• by Aaron Baar , July 29, 2011

Contract-based wireless customers tend to be more satisfied with the customer service their carrier provides than those on pay-as-you-go or non-contract plans.

According to new research from J.D. Power and Associates, contract wireless service providers have a higher index score than non-contract companies (761 vs. 738, on a 1,000-point scale) when it comes to overall customer care. Much of the difference may be because of the intelligence contract-based plans possess about their customers (account information, usage, rates) than the non-contract plans. The increased intelligence results in fewer transfers and shorter wait times (4.4 minutes vs. 5.5 minutes) than non-contract customers, says Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services for J.D. Power.

"On the non-contract side, they're pretty much in the dark" when it comes to customer information through help calls or e-mails, Parsons tells Marketing Daily. "Satisfaction really drops with the more transfers and the longer on hold you are."

That satisfaction is an important factor when it comes to customer churn. Among customers who say they "definitely will not switch" carriers in the next 12 months, the customer care score was an average 834, while those who said they "definitely will switch" had an average score of 618, a difference of 216 points.

Among the full-service carriers, Verizon Wireless ranked the highest in customer care performance, with a score of 770. T-Mobile followed with a score of 766, just above the category average of 762. Sprint Nextel and AT&T had scores of 754 and 751, respectively.

Despite the non-contract companies having lower overall customer care rankings, Parsons noted that Boost Mobile scored 763, well above the category average of 709 and just above the category average in the contract wireless space. "They're comparable to full-service providers" when it comes to customer care, Parsons says.