Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhone
AT&T ranked last in cellphone service survey
There's bad news for AT&T in a recent customer satisfaction poll. Consumer Reports asked 50,000 readers across 26 U.S. cities to rank cell service providers on a variety of scales. Verizon came out ahead in 19 of the 26 cities. AT&T was dead last.Dropped calls and voice service were among the chief complaints, and that's no surprise to us. We've heard the frustration of fewer bars in more places and experienced it ourselves.
But here's the interesting part. Despite the dissatisfaction with AT&T, 98% of respondents said they'd buy another iPhone. It would seem that the overall experience is good enough to eclipse the gaping hole in what should be the device's main function: making and receiving calls.
Last summer, I spent a week in the middle-of-nowhere, Pennsylvania. Everyone's Verizon-powered phone worked perfectly while my iPhone had gone deaf and dumb. Frustrating for me, and bad PR for my relatives. If the iPhone does go non-exclusive in the US, I'll be the first in line to switch.
When reached for comment, AT&T had this to say:
"We appreciate and value all customer feedback. We learn from it and it helps us serve our customers better. Without question the surest indication of customer satisfaction is churn, or turnover. For the last quarter, our postpaid churn was just 1.17 percent."
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Cowicide said 6:08PM on 12-01-2009
I'm not getting an iPhone till Apple opens it up. I know I'm not alone.
Reply
pdott said 12:54AM on 12-02-2009
Another blow on the side of AT&T indeed. And now consumers are speaking
up via the surveys conducted.
In their battle between Verizon, I think it's better if they didn't file a lawsuit.
Now, AT&T is reaping what it has sow, unfortunately its for the worst...
see the detailed review: http://bit.ly/att-going-down-verizon-is-laughing
Michael Bushnell said 9:45AM on 12-02-2009
Join the club. I get a discount on Verizon through my work. I can get a Droid Eris on a one year contract for $129.99 or a Droid on a one year contract for $229.99. Plus I get 20% off my bill, and great coverage. Yeah the iPhone is cool, but it isn't cool enough to make me forgo all the reasons to stay on Verizon.
macserv said 7:09PM on 12-05-2009
What's funniest is that if Apple's device does become available from carriers other than the crapfest that is AT&T, customers certainly aren't going to want to be force-fed Verizon's shit sandwich, either.
I'd drop AT&T in a heartbeat for a T-Mo iPhone, though. Or a Sprint CLEAR (WiMAX) iPhone. *drool*
Jordan said 6:11PM on 12-01-2009
It's funny how Apple, a company that likes to claim customer service and superiority, would lock one of their biggest produts to such a crappy company.
Reply
Dale said 6:14PM on 12-01-2009
Money buys more things than customer satisfaction. Until the latter is bad enough that it impacts the former, they're not going to do anything.
Jordan said 6:17PM on 12-01-2009
True, but it still impacts Apple's image. We here know the difference between service provider and phone manufacturer, but average jolly holly always just blames the phone.
I feel it will start impacting the former sooner rather than later. A lot of people who bought iPhones at the time of the iphones rise are having contracts that are expiring soon. I expect many of those people to leave the phone and the provider.
Dave said 6:21PM on 12-01-2009
I'm not sure what other option they had.... T-Mobile? They wanted to produce a phone that could be sold around the world, not just in the US. So they made a deal with the largest cell provider that uses the same standard as most of the rest of the world. I am certain that no one at Apple is happy with the service provided by AT&T, which is why the exclusive contract was not extended or renewed with AT&T.
Unfortunately Apple still only makes the iPhone compatible with AT&T's network, so even if it were to be opened up, there would not be that much choice here in the US.
Cronick said 6:26PM on 12-01-2009
Just watch what happens to my Apple stock when they open it up... lol (all the way to the bank!)
Jordan said 6:27PM on 12-01-2009
Which is why they should just make a CDMA phone. People bought CDMA phones before, it's not going to stop them now.
" They wanted to produce a phone that could be sold around the world, not just in the US. So they made a deal with the largest cell provider that uses the same standard as most of the rest of the world"
They originally wanted Verizon to be the provider. Is Verizon GSM? I'm personally not sure. If they are not, this makes your point invalid.
Jordan said 6:29PM on 12-01-2009
@Cronik: Just watch what happens to your Apple stock if they DON'T open it up. Alllll the way into the red.
puhsitch said 6:50PM on 12-01-2009
It was a necessary evil. Before the iPhone's release, Apple needed a major provider more than any of the providers (thought they) needed Apple. As long as the contract had an end point, I'm sure AT&T was their safest bet.
Izzy said 6:53PM on 12-01-2009
It's cheaper to make one model phone than two. While I have no idea at the logic in talking to Verizon (CDMA) when most of the world is GSM, obviously they did go GSM. By sticking to one model they are saving a fortune, and the only people who lose out are Verizon customers (if they wanted an iPhone). Will they make a CDMA phone when exclusivity is over? Maybe, but I doubt it.
Dave said 8:07PM on 12-01-2009
But Verizons GSM network does not work in Europe, and China, and most of the rest of the world. They would need to start producing 2 different phones if they wanted to do Verizon.
I am not arguing that they should not, in fact they should... But when they initially announced the iPhone, Steve Jobs was saying if they got 1% of the worlds cell phone market they would be extremely happy. I don't think they anticipated the popularity of the iPhone... So they rolled the dice and went with the phone that would garner them the largest portion of the world's network capability...
Hind sight is 20/20. They now need to do the right thing... Now that the exclusive contract with AT&T is ending soon.
Dave said 8:09PM on 12-01-2009
Sorry, that's Verizons CDMA network
William said 1:30PM on 12-02-2009
Verizon scored 75, T-Mobile scored 70, Sprint scored 67, and AT&T scored 66. Consumer Reports said that a difference of 3 points is meaningless. So basically, T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T all suck equally according to them. And Verizon isn't much better. If Verizon is "winning" with a grade of C, that's not much of a victory.
And before anybody rails on me, I have an AT&T account, a Sprint account, and a Verizon account, and I don't have problems with any of them. I just wanted to point out the apparent bias in this article in smashing on AT&T.
Jash Sayani said 3:43PM on 12-02-2009
I agree to Dale.
BTW, its good, atleast Att got Ranked! I thought they would be Unranked.
ryan said 6:16PM on 12-01-2009
"Without question the surest indication of customer satisfaction is churn, or turnover. For the last quarter, our postpaid churn was just 1.17 percent."
wow, just wow.
i have great coverage but, I feel bad for those that don't.
if the iphone opens up to other carriers watch that percent of churn grow.
Reply
Shunnabunich said 4:02AM on 12-02-2009
Translation:
"Without question the surest indication of customer satisfaction is the number of people we've made too afraid to cancel their contracts or opt for a second-rate smartphone in favour of getting any service. For the last quarter, the exceptions accounted for just 1.17 percent."
rxhenn said 6:15PM on 12-01-2009
"the surest indication of customer satisfaction is churn, or turnover ... our postpaid churn was just 1.17 percent".....yeah just wait until the iphone gets opened up to other carriers. guess what your turnover will be then! False sense of security? I think yes
Reply