telecom

Cell Phone Providers Still Not Pleasing People

angry at mobile

American consumers remain dissatisfied with their cell phone providers. And, nearly half are unhappy with their cell phone service, according to a survey conducted by Consumer Reports of more than 50,000 readers. Nearly two-thirds had at least one major complaint about their cell phone carrier, with about 20% naming price as the chief issue (more than any other factor.)

"What the [carriers] will tell you is, 'we have sexy new phones and better coverage,' and you would think there would be some improvement in satisfaction, but they're not any more satisfied than they were last year," Jeff Blyskal, the senior editor at Consumer Reports who wrote the story appearing in the magazine's January issue, tells Marketing Daily.

Still, consumers were more pleased with Verizon Wireless than the other carriers. Verizon, the nation's largest carrier, garnered above average ratings on nearly every attribute (customer support, voice connectivity, and data services) -- despite higher costs -- than other carriers. T-Mobile came in second in overall satisfaction, while Sprint and AT&T trailed behind.

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"Verizon is clearly the hands-down winner in this, but T-Mobile does very well in some of the markets," Blyskal says.

Having the latest and greatest phone -- a key marketing tactic of the carriers -- is still the way to get subscribers to switch plans. According to the publication, 38% of consumers who switched phones in the past two years did so to get the phone they wanted. More than a quarter of them (27%) went shopping with a specific phone in mind. Not surprisingly, the iPhone is the most desired phone, and 98% of iPhone users said they would purchase the phone again, despite the low ratings of the phone's exclusive carrier, AT&T.

Consumers are also using their phones for more varied communications. According to the survey, nearly 70% of respondents sent and received text messages, compared with 55% in a similar survey conducted two years ago. Also, 40% of users access the Internet with their phones, up from 23% in 2007. Despite that, only 24% of the respondents rated their cell-phone Web and e-mail experiences as "excellent."

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