I've had Sprint since getting the EVO on release day and have nothing but good things to say about their CS. From porting to getting activation fees waived, they have been very easy to work with. That has been my experience too.
On the corporate side, we have a single account rep who handles everything. Need a port? Need to order a device? All we have to do is send an email to our account rep. Hell, I even emailed him and asked him to place my PERSONAL order for 2 EVO's.
AT&T? A nightmare. They have to "run a credit check" every time we want to do something ... and we're a HUGE automotive company (who didn't need a bailout). Our account rep? Utterly useless. All she does is deflect and delegate to the support line. | |
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|  tubbynetreminds me of the danse russePremium,MVM
join:2008-01-16
Chandler, AZ | said by MySay:Followed by AT&T? There goes the credibility of that "study"... I call foul. AT&T shouldn't be anywhere near the top of that list! not so. every time that i have visited an att store to resolve issues, they have been professional and courteous. in fact, when my 3gs was lost/stolen and i was trying to reactivate my blackjack2 -- i had to go to a retail store to pick up a new sim card, but had to call in (premier account) to get the sim activated. while i was waiting on hold, the att rep brought me coffee and when it came time to jump through the verification rigamaroll (have to give my cell number, then two frequently called numbers since its a corporate account), the rep pulled up my information so i could just give account numbers and look at the notes a previous rep entered under my line.
the whole process was made less painful and kind of comfortable by the rep. i would go back to him for support if i had a personal line.
having been a verizon reseller, i can tell you first hand that while some csr's with vzw are spot on helpful, there are a good share of them that are condescending or just trying to get you off the line -- this was *after* giving my reseller id so they knew i was "working with them".
q.
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"...if I in my north room dance naked, grotesquely before my mirror waving my shirt round my head and singing softly to myself..." | |
| | | Ulmo
join:2005-09-22
San Jose, CA | Re: Really? Notice this poster is from Arizona, not N. California or NYC. | |
| | | | tubbynetreminds me of the danse russePremium,MVM
join:2008-01-16
Chandler, AZ | Re: Really? said by Ulmo:Notice this poster is from Arizona, not N. California or NYC. notice that the op is referring to *customer* service -- not the cellular service itself.
q.
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"...if I in my north room dance naked, grotesquely before my mirror waving my shirt round my head and singing softly to myself..." | |
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| bdon78I didn't do it
join:2009-05-18
Decatur, GA Reviews:
 ·DIRECTV
 ·AT&T U-Verse
| said by MySay:Followed by AT&T? There goes the credibility of that "study"... I call foul. AT&T shouldn't be anywhere near the top of that list! You are more irrational then my ex girlfriend who takes prozac.
So, you state that the study was good before when it essentially fit with your view of the wireless world. Now that it doesn't fit your view, the study lacks credibility.
You really do sound like a hormonal teenager. If you would like to explain your point, why not try with something more then "foul" and a couple of exclamation points. What I suspect will happen is that you will reply to me with another emotional outpouring of crap that will hold no merit. | |
| | | Ulmo
join:2005-09-22
San Jose, CA | Re: Really? And this one is from Georgia. You can practically create a map of where AT&T is good and bad from this discussion. It'd probably be very representative, too. | |
| | | | | | Re: Really? This news post has NOTHING to do with AT&T's cellular service. This is regarding the CUSTOMER service, NOT the cellular service. | |
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|  MIHotBearPremium
join:2003-07-02
Hazel Park, MI
·Comcast
| I figured this out years ago. Here is how JD Power works. You tell them what you want and pay them what they want and they will create a survey that will make you the best at whatever it is you want. It is so blatantly obvious.
Why would anyone with a brain bigger than a speck place any credence on JD Power's ratings?
I certainly don't. | |
| | | | | Re: Really? Ridiculous. If that was the case, Verizon or AT&T would always win because they have a lot more money. You are obviously one of the fools that buys into all of the billions of dollars of advertising that the larger carriers put out there. JD Powers is a leader in terms of credibility and respect. This survey was given to actual customers of each company randomly throughout the first half of the year. So the results were from each carrier's very own customers. It's not a third party comparison. | |
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| | | said by MySay:Followed by AT&T? There goes the credibility of that "study"... I call foul. AT&T shouldn't be anywhere near the top of that list! Pay JD Power and get anything you want. That's how they work. | |
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| | AT&T Their customer service is top notch in my book. One of the main reasons I stay with them, despite debacle with iphone/apple/data caps.
The only time I had a problem with AT&T is when a dude in the store who didn't know anything (he was new), tried to tell me I had to call CS to resolve my issue. The issue at hand was merging a friend's Go-Phone acct into one of my family lines. Well when I called CS, they told me that it had to be handled by a store. HOWEVER, instead of leaving it at that, they went and hooked me up with a different store in the area and told the store I was coming and everything. THAT store then helped me resolve my issue.
Overall I love AT&T's customer service, I know for a fact my mom had nothing but problems when she was with Verizon. In fact I called up AT&T CS just yesterday for an unlock code for an extra phone I have. No problems whatsoever, took less than 20 minutes. | |
| |  ptrowskiGot Helix?Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
kudos:4
 ·VOIPo
 ·Choice One Commu..
| Re: AT&T I recently went to the AT&T store in the Providence Place Mall to place an order for an iPhone 4 and pick it up. Great service each time.
Also, AT&T must have been doing some work locally here because I am getting close to 3 mb down and over 1 mb up on the speedtest.net app. I'll take that. | |
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1 edit | Fascinating It is interesting only four carriers are named in the survey. What about MetroPCS (aka Metro POS) or VirginMobile or any of the others? It definitely seems like there is no competition whatsover, doesn't it? 
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Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the United States. Ask any Indian. Robert Orben
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| | | |  Re: Fascinating
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Knowledge is a terrible thing to waste. That is why I post when I can. | |
| | | | | Re: Fascinating Boost and Virgin are Sprint. | |
| | | | | | Re: Fascinating Well I knew I read they were off shoots of a larger cell company. Thanks for the info
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Knowledge is a terrible thing to waste. That is why I post when I can. | |
| | | | | | True, however they each have their own customer care departments separate from Sprint AFAIK. | |
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|  jmn1207Premium
join:2000-07-19
Reston, VA | said by Boricua65:It is interesting only four carriers are named in the survey. What about MetroPCS (aka Metro POS) or VirginMobile or any of the others? It definitely seems like there is no competition whatsover, doesn't it? Yes. Pricing is very similar across the board, and out of a scale of 1000 possible points in this survey, the difference from top to bottom is only 4%. Factoring in the margin for error, what are we talking about here, a couple of people out of a hundred might be somewhat more disappointed with their service? | |
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bdon78I didn't do it
join:2009-05-18
Decatur, GA Reviews:
·DIRECTV
·AT&T U-Verse
| OH BOY When I sent this to Karl, I wasn't so sure it would get posted since AT&T beat out Verizon...
I'm kidding.. well sort of.
Personally, I had Tmobile for years prior to having AT&T and it doesn't shock me they lead the pack. Their customer service was one of the main reasons I stuck with them, despite their limited coverage.
As for AT&T, my relationship with them has been a positive one from the beginning (unlike a lot of readers here), so the fact that they came in second doesn't shock me at all.
I have heard horror stories from others from the past and as I said when I submitted the post, maybe AT&T is actually listening to what people and bloggers (DSLR) have to say about the services they provide....
So.. for everyone who is saying it is a load of crap... Either you believe the reports or you don't. If you think the report is wrong, I can assume you wouldn't believe previous reports that had AT&T at the bottom as well... (or you can be irrational like a crazy ex girlfriend and make up reasons why you believe one and not the other...) | |
|  bigunkGort, Klattu Birada Nikto
join:2001-02-10
USA | VZW v. TMO I switched to TMO from 15 years of what became VZW precisely due to customer service. I had one billing issue years ago with TMO, but they resolved it at their expense and to their loss. I thanked them and have rewarded them with my business for 5+ years now. My wife left VZW for the exact same reason. She's had no problems whatsoever with TMO.
Happy customers here with no intention of switching.
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"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusionary, illogical minority, which is rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, who holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end." | |
| | | t'aint neither :) Tmo has SOME good csa people, and a bunch of very poor ones.
It would take far too long to type out the story of my recent service/phone upgrade horror story I just went thru.
Rest assured that every single detail that could be done incorrectly was done doubly incorrectly and then no one could understand or bother to fix the situation.
At 5 different Tmo stores !
I persisted though and managed to find 1 decent person who knew how to spell his own name. It still took him over 2 hours on the phone with Tmo to get it straigtened out.....and some slight of hand dual phone usage too.
(Thanks again Brian if you read this!!)
I do like me my new Samsung Vibrant ..... now that it actually works :\ | |
| | | Knowing what they're talking about. I do like to root for the underdog, and I like T-Mobile's support of the Android platform, so congratulations to them for winning this.
That said, I'm currently a VZW subscriber and it is exceedingly rare for me to call them and have them NOT know the answer to something. But that's just me. | |
| | | Kudos to TMO! Now if only... ... they had a decent network.  | |
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| | people like tmoble because its cheap and the survey says they put a 60% weight on 1-800 customer care. Tmobile does have the best 1-800 support people (located outside of the usa or so it seams to me) but the in store help where I live sucks unless you want to buy something, and even then the sales people dont know what the F they are talking about. specs who needs to know the specs
My work phone is a verizon and it works great everywhere, if I need help the local store is your best bet with them the 1-800 folks a dumb and not helpful and always end up asking me to go to the store anyway. it seams Verizon would rather have you go into a store to be helped
and my wife has sprint they are decent you ether get on a roll with them where everything works great, or if you do have trouble the service is just ok
and att I have not had them in years but I hear they are about the same as verizon | |
|  quetwoThat VoIP GuyPremium
join:2004-09-04
East Lansing, MI | Customer service with TMO T-Mobile also has a habit to connect you with customer-service reps located in your area. For us, there is (or at least was) a CS department located in the next town over. They knew the phones, had great computer systems, and bend over backwords to help the customer.
Heck, three days ago I called to switch my plan from a Blackberry plan to an Android plan. I called the 611 number, and the rep not only picked up within two minutes, but they also had the entire thing done in less than 5. They made sure they were able to keep my old rate plan before they did anything (which VWZ dosen't care about), which will save me $10 a month compared to the current plans.
I wish they would have kept their VIP program in tact -- that made it a real pleasure for me to toot their horn, but they still a model CS group for the industry. (Note: I've had an account with them for 7 years now -- my work phone is from VWZ, so I have to deal with both). | |
| | | Wait time hold I have T-Mobile and i normally only have to wait 1 to 2 mins max to get someone on the phone. | |
| Ulmo
join:2005-09-22
San Jose, CA Reviews:
·SONIC.NET
·callwithus
·Vitelity VOIP
| This must be regional and language centric. AT&T is good in sticks and similar places like Louisiana, but sucks in Northern California and NYC. Everyone else is better in N. CA, and Verizon is better in NYC.
Customer care at AT&T is much better in Spanish than in English. A few of us called them on it by dropping them like a bad habit, and they did get a bit better, but not fast enough to make up for their faults.
Meanwhile, it's bliss being AT&T-free in N. California. I suppose if I was in the sticks, my experience with AT&T would be entirely different. | |
| | Reviews:
·Time Warner Cable
·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: This must be regional and language centric. AT&T has great service in more than "the sticks." Here in TX, AT&T has outstanding service in Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Houston, El Paso, etc. These places are not by any chance "the sticks."
AT&T also works very well in,
Philadelphia, Washington DC, Seattle, Miami, Tampa, Albuquerque, and other various places.
Customer care for AT&T throughout my experience (customer for going on 5 years now) has been great. I'm never talking to someone from overseas, every time I call regarding cell service, it's a person who is fluent in English. | |
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| | Good price, Good service, but... Sprint's customer service is nothing special. They'll give you calls every once in awhile to see if your satisfied with the service, but the reps can't actually do anything with your plan that you couldn't do yourself online.
Also my last 'customer satsifcation' phone call was a blind attempt to add a line to my phone -_-.
Also be very VERY sure to have the money on the due date, because they won't do any financing besides tell you to call your bank.
I'm probably going to have to switch to T-Mobile after having been overcharged twice, having plans unnecessarily sold to me, and no help whatsoever when trying to meet their deadlines.
Good Bye Sprint(and i HIGHLY Suggest NO ONE gets their service.) | |
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