AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon goaded into customer service showdown
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted September 29th 2009 2:59PM
posted September 29th 2009 2:59PM
It doesn't matter who your carrier is, you're gonna have some complaints. But is the grass always greener somewhere else? To answer that question, the kids at Laptop Magazine have conducted a test of the customer service practices of the big four (Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T) to ascertain each company's friendliness, knowledge, and timeliness. The publication placed customer service calls twice during a week (once at midday and once during rush hour), visited two stores per carrier in New York City, and tried to find solutions to its problems using each carrier's online knowledge base. Apparently, T-Mobile takes the prize for in-store assistance and web support, and Sprint, while not always able to answer questions, at least had taken steps to streamline the support process (and the fact that its employees were friendly didn't hurt). Apparently Verizon Wireless offered solid in-store support (albeit with grumpy employees), "quick and accurate phone support" and "solid" online help. AT&T, sadly, was the loser here -- Laptop says it left the store "shocked" that one representative couldn't figure out how to get email up and running on its Blackberry. Shocking! Hit the read link to see for yourself.
Sprint so far has been the best carrier I've used, they have awesome customer service and even give me a call every few weeks to make sure I'm getting the best service possible. AT&T is the worst customer service I have had to deal with and Verizon wasn't that much better when I had them either.
I've been really happy with Verizon, and it's helps that I get 20% of my bill from my employer, even though I got fired =] Not sure why I still get the employee discount, but I'm not complaining.
Sprint has really turned around and offer great pricing and coverages that meet my needs.
Verizon when I was with them messed up my contract and phone number within the first 3 days of being with them and then on top of that my personal Verizon phone couldn't receive phone calls, like it would ring but I couldn't talk to the person. When I went to the Verizon store they said they couldn't help me and when I spoke to a manager she told me to deal with it. Never again will I make the mistake of going back to Verizon.
They must have improved then. I used to use them years ago and their service was abysmal.
When I had AT&T and had signal issues they told me "Go outside to make calls". When it was proven I only had 1 bar outside my home they still wouldn't let me out of my contract. (we just moved to a new area). $150 dollars later and 3hrs on the phone we got out.
Sprint gave me a free Airave for switching and waived the monthly fee when they saw their signal wasn't so great in my area either. Then my wife's Pre took a dive three months later (with no warranty plan) and when I called to see what they could do they (without question) overnighted us a refurbished Pre and an envelope to drop the old one into to send back free of charge.
I couldn't be happier with Sprint.
my issue with at&t was my phones (all 12-14 of them I had) kept dropping calls, so instead of trying to work with me to find a resolution they would just send another refurbished phone. I had literally 12-14 phones the year I was with them and toward the end (and the final decision to cancel with them) they started charging me these random internet fees on top of my unlimited data package. I had to call in every month to be re-reimbursed and they couldn't fix it no matter how many hours I was on the phone with support. So finally I called them to cancel and told them I didn't want to pay the cancellation fee because they were not able to meet my needs and the rep actually told me I hadn't called in and their were no logs of any of the calls I made. I was so ticked that I just paid the cancellation fee and went straight to a Sprint store and got my Pre. In the end I found out the issue was that here in Atlanta the towers are mix matched, as in one tower will be analog and the next tower will be digital...well with a GSM smart phone from at&t when it switches between the towers it drops your call. Worst part was that the place I worked at was in between two of them. The funniest dropped call I had was when I was working half a mile away from their headquarters in Georgia and I was right next to the window looking at the building, ridiculous.
@DizWiz
That's similar to my reason for leaving Sprint. I couldn't get any bars in my house. Constantly dropped calls. Even outside, the service was horrible. I called to get out of my contract. They told me that it was in my contract that, if I terminated early, I'd have to pay the penalty. I said, "Well, I don't have the contract in front of me--but does it say anything about the service actually having to work?!"
I was pissed. There's still a blemish on my credit thanks to them.
I had sprint a few years ago and I had nothing but problems.. screwed up charges for things that were included already, some slight signal issues (I live in a highly populated 5-military-base area), and they cut off my account entirely with no warning... then made me sign another contract to get my service back. not to mention I couldn't understand a single person that I spoke with at that company, so fixing issues took over an hour and I felt dirty after the call..
Verizon was some of the best service I've had in my life. the only time I had to call them was when I wanted to upgrade or change something (and they were FAST, polite, and knowledgeable). the signal in my area is excellent, they had a decent selection of phones that I liked, they NEVER screwed up my bill, and when I finally left them the ETF was smaller because of the time I had spent with them. can't praise them enough.
T-mobile was a nightmare. me, both of my roommates, and both of my parents went to t-mobile a little over a year ago because they had the curve for 50 bucks with no rebate at best buy.... we picked out a plan, got the UMA calling hoping that it would make up for the lack of gsm 2g signal in my apartment complex, and went home... over the period of the next year we had nothing but issues. my mom's, one of my roomie's, and my own blackberries all had issues with bloated batteries (no, we don't overcharge them.. only plug them in when they're almost completely dead)... and tmobile told me and my roomie that we would have to pay 30 bucks to get a new one... but replaced my mom's battery for free. inconsistencies. my mom had to replace her curve 3 times because of not being able to hear people, or it was dropping calls, or for some reason it wouldn't always recognize the sim card on startup. also, it never properly stayed connected to the router (no matter which router we were on). to top it off, when I finally decided to get the iphone that I have now and cancel my account, they told me that the details I had been given when we purchased our phones were incorrect and that the ETF would not decrease until we had them for a year and a half.
AT&T has been excellent so far.. no issues setting up the phone, no issues with customer service, decent price on the plan I have, and unlike tmobile, I actually have 3G signal in my apartment. everything works as advertised. time will tell I suppose.
been happy w/ sprint too. but interestingly enough, when i cancelled at&t they called 3 days later w/ a survey. didn't try anything but questions. i was actually pleased they cared to know why i switched (& if you're reading, at&t, it's your pricing & terrible reception/data).
I f***ing hate AT&T. They screwed my bill, overcharged me $300!!! Took me talking to multiple supervisors and hours on the phone to have them fix it.
None of the results of Laptop Magazine's informal test come as any surprise. For years this has pretty much been exactly the same results garnered by JD Power and Associates scientific indexing of all the major wireless carriers.
They conduct the indexing every six months, and true to form, this year's reports continue to fall in line with previous years reports on the matter. You can read up on the JD Power reports for 2009, below:
http://www.jdpower.com/corporate/news/releases/pressrelease.aspx?ID=2009015
http://www.jdpower.com/corporate/news/releases/pressrelease.aspx?ID=2009148
They must have a different AT&T than the one I use. I have never gotten bad support or service (9 years now), and I get signal where the others don't. I don't forsee ever leaving AT&T.
I work with at&t in the call center and I have their service. I dont think people realize that when you call in and say "my phone isnt working" we have to stay on the phone (we can never disconnect the call) to determine whats wrong with your phone and how to fix it its not as easy OR fast as most people want it to be. Also they do listen to calls and grade them and if we do not fix your issue we can get marked and after so many calls of not fixing the customers problem we can get fired! so trust me we want to help you with your phone. Also since I use their service everyday I would recommend them I have done a warranty exchange and insurance claim on my phone and both times got my new phone very fast I would recommend getting the insurance on your phone because if you drop it in water or lose it you can call and get a new one with the insurance (warranty on your phone does not cover water damage and you cannot do a warranty exchange if you do not have the phone to send back to them). Like this article says you are going to have complaints about any service carrier that you have and since at&t and other carriers use each others towers switching carriers is not always the answer to your problem
I've had service with all but Sprint. I've had Verizon for many years now and overall am very happy with them. We have a truck with OnStar and were able to set up a cell number on our account for the truck. It's handy in places where there is no cell service, which is rare. Customer service by phone is great; depending on what store you visit the service can be a bit spotty.
Gosh, wouldn't that be very annoying if your phone company called you every week to check on their service? That would annoy me.
Not all that shocking.
I for one am shocked AND appalled!
Sprint's phone service is a train wreck in all aspects, and their in-store CS falls short in the knowledge department. I will admit that this article has its merits, but from years of first-hand experience with Sprint CS I can confidently say their rating is far too high.
From what I've read, Sprint has taken steps recently to significantly improve their customer service.
sprint changed their entire company. they have been ranked #1 in customer service lately and their pricing beats everyone.
Pretty much the order I expected. T-Mo has great service, excellent phones, and good connection speeds. The only downside is the coverage, which is probably the worst of the big 4.
LOL at failure to identify game show.
That's not wheel of fortune...
Sprint in second place?! Wow... good work!
Well I could have told u that. I'm an AT&T customer who just re-uped my contract with them The in store support is really hectic, and the CS people always seem too busy! T-mobile is prob the best, because they have less customers to service. I've had them and the service is good.
The reason phone support seems busy is because of our quality assurance policies that force us to say a line of shit that takes up the customers time while hitting certain spots regardless of our ability to resolve the issue.
Reps are under daily pressure to pass QA which require saying "it is our pleasure to assist you" and give a call closing that annoys most all customers but resolution is not a top priority. Under Cingular, the customers issue came first, now perception does and we do that horribly too.
Failure to pass QA results in termination so resolving an issue takes a backseat to ensuring we still have a job tomorrow.
Whomever makes the internal QA policies should be let go and someone new come in to look at it but please don't blame the reps, they do what is required to keep their jobs.
@AT&T Rep
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
Hey AT&T rep most call centers make you stay on the line but you can't pay for personality, some people know how to talk some don't... This includes T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint. Sprint has been surprisingly great this time around. For the last 4 years they have progressively improved to be as good as T-Mobile over the phone. All of them rush to help when they think you're starting a new line of service but T-Mobile and Sprint in my experience have maintained that enthusiastic attitude when they learn your in for support or to pay a bill or something. It all depends what city and volume store you're dealing with.
@AT&T Rep
Same with DSL. Top priorities are keeping the customer from calling back for 72 hours, getting off the phone as quick as possible, and getting a survey back. I'm getting hounded because I'd rather spend an hour with someone and fix there issue then the 20mins we're "allowed" and not do anything. I'm pretty much disgusted with AT&T as an employee and customer. As soon as I can get another job and gett out of my contract I will. Hopefully someone will file a anti-trust and we'll get Cingular back.....nothing but problems the last 2 years with AT&T.
Yeah right. That explains every slow motion idiot I've run into at the AT&T stores. Seriously, maybe you're actually quite smart and all, but my experiences in the AT&T stores I've been to has been truly awful. Mostly they just couldn't be bothered to do much of anything, just lazy and stupid. Sure I can believe AT&T doesn't pay them enough, or train them enough, or whatever so its maybe not their fault or something (to a degree), but your scripting excuse doesn't ring true for me, sorry.
At least he didn't say Let's Make a Deal...
I've never had a problem dealing with Verizon's customer service. They always speak clearly and have been helpful whenever I've called. Sprint was not as good from what I can remember. I seem to remember them calling me numerous times asking me to renew my contract for two years. I told them on more than one occasion to leave me alone and that I just wanted to stay month to month. Never have had a call like this from Verizon.
Not surprised AT&T came last, they have the WORST support ever. I have called in a few times, mostly for account related questions. Their staff isn't even aware of their own pricing policies for one. Two they are the rudest people ever, I have been hung up on. I have asked to speak to a manager only to be put on hold, then disconnected from. I can't wait until the iPhone is on another carrier, AT&T has more then their network to fix, they have to fix their support staff FIRST!!!
As I stated earlier AT&T by far has the worst support I've ever dealt with.
To tell me that I have 'service' with a single bar of non-3G coverage and suggested " You should be able to go outside in your yard to make and receive calls" as my solution was beyond mind boggling. It took three months to get them to drop my ETF from $300 to $150 even though I moved to another state and unfortunately we didn't have coverage.
So it was bye-bye iphone, hello Sprint and Pre.
I never expect any in-store clerks to know anything. I just want them to setup my account the way I like it, and give me the information needed for me to setup my device. No touching my devices, I should be the one that manhandle them first. :P
From my experience, I think T-Mobile is on top, basing that they're the only one that have an easy unlocking policy (albeit unadvertised). I'm just starting with AT&T, so will see how things go. All my friends that used to use Sprint never have anything positive to say about them, ranging from overcharging to depleting my friend's checking account despite having his service canceled already (the last one was pretty serious). I have no experience with Verizon.
nice to see you, to see you is nice
If there wasn't a 28% employer discount, I'd switch from AT&T in a heartbeat. These guys sent me an SMS to call them because my wife's iPhone 2G (bought from ebay, unlocked) didn't have required iphone service. Some guy sold it for cheap because his contract was over.
When I called ATT rep asked me to either stop using that phone or sign up for data service for that line (I already have it for my Fuze) even though the phone wasn't purchased from them. Ridiculous.
verizon people in-store are always pissed off at the world. anytime i come in there, i get the "look". always call customer service, they can deal with the issues faster, and if you don't like the one you have, hang up and call back.
This is far from the case in the Durham, NC Verizon store. I went with my wife to ask a question about removing an old employer's software from her black berry once she started her new job. They were very helpful, and answered all our questions. I really liked the ticket system they have there. You sign in when you walk in the door and then when someone at the counter opens up they call your name out in the order that you signed in on the computer. Simple, quick, and painless.
This is just a testament of the work Sprint has put into improving customer service. I have been with them since the June Pre launch and my reception is better and the customer service is great. It took me no time to call Sprint, tell them I didn't get my rebate check and they said they would mail a new one right out. No discussion, no haggling, no upsells, nothing, just got me what I wanted.
I've been with Sprint for almost 8 years. I've been using the same technique to deal with their CS the whole time, and it works great. Here's the secret: If you don't get what you want, hang up, and call again. The reps have the authority to pull some crazy shit, you just need to push the right buttons, or get the right rep that day.
It's really been that simple, and I've been one happy camper.
@Mjayhunt
They're not willing to investigate why they're still giving you a discount because that's just too much money to find out (and they make plenty off you anyway ;) ). I stopped working for the government for almost 4 years and I was still getting that discount. Then I moved to a different state and they updated it for my new employer and got an even bigger discount still!
You mean Deal or No Deal? Double Fail!
Many of times the quality of service from customer support depends on the quality of the user.
A knowledgeable user can ask the questions more directly with the greater possibility of a quick solution.
Regardless of the carrier, research ahead of time on many websites regarding the device and issue you are dealing with will result in an answer or a better understanding of the problem. Remember, you aren't the only user of that device and your problem has bound to have happen to many other users.
If other users have already tried the channels of customer support, they often will give the what solved their problem. If you still have to go to the store or call technical support, at least you can be armed with the potential solution that you need support to finish for you.
My example: My ATT Tilt's LCD screen washout to the point of being almost white. The phone still operated, but the lack of good screen interface made some features unusable. Researching online, I found out what caused it and that many other people experienced it. Also, I found that that since the phone wasn't a years old, I could get it replaced in person or through the mail at their Device Support Center (not ATT store itself). The DSC is actually staff by higher paid technical experts and not store salesmen. My issue was solved quickly.
It doesn't mean ATT is at the top of the service heap. It isn't. It just that you have to know how to navigate the customer support problems.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Price_Is_Right
Italy
OK, il prezzo è giusto! - Babelfish tells me that means you just FAILED.
@i_am_rich,
You are rich in fail and idiocy.
Where is Brucie's Bargain Bar?
Babelfish doesn't tell you that thing was called La Ruota Della Fortuna or something
Where's US Cellular in the lineup? They have awesome phones, great coverage and free incoming calls. Also, Joan Cusack. She can kick Katherine Zeta-Jones' a$$. Also, they own Comiskey Park in Chicago. I say they're #1.
Don't all networks have free incoming calls????