By Are we surprised anymore? Quarter after quarter, J.D. Power and Associates surveys a number of cell phone users in America (9,690 to be exact this volume) on how satisfied they are with their carrier’s customer service (they had to have come in contact with retail sales associates in stores or over the phone in the past 6 months). T-Mobile’s long been at the top of that list, and they’re enjoying the honor again this morning so we can enjoy another three months of ads highlighting that.
Here are some of the accolades they continued to rack up in more detail:
- T-Mobile is the sole highest-ranked among all wireless providers in Overall Customer Care Performance, and significantly above the industry average.
- In direct interactions with customer service representatives, T-Mobile scores higher than any other wireless provider.
- On calls that began with the ARS and transferred to a customer service representative, T-Mobile leads all wireless providers.
- For customers walking into a retail store for service, T-Mobile scores above industry average.
If my personal experiences are anything to go by when I was with T-Mobile ever since I was a young teen (I left for Sprint this past June), then they definitely deserve it. They’re efficient, polite, and – if you’re a “loyalty” customer of theirs – they nearly treat you like royalty. I’m not just saying that, either, because their customer service made it very hard for me to leave them. They were one of the first supporters of Android, and while I was more advanced than your average T-Mobile G1/Android customer, I can tell they really cared about the platform and made a strong effort to train employees on the OS to make sure other users weren’t left in the dark. All that said, we wish them the best as they continue to please millions of their customers at the point of sale and support.
Customers Rank T-Mobile USA Highest
In Wireless Customer Service
Independent Study by J.D. Power and Associates Gives T-Mobile
Top Honors for Superior Customer ServiceBELLEVUE, Wash. —July 29, 2010 — T-Mobile USA, Inc. continues to earn accolades for its dedication to providing customers with superior service. J.D. Power and Associates today announced that T-Mobile was the sole wireless carrier to earn the highest ranking in their 2010 Wireless Customer Care Performance StudySM — Volume 2.
“We are honored to be recognized as the wireless industry’s highest ranked customer service provider,” says Brian Brueckman, group vice president, customer service, T-Mobile USA. “This award is a reflection of our frontline employees’ commitment to customer delight as well as our entire organization’s focus on helping customers realize the full potential of our great products and services.”
Today’s honor continues to demonstrate T-Mobile’s commitment to providing an outstanding customer experience. The study provides a detailed report card based on consumer experiences on the phone with T-Mobile customer service representatives, through an automated response system (ARS), in person at T-Mobile retail stores and online at http://www.t-mobile.com. The study shows the following:
T-Mobile is the sole highest-ranked among all wireless providers in Overall Customer Care Performance, and significantly above the industry average.
In direct interactions with customer service representatives, T-Mobile scores higher than any other wireless provider.
On calls that began with the ARS and transferred to a customer service representative, T-Mobile leads all wireless providers.
For customers walking into a retail store for service, T-Mobile scores above industry average.The 2010 Wireless Customer Care Performance Study – Volume 2 is based on responses from 9,690 wireless customers who had a customer care experience within the past six months. Online interviews were conducted between January and June of 2010.
Recent recognition of T-Mobile’s customer service excellence also extends to its retail customer experience. Earlier this year, T-Mobile received the highest ranking for retail customer satisfaction in the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 Wireless Retail Sales Satisfaction StudySM — Volume 1.
More information about J.D. Power and Associates studies can be found at http://www.jdpower.com.
About T-Mobile USA, Inc.
Based in Bellevue, Wash., T-Mobile USA, Inc. is the U.S. wireless operation of Deutsche Telekom AG. By the end of the first quarter of 2010, approximately 150 million mobile customers were served by the mobile communication segments of the Deutsche Telekom group — 33.7 million by T-Mobile USA — all via a common technology platform based on GSM and UMTS, the world’s most widely used digital wireless standards. T-Mobile USA’s innovative wireless products and services help empower people to connect to those who matter most. Multiple independent research studies continue to rank T-Mobile among the highest in numerous regions throughout the U.S. in wireless customer care and call quality. For more information, please visit http://www.T-Mobile.com. T-Mobile is a federally registered trademark of Deutsche Telekom AG.# # #
That’s really the biggest reason I will stick with them, besides being a gsm service. Came from att and sprint before that, have been with tmo since.
Been with them for 14 years, started with OmniPoint, then VoiceStream, then T-Mobile.
They’ve always been excellent with me. Though their Android phones have been a bit lagging as of late I have great hopes for their upcoming HTC whatever HSPA+.
I love their customer service. They have sent me free batteries and have replaced my phones in the past without question. They didn’t talk to me like I was stupid or trying to pull something on them. They asked a few questions but they were knowledgeable, helpful and best of all they trusted me. They have always suggested other plans according to my usage to save me money too.
I couldn’t agree more! A great store rep experience & their pricing makes all the difference!
We would be with T-Mobile if they had coverage at our house. We tried them out for 1.5 weeks and loved the customer service. Unfortunately the phone is replacing a landline. We are now with AT&T and have not had any troubles.
This strikes me as very, very strange. Here in Germany the customer support and any service from t-mobile is the worst I have ever encountered in my life. I will not personally and will recommend everyone I know not to buy anything from them again, ever. I have never been treated that bad by any company.
Strange since t-mobile is Deutsche Telekom. One would imagine that they would try to treat their home customers nicely.
Sorry about your experience, not everyone is perfect though. Move to the US : )
Unfortunately for T-Mobile, customer service are the people that you ideally NEVER have to deal with. And, even in rough times, you don’t need to deal with them daily. On the other hand, I did rely on their network daily for making calls, sending email, etc. And that definitely left something to be desired. They have GREAT customer service, no doubts about that. I just wish that great customer service – rather than a great network – wasn’t the best – and often only – thing good that you could say about them.
@Rappstar…I think there network is great. I drive all over Maryland and never drop any calls. When I am near Baltimore and Washington DC my Vibrant get’s download speeds over 5 Mb/s. Name one other carrier who has download speeds that fast. Even Sprint’s WiMax isn’t as fast. My buddy and his Evo only see 3 Mb/s download speeds.
That’s due to HSPA+ being proven faster than Wimax.
I’ve been with T-Mobile for a number of years now. The coverage is great here in Chicago. When I’ve used their customer service it’s been a good experience. But really, I rarely have to use them. I love that they use GSM technology. The only knock on them, which would only matter to this site, is their lack of high-end Android phones. They’re changing that now that they’ve brought out the Vibrant, have some HTC coming in late August, and their Project Emerald coming end of the year. (I don’t count the Nexus One as a T-Mobile phone.) Keeping customers happy should always be a company’s #1 goal. I’m surprised coolmangina hasn’t posted his daily t-mobile rant. It’s been awhile, I think I’m starting to miss them.
Where i live their coverage is decent and their customer service is above par. Been with them almost 6 years and dont really have any desire to switch. i’ve had all other carriers except sprint and this is still my favorite.
Yes – I love T-mobile. I’ve been with them for a good long time. I tried switching to Verizon to get the droid last year, but their pricing is high, you can’t “talk and surf” and coverage at my work is poor.
Anyways – T-mobile’s customer service is truly the best. They’re always polite – taking a good look at my minute usage and account detail. Any problems with phones and they’re quick to offer the best feasible solution. As long as they keep up this great customer service – I’ll be a customer.
If T-mobile’s customer service is that good, why are they losing customers?
T-Mobile customer is great in my experience with them. Just the other day I called to drop my handset insurance. Even though the system indicated I would have an 18 minute wait and I could have a representative call me back when one was available, I decided to wait. I was surprised because usually wait times are less than 5 minutes when calling 611.
Well, my call was answered in less than 2 minutes after being placed on hold. The entire call took 5 min.
And my network experience has been great. Funny but I never have dropped calls, and when I do, it’s when talking to my friend who has an iPhone 3GS on AT&T. It’s almost comical. In a 10 minute conversation I usually expect 1-2 dropped calls.
Only due to previous lacking high end android phones. People will switch carriers because of the latest technology. Look how many jumped ship for the iPhone.
I def wont BASH tmobile today. i actually worked for customer service at the call center in ft.lauderdale and an outsourcer in Miramar,fl.So in total, i worked for tmobile at the time for about 4 1/2 years. they take care of their reps wonderfully.the reason im STILL with them is the great service but the phones…… ok today i wont do it!! LMAO Great Job tmobile.
Excellent customer service! There were couple of times where I went over my minute and I just called them and they added extra free minutes so I won’t go over. I just called about the vibrant yesterday and I wanted to use my wife’s contract to upgrade but didn’t want to pay for the data plan since we only need one (on my line) and the rep were able to give that to me. Saved me $720 in 2 years. Awesome!
@ Epell .. the reason for the heavy bleeding(massive customer loss) is because tmobile doesnt come out with competitive enough phones. yeah their mid range phones great for families but they dont have an I-phone,Incredible,Evo’esque phone(s).the customer service and coverage is pretty cool but the device selection is a little lacking.mid range phones can only get you but so far i.e sprint with the palm pre.When a company wakes up and delivers a BEAST the sales are boosted and people start coming to you i.e sprint.Sprint would be dead right now if it wasnt for the EVO.Like i said before i used to work for tmobile so i used to have hundreds of calls from people leaving sprint and att for their horrible customer service.Tmobile needs a BEATLEJUICE(not the movie but the sun on steroids). The need something to outshine the other suns.
I agree their customer service is really nice, knowledgeable, and helpful. The only reason I left was their service in my area was pretty bad.
But every time I call AT&T’s customer service I long for the customer service at T-Mobile. ATT treats their customers like garbage, their reps are un-helpful, mis-informed, and just plain don’t care.
The other thing I loved about T-mobile was if there was ever a service interruption, like a network failure or something, where I couldn’t get online or make calls, they always gave me a discount on that months bill.
They would also do little things like saying thanks for being a valued customer since (insert date) and we hope you’ll stay a part of the T-mobile family.
This article pretty much sums it up. I have been with TMO since 2001. They have always given me great customer service. And they DO treat their loyal customers like royalty. In fact, I went into the store the other day to see if I was due for a full upgrade because I wanted the Vibrant, and it turned out I wasn’t due until Feb 2011. I was demoralized because I really wanted the Vibrant. So the lady in the store called customer service and somehow got them to approve me for a full upgrade 5 months ahead of schedule!!! Needless to say, I have my Vibrant now.
@Epell
You said, “If T-mobile’s customer service is that good, why are they losing customers?”
Answer: because there are so many sheep (iPhone band wagoneers) in the cell phone world.
But honestly, I don’t care. In fact, I love that there are so many iPhone band wagoneers. Keep going over to AT&T you apple fanboys. Go bog down their network. I love my T-Mobile network and customer service.
Coolmandingo is spot on with the reason Tmo is losing customers. Shiny objects will make people switch even when it’s not in their best financial interest. Sprint gets the EVO and BAM! They gain customers! Yeah, apparently this stuff is rocket science so not every CEO can figure it out.
I love tmobile even though I do not have the best reception.
To bad there coverage is the worst in the business , customer service is useless when the phone doesnt work , no thanks I tried this experiment with T-Mobile and will never go back
Been with Tmo 10 years and have no intentiion of ever looking elsewhere. Let’s see what Huffington Post has to say in a year when Tmo refuses to die. (They predicted Tmo as one iof 10 businesses that won’t be around in a year – we shall see. Customer service still counts.)
I’m interested to know what type of practices do T-mobile employees use to differentiate their service?
In particular, I would be very interested to hear what other best practices exist in the sphere of customer service that are helping companies build their brands, especially for companies whose business takes them to consumers’ homes. Thoughts?
http://toatech.com/blog/
I’m on Tmo and i love it. I don’t get why some people give it crap.
@coolmandingo…VERY nice : )
@Steve….T-Mobiles reception may be the worst in the Nation but where I live (Baltimore Maryland) there the best. T-Mobiles HSPA+ literally blows away the other carriers download speeds. I can’t remember the last time I dropped a call and I love having a download speed of 5+ Mb/s. For those who live in good T-Mobile coverage areas and don’t travel a lot, Tmobile is the best option since there 3G network is faster than everyone else’s (including Sprint’s WiMax).
@ coolmandingo & zeo wat do you guys consider the vibrant galaxy s??? I’d say with the hummingbird processor and super amoled screen that its more than just a beast and probably the best phone available on the US market. You guys had valid point before July 15th
I got the g1 when it came out, and while I was in love with my phone, the customer service I experienced, was terrible. I have synced left them and went to sprint partly because of the excellent customer that my wife received, and partly because of the hero. My experience has been great with sprint. T-mobile will never experience my business ever again. Good riddance.
I read this article as, again, the T-Mobile web site does not load well for me. Rarely can I log in and look at my account information and have it all just work. I love my phone, but I hate t-mobile.
I agree. T-Mobile’s customer service is world class. I am quite pleased with the cellular and data service. I choose my carrier based on customer service, coverage and cost.
T-Mobile wins on all 3 counts. As long as they maintain such value for me, I’m never leaving- no matter how shiny some other carriers new phone is.
They are excellent, best customer service of ANY company i’ve ever called. I’m a very satisfied customer.
BTW i’m on about the UK customer service…
I just recently switched to Sprint, and already miss the customer service from T-Mo. My only major complaint with them was the phone selection, I eventually corrected that with buying my own phone.
Regardless, to give credit, every time I called with a concern regarding service it was solved or fully explained. I remember one time I decided to add the monthly hotspot service to my account, but needed it quickly. They gave me a temp access account until everything panned out my account. That was so awesome because it saved my ass.
I’ve also been with TMO for 10 years or so and they’ve always been great. Granted, I live in a major metropolitan city so I have seldom had reception or data issues but every time I’ve called them, for a CS related issue, they have always helped me out.
I think there network is great. I drive all over Maryland and never drop any calls. When I am near Baltimore and Washington DC my Vibrant get’s download speeds over 5 Mb/s. Name one other carrier who has download speeds that fast. Even Sprint’s WiMax isn’t as fast. My buddy and his Evo only see 3 Mb/s download speeds.