JD Power rates U.S. cell phone providers

JD Power and Associates is famous for ranking many different types of consumer products. Up today is their scoring of US based cell phone providers. This round’s study included more than 22,000 wireless customers, representing every region of the country. They were asked about their experience with the seven deadly sins of bad wireless service: dropped calls; static/interference; failed connection on the first try; voice distortion; echoes; no immediate voice mail notification; and no immediate text message notification.

Northeast Region: Verizon Wireless ranks highest, with fewer customer-reported problems in dropped calls, initial connections and static/interference compared with the regional average. AT&T came in 2nd, with Sprint and T-Mobile tied in 3rd place.

Mid-Atlantic Region: Verizon Wireless ranks highest for an eighth consecutive time, with fewer customer-reported problems regarding initial connections compared with the regional average. AT&T is in 2nd place, with Sprint and T-Mobile in 3rd.

Southeast Region: Alltel ranks highest in the region, with customers reporting fewer problems than the regional average in dropped calls and voice distortion. Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile tied for 2nd, and Sprint and AT&T tied for last.

North Central Region: U.S. Cellular and Alltel rank highest in a tie. U.S. Cellular customers report fewer problems in dropped calls, static/interference, echoes, voice distortion and late voice message notifications. Alltel customers experience fewer problems with dropped calls, initial connections, static/interference and voice distortion compared with the regional average. Verizon Wireless came in a close 2rd, with AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile tied in 3rd place.

Southwest Region: Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless tie to rank highest in the region. Sprint Nextel customers report fewer problems regarding initial connections. Verizon Wireless customers experience fewer problems with dropped calls, static/interference, voice distortion and failed voice message notifications compared with the regional average. In 2nd place is T-Mobile, with last palce going to Alltel and AT&T.

West Region: Verizon Wireless ranks highest in the region, with customers reporting fewer problems in dropped calls, initial connections, static/interference, echoes and voice distortion than the regional average. In 2nd comes little-known Qwest, 3rd is a tie for Alltel and Sprint, and bringing up the rear is T-Mobile and AT&T.

Customer Care: Forty-nine percent of wireless customers have contacted the customer care service center for assistance within the past year—an increase from 47 percent reported six months ago. Additionally, among customers who contacted the service department, 34 percent did so due to service/equipment issues. Verizon Wireless ranks highest in wireless customer care performance with an index score of 103, followed by Alltel (102), T-Mobile (100) and AT&T (97). Specifically, customers report that Verizon Wireless performs particularly well in resolving problems in one contact.

“The fact that Verizon Wireless performs well in resolving issues with one contact is particularly noteworthy,” said Parsons. “Overall customer care performance is three times higher among customers whose issues were resolved in one contact over the phone, compared with those who had to contact their provider more than once for the same issue.”

source: JD Power