Verizon tops in wireless survey, Sprint falls behind

Wed May 21, 2008 3:35PM EDT

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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!

Related:
ACSI news 2008

 

Comments on Verizon tops in wireless survey, Sprint falls behind

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  • 1446 Posted by opal2407 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:46PM EDT Report Abuse

    I had Verizon and AT&T and Cingular and now I am with T-mobile and I love them...thier customer service is second to none and in the areas where there are no T-mobile towers, my phone switches to AT&T at no additional charge...Funny since I hate Cingular/AT&T what a crock...Verizon was good to me but I got a big discount because of work with Cingular/AT&T so I went with them, what a mistake...I went with T-mobile because of their international coverage and they are great.

  • 1447 Posted by tricia729729 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:21PM EDT Report Abuse

    I have Sprint, and have been a Nextel customer for 10 years. Currently have Blackberry Curve. Outstanding coverage throughout west, TX and NC- no problems. Everything plan (and I mean unlimited everything) is awesome. Customer service a 6 out of 10, blackberry support I would rate 10/10. Consistant and knowl. Very sat with phone and broadband card

  • 1448 Posted by repete_recording on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:36PM EDT Report Abuse

    I've been with Verizon before it was Verizon in the Chicago area (it used to be Ameritech) If it weren't for their stupid commercials (especially "we wish you a red hot deal day") I'd have no complaints. When I started it cost $10 per line + .25¢ a minute,which when I do the math is about equal to what 100 minutes costs now. They also pro-rate the early termination fee (ETF)

  • 1449 Posted by lhhsballa on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:50PM EDT Report Abuse

    I have had Sprint for almost 3 years and have never had a billing problem of any kind. I get just as good service as any of the other carriers in the central florida region and a cheap deal. I would have to say that the main reason Sprint has the lower score is because they don't have as cool of phones. They don't have the iphone, hopefully the Instinct will prove to be just as good if not better.

  • 1450 Posted by tyga_style on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:25PM EDT Report Abuse

    I have been with Sprint for almost a decade, and I have never really had any problems. When I did call customer service with a complaint following Hurricane Katrina (though it was outsourced to India) My problem was resolved and I was given free service for a month and a discount on my bill. Unlike most of the comments I have read, my bill actually goes down monthly, unless I exceed my Minutes by 1000. I have 2 lines of service with unlimited txt, web, GPS, mobile to mobile and my bill is usually $145-$170. Sprint coverage is the best in the southeast; websurfing is superfast, but maybe that just the southeast coverage area. Plus, like it or not, they have the fastet network for music downloads, web browsing, etc.

  • 1451 Posted by timboykin52 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:10PM EDT Report Abuse

    T-mobile is my carrier now. I've had AT&T (old AT&T and then Cingular), and sorry to say, the customer service and price gouging is the reason I left. I am a Blackberry fan, so when I found out Tmobile has BB data for less that half of ATT, I jumped. Now that I have been with Tmobile for about 8 months, I find the customer reps are really helpful! The only drawback is coverage, so if your area has good Tmobile coverage, I recommend them.

  • 1452 Posted by tyga_style on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:25PM EDT Report Abuse

    Oh yeah, my free nights and weekends start at 6pm instead of the industry standard 9pm. Sprint does it for me.

  • 1453 Posted by phisher00 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:10PM EDT Report Abuse

    I definitely do not agree with AT&T's score. They pride themselves on having the strongest network - i.e. the fewest dropped calls - but ever since they merged with Cingular (my previous carrier), my service has been terrible. Dropped calls (several times/day), screwed up billing (three out of the last five months), rollover minutes/mobile-mobile options mysteriously disappearing and an overall craptastic approach to customer service have me looking for other providers. I've been with Cingular for 8 years now, but Verizon is looking mighty attractive.

  • 1454 Posted by christine6_14_94 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:24PM EDT Report Abuse

    I cancelled my GPS and Telenav with Sprint 8 months ago and they were still charging me 20 dollar per month for it. I had insurance and i submitted a claim, the declined it and sent me a letter saying that they can no longer insure me but they were still charging me 4 dollars for each phone. I cannot wait until my contract ends on August 8th to switch to another company.

  • 1455 Posted by refields1210 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:35PM EDT Report Abuse

    I have had Sprint for two years now. Only had one issue, and, it was taken care of with one call. I will be signing a new contact next month.

  • 1456 Posted by ljrichards76 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:55PM EDT Report Abuse

    I signed up for T-mobile the week they launched their service (it was Voicestream then), and I have been happy with them since Day One. I just went through a nightmare with my phone, but they were awesome working with me and the new phone seems to be pretty good. I had one person be rude to me in the whole time that I've worked with them (and I've called customer support hundreds of times in 8 years). The coverage area was not great in 2000, but they add towers everyday and on a recent trip to the Caribbean, I was the only one with with cell phone service!

  • 1457 Posted by james.doolin86 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:27PM EDT Report Abuse

    I have had every cellular company offered in the united states. I am an Army brat and moved often. I can say that the best company that I have ever had was T-Mobile. I had them from 1997 to March of 2002 when I moved to the middle of no where. I called them to get a local number, they told me that they did not offer service there and they offered to cancel my service at NO FEE! They waived the early termination fee! What other company will do that. I currently have Alltel and can not wait until T-Mobile comes into my market. I will be there faster than fat chicks on cake.

  • 1458 Posted by pk_imobile on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:14PM EDT Report Abuse

    My parents have had Verizon for over 8 years...no problems that couldn't be resolved quickly. Great service, great coverage, great phones...miles better than anything else. It's a bit expensive, but you get what you pay for with cell phones. I'll give them a 90.

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