By 
A new Consumer Reports survey released today pit all of the United States’ major carriers against each other for customer satisfaction, support and technical service (quality of network). To top the list was US Cellular who was listed as the nation’s best wireless carrier for cost and with a great voice network. They also ranked best in two customer support categories – issues resolved and self knowledge – but were unranked for phone, website, and e-mail, for some reason.
On the other end of the spectrum, AT&T ranked dead last in nearly every category. No one liked their voice network, their data network, their website, customer support over the phone. Even texting somehow manages to get a bad rap. Above them was T-Mobile, who did better (but not by much) than AT&T in nearly every category.
Verizon and Sprint were a bit even in terms of service and support, but Verizon naturally got the better rank for their voice network. And surprisingly enough, folks consider Verizon’s value to equal that of Sprint’s. We’re surprised because folks think “big money” when they think of Verizon, but it would appear that every bit of their service justifies the cost of admission.
What’s most interesting about AT&T’s ranking is that more than half of their customers were iPhone owners, giving good credence to the belief that a Verizon-based iPhone would do a lot better than what AT&T’s accomplished on their “perceived” worst network. AT&T’s Fletcher Cook had the following to say:
We take this seriously and we continually look for new ways to improve the customer experience.
But US Cellular remains the standout here: in just a year’s time, they’ve gone from the regional carrier who many have never heard of to an up-and-comer who – should they finally provide service in every continental state – could find themselves in direct competition with the likes of AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint. They’ve certainly gotten our attention after a storm of Android devices released by them, and with the promise of many more to come, we’ll be watching them just as closely as the other four. [via CNN Money]
“What’s most interesting about AT&T’s ranking is that more than half of their customers were iPhone owners”
maybe the iphone itself isn’t as good as they say. at&t claims their data speeds are faster than verizon.
whats the deal?
This isn’t surprising! Everyone knows AT&T sucks. The only people who won’t admit it are their customers, who will defend them tooth and nail for some strange reason.
Nice to see it on paper though. :)
AT&T’s data speeds may well be faster than Verizon’s, but you can’t find AT&T 3G in nearly as many places as you can find Verizon 3G. In Alabama, it’s not even close. Verizon kills AT&T in terms of coverage.
Surprise surprise surprise!
As a former US Cellular customer and current Verizon customer, I must ask who Consumer Reports interviewed here?!?! US Cellular only recently got their first Android phones–they were way behind other carriers. I have to assume that the customers polled who have US Cellular probably have very low standards (likely most with high standards ditched them months or years ago).
I personally dont see why people think AT&T is so bad…no complaints here besides their lack of good android phones and updates (for reference, I have used my phone all over Texas, Colorado, and Montana)
its funny for value verizon ranked higher then anyone highest prices less service then any of them except AT&T maybe.
No surprise here. lol
I just switched from an iPhone 3Gs on AT&T to a Droid X on Verizon. Honestly, I don’t get the bad AT&T ratings. I always had good service with them. I had an occasional dropped call, but usually only in a low-lying and/or remote area.
Like hotmann, I’m in Texas. I switched because I was intrigued with Android and liked the specs of the Droid X and have been very happy.
My wife recently upgraded to an iPhone 4 and has had no problems and the phone is, in every way, better than my 3Gs. I suppose it depends on where you are.
HAhaHAha, fuck you at&t! i mean that with a passion you could never achieve. you fucked me over.. lied.. and took thousands of my dollars all while leading me to believe your network was the best. when i finally left and joined verizon i realized just how truly horrible your service and network are. You may have stuck me with an early termination fee for leaving your company dissatisfied with the service recieved, but its all catching up with you now. eventually you will have no customers and no money. i will see the crooked ass company that is at&t go bankrupt and sink in my lifetime! this just confirms it. ill be celebrating. cheers
I think the real issue is GSM vs CDMA. Verizon and Sprint are on par with one another. AT&T and T-Mobile are stinking up the place.
I wonder where these studies were conducted. US Cellular has better coverage in the midwest than any of the other carriers listed. Once you start moving around the US, their coverage dwindles drastically.
It really depends on where you are. Here in the NY/NJ there’s no US Cellular, as far as I know, and it would seem that from what I can gather the list would read 1. Verizon, tied at 2. T-mobile and AT&T, coming in close at 3. Sprint and 4. Metro PCS (Although I don’t know anyone personally who uses Metro PCS).
My list is just people using what carrier. I personally don’t know if they’re happy or not….lol
I think this test is biast cause they are in a bad att/tmobile area. I’ve been a happy T-mobile customer for years with great service. On the other hand, Sprint is a terrible carrier to have in my area. At work I call it the No Sprint Zone since customers can’t get any coverage. They can walk outside the building and get a few bars, but once inside they are cut off from their network :: Evil laught ::
If you think that ATTs wireless is horrible, you should see how you get treated as a business client. They will rape you bogus business practices and laugh while dong it.
@ Taro costumer reports is national, not in a specific area ya dip
I had AT&T for about three years before the iphone came out, but I had never had a smart phone with them, I got the first iphone when it came out, then the second one, and then finally the third one, but I had, had enough! I live in Alabama, and they only had 3g is three cities, and mine was not one of them, but I had to keep paying that $30 a month fee anyway. When I asked them why I had to pay it with knowing I did not live in a 3g area, they said well you might travel into a 3g area and use it then. I paid my early termination fees and when to Verizon, I good not be happier. I dont know at this point if there is anything that would make me go back to there crap network. PS I now have the Droid 2 and I like it better than any iphone I have ever had.
Problem is Verizon is CDMA. Might as well be the only ones out in left field using CDMA. I hear the LTE platform should slowly move them to GSM. So where to go in the US with a good GSM network…its sure not TMobile and I dont care for Sprint.
As a former Verizon (and Sprint) customer and current U.S. Cellular customer, I must say that I have been very happy with U.S. Cellular. It is true that they have historically trailed the others in phone offerings but that is no longer the case. They have a lot of great phones now. The network quality and customer service experiences I have had are top notch. Quality of a service provider is a lot more than just having the latest phone… what good is a cutting edge handset if you don’t have a great service provider?
The only reason they are still a big time company (AT&T) is because of the Iphone. You can only get it on AT&T and that has the most sales of any single phone. So that keeps AT&T have a lot of customers and if it is a teen who wants an Iphone the family usually gets a whole plain there. So you have 3-5 people on AT&T. So that is why they are still considered a top tear company!
AT&T 3G is reliable enough for me. I really don’t have any problems with it. I’m not one of the AT&T fans who will always defend it, either.
I think I can understand why AT&T’s texting was ranked poorly. AT&T tends to produce a lot of double texts. Incoming and outgoing. Since I send mine through Google Voice, I can see the log online to see where the text was duplicated. Most of the time it’s on my end, or rather AT&T’s end. Not Google, not Verizon, not T-Mobile. I’m on unlimited text anyway, but this is worth noting for people who try to get by on 200 texts or so.
Obviously the rankings on voice & data networks don’t really take into account the coverage area. Sprint & T-Mobile are still a solid 3 and 4 when it comes to coverage … not necessarily in that order.
Where is Boost Mobile at on this list biatch!! lol
I was with AT&T for quite a few years. Constant dropped calls, spotty connection and forget about customer service. They have the rudest customer service reps in the industry. Switched to Verizon 5 years ago and haven’t had a problem since.
I was with AT&T for quite a few years. Constant dropped calls, spotty connection and forget about customer service. They have the rudest customer service reps in the industry. Switched to Verizon 5 years ago and haven’t had a problem since.
US Cellular as a midwest carrier? Not around here. (KCMO) Not a single sign of them. I’m also wondering about the sampling of this survey. Some of it just sounds bogus and/or contrived.
Well personally I think it depends on area for which carrier is chosen. I am originally from Southern California and I have 3G everywhere with full bars. I was stationed in Connecticut and had 3G in most places with full bars. I am currently stationed in GA now and ATT just doesn’t hack it over here but Spring is kicking butt here. Still sticking with ATT due to the fact I will move back to home and I could careless about 3G at the moment.
The service survey data is misleading. Sure, AT&T customers think that the company rates poorly on all of the dimensions measured, but does it really? I would be much more convinced of a survey that independently rated each carrier than polling customers to assess their perception of certain service characteristics. Don’t take the results to completely signify the actual quality of the service, but rather the perception of the provider. I opted to not buy an iPhone 4 and instead went with an HTC Desire because of all the bad press about the phone when it was released. However, an overwhelming majority of people I associate with say it is a fantastic piece of hardware, irrespective of the initial reports. Perception driven by popular media would cause you to think otherwise.
I, as an AT&T customer, would have a difficult time objectively comparing my service to that of what I think should be the mobile standard. My phone does drop calls from time to time (in NYC, Chicago, LA, Detroit, etc.), but I am less inclined to believe it’s an AT&T issue than a systematic problem of using cellular devices and not land-lines. For every 1 call where I have problems on the AT&T network, there at 200 others where I have no problem.
That being said, AT&T could actually be a terrible phone provider. But, I would take the survey data with a Lamar Burton grain of salt.
crApple really screwed the pooch on that whole exclusivity deal. I think the main reason Android is killing them NOW (aside from having much better phones, imo)is because sooo many of us wouldn’t touch AT&Terrible for any reason whatsoever, but had their phone been available to those of us not willing to deal with AT&Terrible, many of us would have owned their phone at some point or another before Android became the beast it is today and i’m CERTAIN I would have owned at least 2 by now, possibly still left it for Android. Now I have the same distaste for crApple as i do for AT&Terrible.
I feel that every cellular company has their downturns. These are just a SCRATCH above the surface, however potential damaging for the company in the future. All cellular companies have to set eyes on the BIG package and then attack it. VZW and ATT have been doing it for YEARS and then recently other providers. When it comes to customer satisifaction some cases are easy, however some customers set the bar too high, and have them failing from the start. ATT/Apple (iphone) has been a curse since the start. Look at it this way….some who have an iphone (myself included) have had troubles with it off and on , however it has not been the network, it has been the maker of the phone. Eventually Android phones will see the same issue has iphone, it may be smaller issues but nevertheless problems will arise! People feel that its their network’s fault when in MOST cases its not. When cell phone companies demand for the newest thing, there is BOUND to have equipment that is faulty IE: The Blackberry Storm, and Storm II frm Verizon, Complete disaster. When people get new equipment HALF THE TIME noone knows how to use it, but who do they go to, or blame ??
Consumer Reports has always hated on at&t…………….
1st of all, big thanks to Quentyn & Phandroid. They have always spoken positivily about US Cellular, and belive me when I say the people who work here @ US Cellular see and appreciate this. No, we are NOT 1 of the major carriers–they were all here before we were, so they own all the market space–we just buy up what we can when we can. No, our phone selection is NOT the largest in the nation. While we have improved our phone selection, it is NOT our priority. Our priority is to give the best call support & customer service. We are recent ADORERS of Android and firmly believe in the Android market, although we won’t put ANY phone on the market place until we do RIGORIOUS testing–who wants a “fancy” phone if it doesn’t work right anyways?! We would LOVE to be a Nationwide carrier like the “BIG 4”, but are content to just be #1 in the CellPhone Market right now…thanks again Phandroid, for your continued support
@Naomi: “who wants a “fancy” phone if it doesn’t work right anyways?!”
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I like what you did there ;-)
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I would definitely give US Cellular a shot if it was more available where I am.
LOLOLOL @ TBLOW!!!
HAHAHAHAHA
I was with AT&T in Silicon Valley, and had issues with their service. We live less than 1 block from a major shopping center, so you would expect that we would have pretty good coverage. Indeed, AT&T’s coverage map had us as having ~3bars out of 4, but we couldn’t talk for more than a few minutes without our calls being incessently dropped unless we sat at one end of one couch in our living room and held the phone at the correct angle. Moreover, I could never get AT&T coverage in our cleanrooms at work. Switched to Verizon, and I can talk wherever and however I want to at home. I get coverage in the cleanrooms at work. I even get 3G data coverage far from populated centers. Verizon is much better than AT&T in AT&T’s home turf. Also tried T-mobile, which was worse than AT&T in coverage, but they had great customer service when you called them.
AT&T is definitely the worst. T-mobile is up with the best.
I actually like t-mobile….At&T
customer service is horrible, in my opinion as well as Sprint’s
Just a few months ago T-Mobile was rated #1 in customer support, now consumer reports rates them poorly. I smell a rat.
T-mobile should be way higher, they’ve always treated me right for the last 9 years. I started with siemens phone with lights to moto slvr to a blackberry(had 2crap out and got replaced same day) to an early upgrade to the G1(the best) to a HD2(saved by xda and android) to now the best phone ever my Vibrant 2.2(taking too long for ota). Thier service has always been great in Tampa. Best true multi-tasking ever. Can verizon do that NOPE, can you here me now, good.
Customer service.. hmmm, well When I bought my new phone, I unlocked my old phone to give it away.. Only time I have had to call customer service with TMobile. I have used all 4 of the majors, and only had dropped calls on 2 of them.. Verizon & Sprint.. The Verizon drops I put down to living in the boonies at the time.. The Sprint, I put down to a cheap crappy phone, and once I got a newer phone everything was peachy.. Waay before antennaegate, I posted that I thought there might be something up with iPhones, as I knew people with iPhones that dropped calls when I never had a problem with my razor. Many people will blame AT&T before they blame their precious phone.. Still it is something that the carrier sells, so I guess there is some responsibility there.. I just don’t think that it’s their network.
I have had US Cellular for 7 years and I LOVE THEM!!! never had a problem with the service and their customer service people are top notch! I know the store ppl by name. I am so glad someone else sees how great they are!
Shenanigans! I’ve been with all the major carriers and T-mobile has THE best customer service.
Tmobile deserves to be up their in the red not black
I have no problems with AT&T customer service. I can get my signal service everywhere i go except near trees and in the Metro. But don’t know what’s wrong with these people here with their phones and problem with AT&T. My only problem with AT&T i complain bout most is the crappy phone selection they have in their line up. All they have is the crappy Iphone due to their contract which I say sucks.
I have AT&T. But I chopped it down to the lowest plan and I have an employer discount, Plus a recurring $15 credit. I dont even use this line as I am just waiting for this contract to expire. And then AT&T and Ralph De La Vega the CEO can kiss my South Texas Lilly Brown ASS.
All the AT&T hate is so funny.
I’ve never had a problem with AT&T. Always had problems when I was with Sprint and Verizon tho. Never had T-Mo because there service is horrible in my area. Only issue I have with AT&T is there apparent lack of Android devices and overflowing love for everything Apple iPhone/iPad and nothing else.
Its based on more than just customer service or just cell service. Its all of the above compiled into a score. Verizon and Sprint are where they should be and so are T-Mobile and At&T
Also if you dont live in a metropolitian area, complaining about service is no use.
I can only speak about the 2 carriers I have used, AT&T and verizon. AT&T is fucked because of the iphone, if you don’t want the iphone you were stuck with a crapberry. So I switched to verizon and pre-ordered an Incredible. I love my Incredible but HATE verizon. It is slow, cannot talk and browse the internet at the same time, and the customer service is the WORST ever. AT&T customer service was always respectful and willing to work with me. I cannot say that at all about verizon. I seriously would have left in my 30 days if I wouldn’t have disrupted 2 others on my family plan. AT&T has since got Android phones in but even they aren’t the best phones (again fucked up with crapple). I would go back to AT&T after my 2 years is up with verizon. I would also like to think since I had a blackberry Curve and a Storm on AT&T and never had an issue with dropped calls that maybe the problem isn’t AT&T it is the iphone. And I have never found consumer reports to be to credible I mean look how highly they thought of toyota all those years and now they have a recall every 2 months it seems.
2009 att costumer. I have no problems with them yet. Why leave if you don’t have a problem?
AT&T’s network is really not that bad. Its plenty fast in several areas compared to the service in a lot of areas with my Sprint Service.
Does anyone know what kind of speeds US CELLULAR has?? Just wondering. What kind of Network is it?
I personally despise consumer reports for the fact that they never seem to show many “facts” just more opinions. Now remember I said “SEEM TO SHOW” since I refuse to read this publication. I’ve been in wireless sales in AZ for 12 years and worked for AT&T, T-mobile, and Verizon. Each carrier was fine when I traveled and of course I’ve had dropped calls on all. In my experience (over a hundred different phones, currently using an iphone 4 and droid pro) I’ve never had major problem with a single carrier. To me it doesn’t make much sense with such a negative review of AT&T since I’ve never had anything but exceptional customer service and my network quality is a 9 out of 10. As for T-mobile it was the same thing. With Verizon I do have more coverage when I drive and travel but when I reach my destination both my current phones work equally great!! Cost is really comparable with ATT VS Verizon and t-mobile VS Sprint. If a phone and service works for you great! Go for it! Ask people at work what they use. Ask friends and family where they use their phones and if they have good service. That’s all that matters. If I wrote this same piece, ATT and Verizon would be at the top of my list with T-mobile close behind. Take reviews with a grain of salt and do some of your own detective work.
….Oh and just to add. I’m not a fanboy even though I prefer apple computers over anything else, I’m super stoked to get my hands on a winmo 7 phone. That’s what makes me like the iphone just a bit more than the droids. (Trust me I’ve had my fair share of droid phones. The D1, incredible, eris, and now the pro.) I love simplicity since i’ve spent 20 yrs out of my 29 years in life working on computers. I just want something I can jump in to and use and microsoft seems to have taken a cue from apple and making a UI that is basic that you can turn on and start going!! Just my 2 cents
i have been with us cellular about 6 months now i really don think they are that great i like sprint a lot better got alot more coverage with sprint then i do with us cellular half the time in buildings i dont even have service with them and and thr services dont isnt that great while you travel either i honstley dont see whatds so great about them.
Wow! I can’t beleive how brain washed people are. Verizon an OK value? Are you kidding me?
Consumer reports is obviously biased since they did not include other companies like Nextel, Metro, Boost, Trac, Criket, and Virgin. Once they included US Cellular they open the door to most others.
Verizon is the biggest rip-off company in the universe (they just lost a lawsuit because they systematically over charge everyone. In addition they will tack a $5 late payment charge if you underpay your bill by a few cents! Also they have the most restrictions than all other carriers. The shortest nights and weekends (Sprint wins that one), no carry over minutes (AT&T wins that one), no discount if you sign up without a 2 year contract (T-Mobile wins that one). Expensive replacement or unlocked phones (T-Mobile and AT&T tie on this one). They started to put caps on “unlimited” data (following AT&T lead). In other words as far as charges go, they are the worst of the worst. But people thought they are a good value? What the *&^%?!!
I have 2 more months to go on my Verizon contract and I can’t wait to leave (neither can’t my budget). Most likely will go with Virgin or T-Mobile. Oh US Cellular? No they suck big time over here. They are the worst. Why? Cause they have NO SERVICE. None, they do not service this area.
Then again I leave in a rural area in Southern California (you know the sticks where only several million people live).
Had a blackberry curve and never dropped a call. Got an iPhone and now I regularly drop calls. I’ve never had a problem with at&t. Verizon customers who who brag about not having dropped calls just wait until you get your wish and get the iPhone next year. You’ll start dropping them.
This report is biased also iv had every carrier and have done about 30 drives atleast from up Michigan to Florida and att has the best coverage out of all of them lost signal maybe 8 times the whole way and att has the best 3G it’s the same speed as sprints 4g which for sprint is kinda embarrassing and as for texting all companies texting is the same I never really noticed a difference except verismo when I had it my text wouldnt send out and people wouldn’t get them for like up to 3 days sometimes and sprint wouldn’t receive text sometimes t-mobile everything works good but performance isn’t the best but atleast everything works good I’m currently with att as is my whole family all 30 of us and we love it were the only company that has decent signal in the UP in MICHIGAN I’m the only one with an iPhone and to tell u the truth I don’t have problems with it call or text but the os is bland and not customizable it gets very boring I’m waiting for a nice android which I agree it wouldn’t hurt to get more of
Was with ATT for years, had no problems with them or iphone. Good coverage and adequate customer service. Switched to Sprint for evo and lower overall cost. Been very satisfied with them too…
To those complaining about tmo’s rank or defending them against their rank. Keep in mind that the overall score tmo got was much closer to vzw and Sprint than it is to ATT
I stopped listening to consumer reports years ago.
Never had a problem with at&t (or Verizon).
Sprint is spotty for me and t-mobile can’t make calls from my house.
From what I see when 2 person can personally compare 3 or 4 carriers, they could not have spent much time with any 1 carrier. I’ve been with At&t since the brick phone and At&t over all is not that bad, from what I hear from people on the other carriers I would say pretty even. Having said that let mr point out that the type of phone you have will affect your service. The Iphone is good at a lot of things but has never been any good as a phone. Explaining 1/2being Iphone users
U.S. Cellular puts on a front that they are so into the customers but really for all their bragging they are just as expensive as the others and they get the cool phones way after everyone else has them. They are slow coming out with new technology like the 3G and now 4G networks for example. They claim to be oh so ethical but really their leadership are not ethical at all since the CEO and VP retired. They are firing all of their senior employees and just making up excuses for why they were fired to make it look good on paper. Even though customers love that employees take the time to explain everything, they are forcing them to rush customers off of the phone. I for one am an unsatisfied customer of U.S. Cellular and won’t go back again.
JD Power and Associates says differently about TMo.
Wassup, I’ll tell you why Consumer Reports always “hates on” att…because they SUCK!!!
Jd power and associates have tmobile ranked number 1 in customer service for a reason and sprint is terrible. Idk who they polled to get these results but U.S cellular isn’t really a major carrier.
Seriously? I just got off the phone with US cellular. In september i paid for the october in advance and now they’re telling me that i owe for october and they are nailing me with a $200.00 bill for that month. Even after I gave them the payment confirmation number, they said that that was just for the month of September…well here’s the deal: I missed a month in July in which I pay a steady $170 per month, I paid $170 in August and in September I paid $510.00 (if you do the math 170×3 = 510…so that paid for the month I missed in July plus Sept. plus October. But see? I’m wrong or should I say they are right. Whatever. US cellular is by far the worst carrier on the planet….BAR NONE!!!!
Yea U.S. Cellular!!! Finally getting the recognition you deserve…. You might not be the biggest but you are the best. You just got ranked #1 in Consumer Reports but, what many may not know is that you won the J.D. Power award for your Network 10 years running…IN A ROW up to and including 2010!! Way to go USCC!!! Winning one for the little guys. Your network is top notch.
Us cellular?? What a joke.@Naomi, did you get your wording right out of a new employee handbook?? Lmao!
Does anyone know how the service coverage is for both at&t and verizon up here in rhode island? Does it really depend on the phone, like at&t’s blackberry torch versus their samsung phone or verizons fascinate versus droid x? Can anyone help? I’m most concerned about each carriers coverage in rhode island, especially middle to southern ri and north-eastern ct. Thank You!
As someone who has worked for AT&T, VZW and US Cellular, I can tell you there REALLY is a difference. Seems like the bigger carriers have been excessively focused on trying to be bigger than each other. Whereas USCC is concerned with growing from within- so when they offer something, you know it works WELL. The other big thing is the corporate culture. Here you can email the CEO, the director of the network etc. And you will likely get a thoughtful personal reply. So good ideas actually get acted on. You don’t see that at the other big carriers.
As an employee of U.S Cellular I can Honestly say, U.S. Cellular® treat their employees with RESPECT and every employee gets Training constantly to Serve every Customer 100%. We’re told daily to think about the Customer Experience and the Customer Impact. I want Every Customer to leave U.S. Cellular® with the Best Experience. I clean my customers phone, follow up with my customers if they have questions or concerns, Greet my customer at the door, explain every Customer bill in Detail and most of all, I smile so My Customer will Know I’m there for Them.
A Team is as Good As their Leader!!!!!!
Wow, there are not enough cuss words in the world to describe ATT’s wicked “lie, cheat, steal” mentality. They are definitely going to the Third Hell.
The data about AT&T probably says more about the quality of the iPhone than about AT&T.
Honestly, most consumers don’t change phone carriers often enough to truly have an up-to-date impression of their own carrier compared to others. That alone kind of invalidates the relevance of this survey.
I have AT&T (Samsung Captivate) and am quite pleased with my experience so far.