Wireless Carrier Customer Service Compared T-Mobile best, AT&T worst, though test isn't particularly broad... Laptop Magazine has taken a look at the customer support service for the four largest mobile carriers, finding that T-Mobile offered the best service while AT&T offered the worst. The magazine's testers found their experiences in the T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint stores to be positive, with employees actually knowing how to solve problems. T-Mobile and Sprint also got positive marks for their phone and Internet support. Their AT&T experience however was not great: Our in-store experience left us with one question out of three unanswered and we were shocked that one representative couldn't help get our email up and running (though another rep at a different store was successful). Our trial of AT&T's web support turned up similar results when one online associate told us they don't support Slacker software, and one of our phone support calls lasted 45 minutes without resolving the last of our issues. The tests are hardly conclusive however, as the magazine says they visited just two stores per carrier and only in New York City. Given customer support can be different from store to store much less city to city you'd need, oh, only about five thousand additional tests in a hundred additional cities to make Laptop Magazine's survey worthwhile.
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  trebzon
join:2001-09-03
Grandville, MI
 ·AT&T DSL Service
1 edit | Survey If they ask me I would validate the findings for AT&T and make it a bit broader. Forced into AT&T for my wifes iPhone. Horrible network. My Verizon Blackberry is superior in coverage everywhere I go.
When I do call for support (for any AT&T branded service) I have never dealt with a company that seemed less concerned about my issues or the desire to keep me as a customer. The consistent answer for all lines of service by the big blue death star seems to be "Deal with it".
Gee thanks. | |
|  | | | | trebzon
join:2001-09-03
Grandville, MI | Re: Survey Couldn't disagree more. I travel for work and previously had ATT Blackberry. Current Verizon. No question, no comparison. Verizon is superior in 90% of the markets I visit. | |
| | | |  r81984Fair and BalancedPremium
join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX | Re: Survey Well I guess you never visited Grandville, MI. | |
| | | | | trebzon
join:2001-09-03
Grandville, MI | Re: Survey I think we must agree to disagree. I have lived in or around Grandville for 40 years. I don't care about the towers I care about delivery. | |
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| | AT&T versus Verizon Wireless Right now we're Verizon Wireless customers, but our contract is ending soon. We were considering switching to AT&T because their plans seem more reasonable. (You add Unlimited Text/Data to the entire plan, not to each phone on the plan separately.) Stories like this, though, make me rethink that move. Saving a few bucks definitely isn't worth a large drop in service quality.
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-Jason Levine
Support a children's charity. Buy a calendar and/or a photo book. Shooting For A Cause | |
| | glinc
join:2009-04-07
New York, NY | Re: AT&T versus Verizon Wireless Perhaps, you should look at the Select, Connect and Premium plans. | |
| |  Simba7
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT | Remember, AT&T's "Unlimited" Data isn't unlimited.
There's only 1 company that I know of that is still "Unlimited". | |
| | | glinc
join:2009-04-07
New York, NY | Re: AT&T versus Verizon Wireless Verizon unlimited data for V Cast phones and Smartphones/PDA's and blackberries is trully unlimited. Only when you tether or use a broadband card is when you have the 5GB cap. | |
| | | | | | Re: AT&T versus Verizon Wireless said by glinc:Verizon unlimited data for V Cast phones and Smartphones/PDA's and blackberries is trully unlimited. Only when you tether or use a broadband card is when you have the 5GB cap. There are no "unlimited" data plans anymore.
My PDA data plan is limited to 5GB. | |
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| |  en102Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | It is unlimited, as long as you aren't tethering, or using a data card. | |
| | | | | | Re: AT&T versus Verizon Wireless which, given that VZW cripples their phones, makes it usesless anyways. last I knew, the cripple all of them. | |
| | | | | cghh
join:2001-01-15
Milpitas, CA | Re: AT&T versus Verizon Wireless said by John McClane:which, given that VZW cripples their phones, makes it usesless anyways. last I knew, the cripple all of them. Blackberries (at least the newer ones) are not crippled in any way on VZW. Full standalone GPS, download applications from anywhere you want, GSM unlock code provided without charge so you can use your own SIM when abroad. This is "out of the box" with the officially supported software; no "jailbreaking" required. | |
| | | | | | | | Re: AT&T versus Verizon Wireless Can you upload your own MP3s to use as ringtones on a Blackberry? I used to be able to use BitPim to upload my own MP3 ringtones but then Verizon locked it out of their newer phones. I now use a text message workaround, but it costs me for each text message I send. (Not on an unlimited text plan just yet.) This can be a pain if your "should be great" MP3 ringtone winds up sounding awful.
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-Jason Levine
Support a children's charity. Buy a calendar and/or a photo book. Shooting For A Cause | |
| | | | | | | | verizon has sim cards now? | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  BOGBSPremium
join:2004-05-11
Saco, ME
 ·RoadRunner Cable
3 edits | Re: AT&T versus Verizon Wireless said by r81984:This should be front page news. Verizon's "World Phones" have had SIM Cards for quite a while now. Take the BlackBerry 8830, for example. In order to be a World Phone, it needs a GSM radio, since CDMA is in the minority across the world. Much of Europe, and other countries primarily use GSM. CDMA is still used in other countries, but not to the extent of GSM.
If I'm not mistaken, they come with a Verizon SIM by default, and can be used on Verizon's International plans. And as stated before, if unlocked, you can use the GSM radio with any old SIM. I'm not sure if that applies in the US, as I'm an AT&T customer, and don't have much experience with Verizon devices. | |
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| | | | | | said by John McClane:which, given that VZW cripples their phones, makes it usesless anyways. last I knew, the cripple all of them. So how's Google Voice, Skype and slingbox on the iPhone doing? | |
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| | | Simba7
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT | Which is one reason I'm never switching over.
I'm still on Alltel in Montana and my Unlimited Data *IS* Unlimited Data. Teathered or not.
Plus, how do they know you're teathering to a PPC-6800 anyway? | |
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| bnceo
join:2007-10-11
Bel Air, MD | I suggest you look at Sprint if you are in a major city. And even if you are in a 2nd tier city, you can get sweet roaming off the Verizon network. | |
| |  MattAll noise, no signal.Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
kudos:12 | said by Jason Levine:Right now we're Verizon Wireless customers, but our contract is ending soon. We were considering switching to AT&T because their plans seem more reasonable. (You add Unlimited Text/Data to the entire plan, not to each phone on the plan separately.) Stories like this, though, make me rethink that move. Saving a few bucks definitely isn't worth a large drop in service quality. You're in the same boat I was in. We switched to save about $60-$100/month (wound up being about $40 after taxes) and I've regretted it for 6 of the 12 months we've had AT&T's service. The service was fine for a while, worse than Verizon's but nothing to write home about; however in the last 6 months it's gotten worse and worse, to the point our phones frequently won't even get service.
I've gotten every excuse in the book, from the iPhone having a crappy radio, to overloaded towers, to just living in a saturated market in general and things are fine everywhere else. What I see day to day is reflected in almost every review of AT&T's wireless service I've read, so I don't believe any of those excuses. Especially since I travel enough and have multiple brands of phone and they all experience the same issues.
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"What is conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and untried?" - Abraham Lincoln | |
| | | Sileet
join:2003-02-15
Merced, CA | Re: AT&T versus Verizon Wireless I used to have verizon but now have ATT because of the iPhone. I don't really notice any difference in quality of the service.
However the only thing I can really compare is the signal because my previous phone was not a smartphone.
But I've never had my phone just start getting less/no signal. I think your issue might be very rare and not a reason for people not to get ATT | |
| | | | MattAll noise, no signal.Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
kudos:12 | Re: AT&T versus Verizon Wireless said by Sileet:But I've never had my phone just start getting less/no signal. I think your issue might be very rare and not a reason for people not to get ATT Very rare across two iPhones and an LG Shine, one of which is 5 hours away in a different state?
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"What is conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and untried?" - Abraham Lincoln | |
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| | | u know verizon has a familyshare plan that includes unlimited msgs to anyone on any network as well | |
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| | T-Mobile is good IF you have coverage, and that's a pretty big IF. | |
| |  bigunkGort, Klattu Birada Nikto
join:2001-02-10
USA | Re: T-Mobile is good I have found there are some holes in the T-Mobile coverage. Truth be told, switching from one carrier to another means exchanging one set of headaches for another. I don't stress over it. Call gets dropped, I call back or wait for the other end to call me once I'm back in range.
I was with VZW for what ended up to be 15 years. Starting back in the PacTel Mobile Access days, through AirTouch, then VZW. Problem with VZW is they started acting like they were entitled to my business and didn;t have to put forth any effort to keep it. I switched to T-Mobile and, while their network isn't quite as built out, their customer service is stellar. AT&T hold no appeal for me, and Sprint...well let's wait and see if they survive.
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There is not a man in the country that can't make a living for himself and family. But he can't make a living for them AND his government, the way his government is living. What the government has got to do is live as cheap as the people.
- Will Rogers | |
| | | | | Re: T-Mobile is good I've rarely ever had to use VZW customer service. Everything I need to do is done online on their website.
The only annoyance I had was the resetting of the 2yr contract when we switched to my wife's 20% discount through her work.
I think when the contract is up we're going to switch to pre-paid or something. Page Plus is looking pretty good about now. | |
| | | | bigunkGort, Klattu Birada Nikto
join:2001-02-10
USA | Re: T-Mobile is good I did have to use them. A lot. Problem was I carried a pager that I had set up with VZW to page me anytime someone left a voicemail. This was for when I was in areas where the cellphone wouldn't work, but the pager was scary reliable. About once a month, the pager would go off about 30 times per incoming voicemail. A call to VZW would be a wild goose chase through layers of stupidity, with some incompetence and idiocy thrown in for texture. They would tell me the biggest lines of BS just to get me off the phone. Finally, the contract was up and I tried TM. Actually, I had turned up TM first and ported my number over from VZW. Pager worked flawlessly, customer service was the bomb. I really like them, and will wait for them to build their network out some more.
Oh, and VZW customer service pissed my wife off over something small and stupid. She switched to TM as well. Never been happier.
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There is not a man in the country that can't make a living for himself and family. But he can't make a living for them AND his government, the way his government is living. What the government has got to do is live as cheap as the people.
- Will Rogers | |
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| | | | said by bigunk:I was with VZW for what ended up to be 15 years. Starting back in the PacTel Mobile Access days, through AirTouch, then VZW. Problem with VZW is they started acting like they were entitled to my business and didn;t have to put forth any effort to keep it. I started out with Bell Atlantic Mobile. They were good at first. Then they switched to Verizon and I kept them for a while. During this time, my girlfriend at the time got a Sprint Spectrum phone. They were idiots to deal with and they finally ditched that whole service.
New girlfriend also had Verizon and we decided to go on one account to save money. When we tried to do the new every 2, they didn't tell us that only the phone on the $39.95 plan (or higher) was eligible. So I decided to let my girlfriend have the newer phone. Nope, because someone at Verizon made her number the secondary and mine the primary and the ONLY way to change it was to sign both of us up for 2 year contracts and pay extra. When I said we only have 6 more months on the contract, they told me it was my prerogative to switch to another carrier...which we did. They called continuously for 2 weeks trying to get us back but refused to acknowledge they made a mistake or fix it.
Went with Nextel and they were great to deal with...until Sprint took them over and gave us monthly sales calls on the cell phones.
Went with T-Mobile and started off with Sidekick 3 phones and now have the G1s. They are always great to deal with and, so far, coverage is good.
Verizon, in my opinion, has this attitude that their network is better so you have no choice but to take their phones and their service otherwise, no one will hear you.  | |
| | | | bigunkGort, Klattu Birada Nikto
join:2001-02-10
USA | Re: T-Mobile is good My sentiments exactly. What do you think of the G1? I find it intruiging, but I need to sync with Outlook, Exchange, etc. Once they get that going, I'll give it a second look. | |
| | | | | | | Re: T-Mobile is good said by bigunk:My sentiments exactly. What do you think of the G1? I find it intruiging, but I need to sync with Outlook, Exchange, etc. Once they get that going, I'll give it a second look. I like it. They are having an issue right now with multiple programs using your location and slowing the system down. I got rid of LOOPT and that took a large load off.
I was looking for it to sync with Exchange and Outlook but have only been giving it back burner look see.
The newer MyTouch is what I want to play with. | |
| | | | | en102Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | How's your T-Mobile 3G coverage in your part of Santa Clarita... I know it just went live recently.
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Canada = Hollywood North | |
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| | en102Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | Here in Santa Clarita/Valencia, both are pretty good.
T-Mobile - poor coverage in Stevensons Ranch
AT&T - poor coverage in Seco Canyon/Plum Canyon
Sprint - Good coverage around Santa Clarita (extra buildout onto Nextel sites), few known holes
VZW - well, lets just say I have had issues with them in the past, and like your statement states, elitist attitude. | |
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|  GbcueAlmost P.E.Premium
join:2001-09-30
Santa Rosa, CA
kudos:8
 ·AT&T U-Verse
| said by fifty nine:IF you have coverage, and that's a pretty big IF. If you live in any major metro city, the coverage that T-Mobile gives is first rate.
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My BLOG!
Black Friday Ads | |
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 TimePremium
join:2003-07-05
·Cox HSI
| Sprint The Sprint store on Flamingo and Maryland in Vegas has some of the rudest people working there I've ever met in any customer service situation. They tried to charge me $35 to exchange a Palm Pre that had six dead pixels on it. I hopped down to the store at UNLV, and they exchanged it no questions asked.
Surprisingly, I've never had trouble at AT&T. Never really dealt with Verizon customer service. | |
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1 edit | AT&T Horrible I was an AT&T customer for 15 years. I can say without a doubt they absolutely are HORRIBLE. When I cancelled my service a couple of months ago they didnt even care that i was dropping them, I was getting a bill for about $160 a month too. All AT&T really cares about is how much money they can suck from your wallet before you realize just what a horrible company they are. I switched to Verizon and have never been happier.
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Certs: CCNA, GPEN, GCIH, GCFW, GSEC, GCIA, GCFA | |
| |  toddbs98
join:2000-07-08
North Little Rock, AR | If T-mobile is the best.. If T-Mobile is the best the rest must be terrible. It took me 14 phone calls, over a two month period,lasting over a total of 6 hours just to get my voice mail to work. The people there are the biggest bunch of scumbag liars Ive had the displeasure of doing business with.
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Patriots always speak of dying for their country never killing for it. Bertrand Russell
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| | | | Re: If T-mobile is the best.. really? wow that sucks. | |
| | bigunkGort, Klattu Birada Nikto
join:2001-02-10
USA | Wow. I'd love to hear some details on that, just so I'm armed in case of an issue. | |
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apok86
join:2006-09-09
Minneapolis, MN | t-mobile is great I live in the far far north west surburbs of minneapolis and recently 3g was not available in my area after it was switched on 6 months ago. I called and a 3g network test was ordered for my block. 2 days later the rep called me back and said they identified a problem. In less than a week my 3g service was restored.
There network lacks if you leave metro areas. However there customer service is great and located in America. The G1 is a good phone and android is the best mobile operating system IMHO. | |
| Simba7
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT | I vote... Alltel.. I really vote Alltel. They've been awesome with my service, both voice and data.
I use alot of Data and my plan is *Unlimited*.. So, if I use 4GB or 10GB in one month, I still get charged the same. I also own a PPC-6800, so I tether it to my laptop all the time, either USB, WiFi, or Bluetooth. Still, no gripes from me or Alltel.
So, for being truly unlimited, tethered or not, my bills the same.
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Bresnan 15M/1M|MyWS[P4HT@4.01GHz,2GB RAM,2x1TB HDDs,Win7]|WifeWS[P4@2.4GHz,1GB RAM,60GB HDD,Win7]|Router[2xP3@1GHz,640MB RAM,18GB HDD,Allied Telesyn AT-2560FX,Kingston KNE100TX,2xDigital DE504,Compaq NC3131,iPro/1000DP,Blitz BWI715,Gentoo Linux] | |
| QLR
join:2009-06-23
Tallahassee, FL Reviews:
 ·Verizon Wireless..
·Comcast
·Embarq Now Centu..
| TMo=great CS but lack of signal is a turn off I am in the Florida Panhandle... I have tried AT&T, Verizon, Sprint & TMobile. I had only customer service problems with Sprint, I burned my bridge with them long ago and vowed to never return. AT&T is solid in terms of signal in these parts, but if you get a cheap prepaid phone, they just tell you to buy another phone if you have service issues. No thanks... I would hate to see how their postpaid users are treated. I LOVE TMobile (best customer service I have used), but they don't get a good signal in my place and service beyond major highways and the cities is nonexistent since roaming is not allowed in this area. So I have VZW for contract service. CS is good and network rocks for me (and will likely get better after the merger completes)... now if I am able to get a phone that doesnt require a FRU less than a year after getting the phone... | |
| | |  AT&T= WORST SERVICE EVER!!
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