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Consumer Reports: AT&T is the worst carrier, US Cellular #1, Sprint Way Up!

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The Faceless Master

The Faceless Master

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Consumer Reports cell-service Ratings: AT&T is the worst carrier
AT&T logo

AT&T is the lowest-scoring cell-phone carrier in the U.S., according to a satisfaction survey of 58,000 ConsumerReports.org readers. Of all the carriers rated, AT&T was the only one to drop significantly in overall satisfaction.

Over half of the survey respondents who used AT&T as a carrier owned some version of the iPhone, the Apple smart phone that is exclusive to AT&T, at least for now. Consumer Reports data, reflecting all versions of the phone, found that iPhone owners were much less satisfied with their carrier and rated data service (Web and e-mail) lower than owners of smart phones on other carriers that, like the iPhone, have a host of apps to encourage heavy data use.

“Our survey suggests that an iPhone from Verizon Wireless, which is rumored, could indeed be good news for iPhone fans,” said Paul Reynolds, Electronics Editor for Consumer Reports.

Also big news this year: U.S. Cellular—which serves 26 states, mostly in the South and Midwest—beat out Verizon Wireless as the top-rated provider for contract service. Also, Sprint has pulled even in overall satisfaction with Verizon, which has been the clear top provider in our Ratings in most years since 2003. Sprint even scored better than Verizon in some aspects of customer service, in a remarkable turnaround.

The survey is part of our annual comprehensive cell-phone package, which hits newsstands tomorrow (Dec. 7) as part of the January issue of Consumer Reports. It will also post online at CRO tomorrow morning. Subscribers will be able to get full Ratings and all the details on the story, including city-by-city Ratings for 23 metro areas.
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http://blogs.consumerreports.org/el...umer-reports-cell-phone-survey-att-worst.html
 
Honestly I have no real problem with att except them not letting me watch full quality youtube video's on my iphone. I'll probably be upgrading my iphone 3GS to the 4 next week just because I have no issues with them.

Now my sister can't wait to jump ship to sprint when her contract is up with att.
 
Sprint is pretty fucking solid.

Unlimited Data and I never drop calls, where my wife's iphone drops calls everywhere+its more expensive per month
 
An iPhone with AT&T is probably the worst service I've had with anything in my life. I'd estimate more than half of the calls I've ever made or received on the phone were dropped at some point.
 
threenote said:
In other news, water is wet.
Click to expand...

This isn't obvious. Sprint used to be the lowest-rated carrier in the past years and they have really stepped it up.

I'm glad i'm still with Sprint. Those 3 of us with SERO unite!
 
Not surprising, I'll probably switch carriers when it iPhone is no longer exclusive. Though my service with AT&T has been better than t-mobile when i used to have it.
 
xbhaskarx said:
That is not an assumption, just fact / common sense.
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Is it a fact? I've been with AT&T for 3.5 years now and have enjoyed generally excellent service and customer support.

Certainly better than the Tmobile and Sprint I had before it. Then again, it's all about location.
 
Well they are shitty. The one year I had ATT wirless with the Iphone 3G I have never regretted more having the service. I paid the money and bailed, I live on the Central Coast in Ca service is good with Verizon and Sprint.
 
Dreams-Visions said:
Is it a fact? I've been with AT&T for 3.5 years now and have enjoyed generally excellent service and customer support.

Certainly better than the Tmobile and Sprint I had before it. Then again, it's all about location.
Click to expand...
Yeah it does depend in location. Im on the east coast so the service here is better.
 
Any cell phone carrier report that does not have T-Mobile coming in dead last is not an accurate report.
 
Been with Sprint since 07, no complaints here. Love the EVO. Ever since Palm Pre released, Sprint has tried really hard to become number 2 and if AT&T loses Iphone somewhere down the line, i think it's very possible.
 
Never had a problem on att but don't have an iphone... Actually can't wait for a verizon version so half the customers clear off.
 
No complaints about AT&T, although T-Mobile's customer service was better when I was with them.

I don't drop calls or have phone service issues where I live, either.

It's all relative to where you live, and is likely a symptom of the iPhone's popularity in some of the denser markets.
 
I have had very few problems with AT & T service except for an outage in the summer.

I'm not very demanding though.
 
I have very few problems with AT&T. Service is merely okay where I live (same for people who have Verizon phones and Sprint phones if my parents are anything to go by), but it's not terrible. I don't drop calls much, and my 3G service is adequate. I guess I'm an anomaly according to the report.
 
I have great service with AT&T where I need it (except stupid downtown since that whole area's a dead zone for all carriers anyway), which was more than I could ever say for Verizon.
 
I have never understood the hate people seem to have with ATT. I've been using them for about 15 years now (back when it was BellSouth/Cingular) and I cannot for the life of me recall a time I have ever had a call dropped on me. This seems to be the biggest complaint, yet I have not once experienced it. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, because obviously it does to some people. I'm just not seeing it.
 
I have no beef with ATT. Been with them for about 4 years and I have no major complaints. I don't have an iphone though, so I wouldn't know of their issues.
 
-NeoTB1- said:
I have never understood the hate people seem to have with ATT. I've been using them for about 15 years now (back when it was BellSouth/Cingular) and I cannot for the life of me recall a time I have ever had a call dropped on me. This seems to be the biggest complaint, yet I have not once experienced it. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, because obviously it does to some people. I'm just not seeing it.
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B/C the internet says it's cool to hate on Att
 
In Hawaii AT&T was actually really good but here in SC it is pretty much no signal everywhere I go (even interstates don't have 3G, pretty inexusible to me). Verizon was ok when I had them but they screwed up my bill a few times so I'd rather go with Tmobile which has been perfect for my wife
 
AT&T's coverage has been great for me for 5+ years now, even when using the iPhones, and their customer service has been adequate. The only time I had a consistent problem with dropping data (not calls, mind you) was with the iPhone 4.

xbhaskarx said:
That is not an assumption, just fact / common sense.
Click to expand...
wrong.
 
We have the magazine and I'm not sure how bias comes into play, but there are few spots that AT & T doesn't have black circles which is surprising to me. I've driven through so pretty remote areas and never lost service. The comparison were in some pretty heavy metro areas though so maybe everyone using their phones at once is messing things up.

Fortunately that's not my problem. The iphone itself is getting high marks but no the top.
 
Raistlin said:
Things will get interesting come next year
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thats going to really be the only way to know, if the problems carry over to another carrier. If by chance the iphone itself is causing the lower scores I'd assume its still worth it to have poor customer service ratings but an exclusive on the phone.

Also, i take that back, the only time i have an issue with ATT is in crowded places such as a stadium or a concert. Data just doesn't work. Another reason i'd be happy to have other providers get the iphone!
 
AT&T is pretty spotty in my area. I get poor reception in my apartment, but my sisters apartment just down the street will have five bars - I really don't understand that at all. There will be brief random dead zones too like driving past a park, lake, or cemetery.

Generally it's been okay though.
 
mr stroke said:
Sprint is pretty fucking solid.

Unlimited Data and I never drop calls, where my wife's iphone drops calls everywhere+its more expensive per month
Click to expand...

$15 a month for unlimted data was reason for my switch from Verizon vs Verizon's $45 charge back in 2004. Been happy ever since though I do acknowledge poor customer service evenings vand weekends a couple years agvo when all calls were routed to India. Big turn around since then.
 
gcubed said:
thats going to really be the only way to know, if the problems carry over to another carrier. If by chance the iphone itself is causing the lower scores I'd assume its still worth it to have poor customer service ratings but an exclusive on the phone.

Also, i take that back, the only time i have an issue with ATT is in crowded places such as a stadium or a concert. Data just doesn't work. Another reason i'd be happy to have other providers get the iphone!
Click to expand...

Same. Happened at a Notre Dame game earlier this season and this weekend I was in NYC near Rockefeller Center where there was about a million people checking out the tree. Full bars. 3G showed but internet didn't work.
I have no issues with it at home.

If enough people switch to Verizon for the iPhone, they're going to have overload problems too.
 
Ceres said:
Same. Happened at a Notre Dame game earlier this season and this weekend I was in NYC near Rockefeller Center where there was about a million people checking out the tree. Full bars. 3G showed but internet didn't work.

If enough people switch to Verizon for the iPhone, they're going to have overload problems too.
Click to expand...

with my amateur information scouring of maybe 30 seconds i think i read something about GSM having issues with large amounts of people. Also Verizon already uses more data then ATT without the iphone and without the same problems, so we will see what happens. That being said i'm not switching, i just want everyone else to :) ATT finally got 3g in all the areas that i go to (parents and in-laws areas both got 3g recently). I'm hoping they take android a bit more seriously once they lose the iphone
 
-NeoTB1- said:
I have never understood the hate people seem to have with ATT. I've been using them for about 15 years now (back when it was BellSouth/Cingular) and I cannot for the life of me recall a time I have ever had a call dropped on me. This seems to be the biggest complaint, yet I have not once experienced it. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, because obviously it does to some people. I'm just not seeing it.
Click to expand...
Have you been on vacation in a big city in the last three years? Even in a relatively smaller city like Portland, Oregon AT&T shits itself during rush hours. Data stops working completely in some spots.

Manhattan and San Francisco used to be broken all day every day. It's slowly getting better, as in your bars display isn't lying to you at every moment.
 
I think most of AT&T's problems occur in denser parts of the country. I'm an SC and I've been satisfied with AT&T/Cingular/AT&T since high school. Dropped calls are rare. My 3G drops occasionally, but in Edge is always solid in those cases. After being a customer for so long they pretty much let me pay my bill when ever I want, wave various feed and always offer me early upgrades.

As long as I'm allowed to keep my unlimited data plan I'm not going anywhere.
 
gcubed said:
with my amateur information scouring of maybe 30 seconds i think i read something about GSM having issues with large amounts of people. Also Verizon already uses more data then ATT without the iphone and without the same problems, so we will see what happens. That being said i'm not switching, i just want everyone else to :) ATT finally got 3g in all the areas that i go to (parents and in-laws areas both got 3g recently). I'm hoping they take android a bit more seriously once they lose the iphone
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According to Validas, Verizon smartphone users are averaging more than AT&T smartphone users. However, there's also these two stats that need to be noted.
Verizon Wireless posts the largest percentage increase in mean data usage per user from 48.2MB to 147.2 MB; increase from 33.4% to 42.9% lines with data usage
Click to expand...

AT&T continues to lead with 71.2% of users with data usage, up from 58.4%, with increase in mean usage per user from 111.9 MB to 149.6 MB
Click to expand...

The two companies are fairly close in number of subscribers although I believe Verizon has been ahead since their acquisition of Alltel in 2009.
 
Liu Kang Baking A Pie said:
Have you been on vacation in a big city in the last three years? Even in a relatively smaller city like Portland, Oregon AT&T shits itself during rush hours. Data stops working completely in some spots.

Manhattan and San Francisco used to be broken all day every day. It's slowly getting better, as in your bars display isn't lying to you at every moment.
Click to expand...

Yep. Atlanta (where I used to live) has always worked flawlessly for me. Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, Birmingham, Orlando... these are just a few of the cities I've been to in the last couple of years and never had any issues. From what I can tell, there seems to be a lot of problems in NYC and the west coast for ATT. I guess it's just certain pockets? I'm traveling up to CO from TX in a few weeks and I will check it there as well.
 
We have AT&T. Somehow we ended up walking out of the store without the guy attaching a plan to the phone or something so the bill at the end of the month was ridiculously high. We called em up and everything was taken care of. Besides that we've never really had a problem but I haven't tried any other services, nothing to really compare to but it gets the job done.
 
-NeoTB1- said:
I have never understood the hate people seem to have with ATT. I've been using them for about 15 years now (back when it was BellSouth/Cingular) and I cannot for the life of me recall a time I have ever had a call dropped on me. This seems to be the biggest complaint, yet I have not once experienced it. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, because obviously it does to some people. I'm just not seeing it.
Click to expand...

It completely depends on the area. Here in South Florida I usually have great signal and it works perfectly. Then I went up to Pennsylvania for the summer and it was dropping calls everywhere. There's an AT&T service map that displays this pretty well.
 
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