A survey of 50,000 readers of Consumer Reports found AT&T to be the least popular wireless carrier. But it’s not the only company to get bad news. Nearly half the respondents were dissatisfied with their carrier, making the cell-phone industry one of the least popular services evaluated by the magazine. Two-thirds of the respondents had at least one major gripe.
“America is in love with the cell phone, but they are lukewarm about cell-phone service,” said Paul Reynolds, electronics editor at Consumer Reports. “They’re especially concerned about its cost in these tight economic times.”
U.S. Cellular, Verizon on Top
Respondents who were customers of Verizon Wireless gave that carrier their highest rating in 26 cities, 74 points. Smaller U.S. Cellular won the highest overall national rating, 82 percent, based on ratings of plan value, voice, data, texting, phone, e-mail, web site, staff knowledge, and the resolution of issues.
The full survey will be published in the January issue of the magazine, published by the nonprofit Consumers Union.
The magazine in a summary noted “Verizon was above average on every attribute, including customer support, voice connectivity, and data service, and has the biggest network in the industry, but it tends to be costly. About one in five Verizon customers cited high cost as their top complaint; Verizon’s $60 nationwide basic with 900 voice minutes is more expensive compared to carriers such as T-Mobile, which offers 100 extra minutes for the same price.”
After Verizon, Consumer Reports readers placed T-Mobile in a statistical dead heat with Sprint Nextel, 69 and 73 percent, respectively (a four-point disparity is considered inconsequential). The poll rated T-Mobile as “the next-best competitor to Verizon in overall satisfaction, and worth considering as a good value,” but noted that the company scored low on voice, messaging, web and e-mail services.
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