AT&T RANKS WORST CARRIER IN CUSTOMER SATISFACTION FOR SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR

AT&T has again received the lowest rating in Consumer Reports’ annual wireless carrier customer satisfaction survey. Verizon Wireless won the top spot and its customers were most satisfied with its data service and staff knowledge. Verizon was followed by Sprint and T-Mobile USA. “Our survey indicates that subscribers to prepaid and smaller standard-service providers are happiest overall with their cell-phone service,” Consumer Reports electronics editor Paul Reynolds said. “However, these carriers aren’t for everyone. Some are only regional, and prepaid carriers tend to offer few or no smart phones. The major carriers are still leading options for many consumers, and we found they ranged widely in how well they satisfied their customers.” Consumer Reports surveyed 66,000 of its subscribers and included standard and no-contract wireless customers across 22 metropolitan areas.

CONSUMER REPORTS RANKS AT&T LAST IN MOBILE PROVIDERS

Once again AT&T has found itself dead last in a survey of mobile providers. The latest survey, by Consumer Reports, ranks US Cellular and Verizon Wireless as number one and two respectively, followed by T-Mobile and Sprint, leaving AT&T to bring up the rear.

The survey ranked a number of factors including Value, Texting, Voice, Data, Website and Staff Knowledge. AT&T never even made an average rating any of the items examined, receiving a Worse rating in 8 out of all 9 categories.

AT&T responded with a statement:

We take this seriously and we continually look for new ways to improve the customer experience. The fact is wireless customers have choices and a record number of them chose AT&T in the third quarter, significantly more than our competitors. Hard data from independent drive tests confirms AT&T has the nation’s fastest mobile broadband network with our nearest competitor 20 percent slower on average nationwide and our largest competitor 60 percent slower on average nationwide. And, our dropped call rate is within 1/10 of a percent – the equivalent of just one call in a thousand – of the industry leader.

Readers were asked to grade each carrier on several criteria including value, voice service quality, data service quality and customer support. The ratings were on a scale of “Worse” to “Better,” with three increments in between. [BGR]