Verizon tops in wireless survey, Sprint falls behind

[RJB]

Chatters are growing happier with their overall wireless service, according to a new survey, with Verizon Wireless taking top honors and Sprint slipping into last place among the four big carriers. That said, overall scores for customer satisfaction fell somewhat short of the stratosphere.

The results come courtesy of the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which rates various industries and companies on a scale of 1 to 100 based on national phone surveys.

The scores? Overall wireless service garnered a 68, the highest score in the four years that the index has been tracking wireless satisfaction—not bad, but not exactly what I'd call an A+.

Verizon Wireless scored a 72 in the survey, giving it top marks among the four big wireless carriers. AT&T and T-Mobile both tied at 71, with AT&T gaining the most ground thanks to its four-percent spike since 2007 (thanks, in part, to the iPhone, according to ACSI researchers).

Meanwhile, Sprint's ACSI rating fell to just 56, an 8 percent drop from last year. What happened? Well, the struggling carrier's decision to slash 5,000 jobs last year—with another 4,000 to come—could have something to do with it, ACSI researchers said.

Just for comparison's sake, the spiraling airline industry got an ACSI score of 62 (tumbling almost 14 percent from 1994), the U.S. Postal Service got a 74 (up from a score of 61 in 1994), FedEx scored an 85, and both McDonald's and Microsoft made do with a middling 69.

How's your carrier been treating you lately? Care to grade 'em on your own scale of 1 to 100? Fire away!

Verizon tops in wireless survey, Sprint falls behind : Ben Patterson : Yahoo! Tech

[Eric47]

Wirelessly posted (HTC-8500/1.2 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 6.8) UP.Link/6.3.0.0.0)

wow good to see att finally getting some credit for good service on paper. consumer reports biased results were a black eye sorta

[Mobile Mike]

Originally Posted by Eric47

Wirelessly posted (HTC-8500/1.2 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 6.8) UP.Link/6.3.0.0.0)

wow good to see att finally getting some credit for good service on paper. consumer reports biased results were a black eye sorta

If this truly an unbiased report, then good for Verizon. I guess they're doing something right.

[larry]

I like how they say "Sprint slipping into last place". Hasn't Sprint been in last place on these surveys for quite a while now?

[RJB]

Honestly AT&T, Tmobile, & Verizon are so close to each other 1 point lol.

[Simon5282]

Originally Posted by larry

I like how they say "Sprint slipping into last place". Hasn't Sprint been in last place on these surveys for quite a while now?

Slipping like a slip 'n' slide.

[Mobile Mike]

Originally Posted by larry

I like how they say "Sprint slipping into last place". Hasn't Sprint been in last place on these surveys for quite a while now?

It's their attempt at a dramatic effect...

[Eric47]

Originally Posted by Mobile Mike

If this truly an unbiased report, then good for Verizon. I guess they're doing something right.

well from what i can gather on them, they seem to at least be more reliable than consumer reports, which only gathers info from their members, and just their members that participate, which is not going to resemble anything even close to what could be considered a fair or equal data source.

so yea, verizon/TMOB/ATT being top rated? sounds about right. and to be honest, these companies will probably stay at the top and i dont see anyone pulling away from the others. each company seems to have finally found a nice grove in customer service as well as network services.

[treonaut]

VZW's the tops, I have more friends and relatives with stories of bailing from AT&T/Cingular and Sprint for VZW's broad network coverage. You won't always get a 3-4 bar from VZW, but the 1-2 bar is strong enough to make a call and browse the web. Verizon always answers they phone support, I've never not been able to speak with someone and the wait if there is any is usually less than 30 seconds!

I have a couple of co-workers who love Sprint but they only drive in the big city it seems and live in a major metro area and the bigger reason why they went with Sprint is because they're less expensive (but you get what you pay for). Sprint's customer service I've heard is atrocious. I evaluated Sprint and they're usually good for highways and major cities - otherwise dropped calls or no in-network signal elsewhere.

T-Mobile? You've got to be kidding. Well, maybe they're only serving large markets and they are answering their phones, too - but I can't believe T-Mobile's got good nationwide coverage and broadband service!

AT&T was a no-show until they merged with Cingular. We evaluated them, slower broadband service then. Whenever I called an AT&T/Cingular customer, there would always be a clacking noise on the signal and dropped calls.

My vote stays with VZW. Now if they would just go with a better international/global option and have more competitive broadband pricing....

[RJB]

Originally Posted by treonaut

VZW's the tops, I have more friends and relatives with stories of bailing from AT&T/Cingular and Sprint for VZW's broad network coverage. You won't always get a 3-4 bar from VZW, but the 1-2 bar is strong enough to make a call and browse the web. Verizon always answers they phone support, I've never not been able to speak with someone and the wait if there is any is usually less than 30 seconds!

I have a couple of co-workers who love Sprint but they only drive in the big city it seems and live in a major metro area and the bigger reason why they went with Sprint is because they're less expensive (but you get what you pay for). Sprint's customer service I've heard is atrocious. I evaluated Sprint and they're usually good for highways and major cities - otherwise dropped calls or no in-network signal elsewhere.

T-Mobile? You've got to be kidding. Well, maybe they're only serving large markets and they are answering their phones, too - but I can't believe T-Mobile's got good nationwide coverage and broadband service!

AT&T was a no-show until they merged with Cingular. We evaluated them, slower broadband service then. Whenever I called an AT&T/Cingular customer, there would always be a clacking noise on the signal and dropped calls.

My vote stays with VZW. Now if they would just go with a better international/global option and have more competitive broadband pricing....

Very good point

[Eric47]

Originally Posted by treonaut

VZW's the tops, I have more friends and relatives with stories of bailing from AT&T/Cingular and Sprint for VZW's broad network coverage. You won't always get a 3-4 bar from VZW, but the 1-2 bar is strong enough to make a call and browse the web. Verizon always answers they phone support, I've never not been able to speak with someone and the wait if there is any is usually less than 30 seconds!

I have a couple of co-workers who love Sprint but they only drive in the big city it seems and live in a major metro area and the bigger reason why they went with Sprint is because they're less expensive (but you get what you pay for). Sprint's customer service I've heard is atrocious. I evaluated Sprint and they're usually good for highways and major cities - otherwise dropped calls or no in-network signal elsewhere.

T-Mobile? You've got to be kidding. Well, maybe they're only serving large markets and they are answering their phones, too - but I can't believe T-Mobile's got good nationwide coverage and broadband service!

AT&T was a no-show until they merged with Cingular. We evaluated them, slower broadband service then. Whenever I called an AT&T/Cingular customer, there would always be a clacking noise on the signal and dropped calls.

My vote stays with VZW. Now if they would just go with a better international/global option and have more competitive broadband pricing....

respectfully, this is all your opinion. the discussion was over a survey, not your personal outlook on carriers in your particular area.

thats why surveys are conducted is for people to study data that is non-biased and based off nationwide comparisons and actual experience.

i just felt i should bring this up for the readers that may take some of your comments the wrong way.

[larry]

Originally Posted by Eric47

thats why surveys are conducted is for people to study data that is non-biased and based off nationwide comparisons and actual experience.

Well I wouldn't necessarily call these studies non-biased because they often survey people who are bitter ex-customers or not customers at all and as a result can be based off of old experiences or negative perception.

[TheNasaWildman]

Well let's not forget about Alltel. They have ranked higher than ALL of the wireless carriers including Verizon on Call quality. See so for your self April 23, 2008

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Alltel Wireless, America’s largest network, is proud to announce that J.D. Power and Associates in its 2008 Wireless Call Quality Performance StudySM – Vol. 1. ranked Alltel Wireless:
• “Highest Call Quality Performance Among Wireless Cell Phone Users In the West Region”
• “Highest Call Quality Performance Among Wireless Cell Phone Users In the Southeast Region”
• “Highest Call Quality Performance Among Wireless Cell Phone Users In the Southwest Region in a Tie”

The study measured wireless call quality based on seven problem areas that impact overall carrier performance: dropped calls; static/interference; failed connection on the first try; voice distortion; echoes; no immediate voice mail notification; and no immediate text message notification... Now it looks like there are still all on a balanced playing field.

[Mobile Mike]

Originally Posted by TheNasaWildman

Well let's not forget about Alltel. They have ranked higher than ALL of the wireless carriers including Verizon on Call quality. See so for your self April 23, 2008

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Alltel Wireless, America’s largest network, is proud to announce that J.D. Power and Associates in its 2008 Wireless Call Quality Performance StudySM – Vol. 1. ranked Alltel Wireless:
• “Highest Call Quality Performance Among Wireless Cell Phone Users In the West Region”
• “Highest Call Quality Performance Among Wireless Cell Phone Users In the Southeast Region”
• “Highest Call Quality Performance Among Wireless Cell Phone Users In the Southwest Region in a Tie”

The study measured wireless call quality based on seven problem areas that impact overall carrier performance: dropped calls; static/interference; failed connection on the first try; voice distortion; echoes; no immediate voice mail notification; and no immediate text message notification... Now it looks like there are still all on a balanced playing field.

Maybe if Alltel were a true national carrier, they would've been included in this survey. The fact is they're not.

[RJB]

I am sure there are studies that would say Verizon is last and Sprint is first. It all comes down to who you trust and want to believe. Nothing is perfect and you have to take things with a grain of salt.

[Mobile Mike]

Originally Posted by RJB

I am sure there are studies that would say Verizon is last and Sprint is first. It all comes down to who you trust and want to believe. Nothing is perfect and you have to take things with a grain of salt.

Very true!

Just for that, you're getting a "Thanks" my friend! (if the button existed in the Wireless News area...)

[Eric47]

Originally Posted by Mobile Mike

Maybe if Alltel were a true national carrier, they would've been included in this survey. The fact is they're not.

lol so true.

[RJB]

Originally Posted by Mobile Mike

Very true!

Just for that, you're getting a "Thanks" my friend! (if the button existed in the Wireless News area...)

LOL well you can hit me up somewhere else on this one.