AT&T Fingered as Worst Carrier By Consumer Reports [At&t]

iPhone owners have long had their frustrations with AT&T. So when over half of the AT&T respondents to a Consumer Reports wireless carrier satisfaction survey were iPhone owners, it’s maybe unsurprising that they finished last. It’s still disappointing, though.

AT&T’s the best carrier to peer a ” significant” drop in overall satisfaction compared to last year, while dark horse US Cellular wrestled the tip score faraway from Verizon.

The carriers were rated in value, voice service, and customer support. Sprint also had a robust showing, pulling inspite of Verizon. Which leaves T-Mo trailing and AT&T languishing, despite having among the best hardware available.

Of course, the survey was strictly of Consumer Reports readers, who have their own sets of priorities and concerns. And it was only a year ago that we learned AT&T had the fastest network around -when it worked at all. Still, a troublesome knock for the company, and another reminder that a Verizon iPhone could spell relief to an entire lot of folk.

CONSUMER REPORTS: AT&T NAMED WORST CELL-PHONE SERVICE PROVIDER
U.S. Cellular Surpasses Former Top Provider Verizon Wireless;
January Report Also Features Tips for Avoiding Bill Shock

YONKERS, NY ― AT&T is now the worst-rated cell-phone service carrier in keeping with a new survey of Consumer Reports readers. U.S. Cellular, a regional carrier that gives service in 26 states, beat out the long-standing top provider Verizon Wireless with outstanding marks for value, voice service and customer support. The whole article also features carrier Ratings in 23 metropolitan markets and is inside the January 2011 issue of Consumer Reports and at www.ConsumerReports.org.

In this year’s version of an annual Consumer Reports survey on cell-phone carriers, more than 58,000 ConsumerReports.org subscribers weighed in about their service and customer support experiences with contract and no-contract providers.

AT&T was the one carrier whose scores for overall satisfaction dropped significantly since last year. Verizon Wireless remains one of several better performers, but Sprint has pulled regardless of the carrier in overall satisfaction. The carrier actually even scored better than Verizon in some aspects of purchaser service, a remarkable turnaround from past years when that was a weakness for the company. T-Mobile was only slightly behind those two carriers in overall satisfaction.

More than half of the AT&T customers surveyed owned an iPhone, the Apple smart-phone this is currently available exclusively from the carrier. Consumer Reports data, reflecting all versions of the phone, found that iPhone owners were much less satisfied with their carrier and rated data service (Web and e-mail) under owners of smart phones on other carriers that, like the iPhone, have a number of apps to encourage heavy data use.
” Our survey suggests that an iPhone from Verizon Wireless, that’s rumored, could indeed be good news for iPhone fans,” said Paul Reynolds, Electronics Editor for Consumer Reports.

How to circumvent Bill Shock & Cut Cell-Phone Costs

One in five survey respondents reported receiving an unexpectedly high cell-phone bill inside the previous year, often for exceeding their plan’s voice, text or data limits – an experience called ” bill shock.” Half of those respondents were hit for no less than $50, and one in five for more than $100. Here’s many ways consumers can avoid ” bill shock” and cut cell-phone costs.

* Monitor use and act as needed. Consumers should check their use midway through their billing cycle via device settings or online. Pageonce.com sells smart-phone apps that monitor usage and sends users texts or e-mail warnings about overages.
* Don’t overbuy minutes. Consumers should review the voice minutes they have got not used until now six months and think about switching to a plan with fewer billable daytime/anytime minutes, provided it offers an analogous free-talk time benefits.
* Avoid termination fees. Sixteen percent of respondents with a contract wanted to modify carriers but didn’t are looking to get hit with early-termination fees which can run as high as $350 per phone early inside the contract term. Penalties gradually decline as consumers get further into the contract period. Consider transferring the contract to another person for a $20 to $25 fee through Celltradeusa.com or Cellswapper.com. To bypass being stuck with a disappointing carrier, test the phone and service through the 15 – to 30-day trial period, consumers who quit a new contract can port their number to another carrier without penalty.
* Weigh monthly costs. The purchase price of the phone, especially a wise phone, generally is a surprisingly small contributor to the entire cost of owning it over, say, a two-year period. That’s especially true for T-Mobile smart phones, that are bought with or without a contract, at differing prices and charges.

No-Contract Service

More than 90 percent of Consumer Reports survey respondents’ phones were serviced under a contract. Those without-contract cell-phone service said they made far fewer calls and barely used data, and perhaps because of their simpler needs were more satisfied overall. Among no-contract service providers, Consumer Cellular scored highest for satisfaction followed by TracFone. AT&T GoPhone was the worst provider in this category receiving relatively low marks for value and voice service.

No-contract service is usually gold standard for light use, but options are expanding beyond bare-bones basics. There are now more conventional phones that supply data service without a contract, a transformation from the past. And carriers specializing in no-contract service, including Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile are offering more smart phones. Verizon and T-Mobile now offer most of their phones, smart and regular with or without a contract, but customers pays more for the device itself.

[ Consumer Reports ; Image credit: Houston Chronicle ]

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This post is tagged: cell phone service provider, consumer reports survey, consumerreports org subscribers, metropolitan markets, phone service provider, support experiences