To call 2021 a challenging year for T-Mobile seems like a pretty big understatement. In more ways than one, the "Un-carrier" probably had its toughest year from said modern "Un-carrier" era, which started with an aggressive rebranding effort and some incredibly competitive promotions back in 2013.
While the deals and the publicity stunts retained their competitiveness and aggression over the years, T-Mo's security and customer service appeared to take massive hits all of a sudden, which somehow didn't stop the nation's second-largest mobile network operator from further expanding its already fast-growing user base.
Perhaps even more surprisingly, Magenta managed to earn yet another trophy from J.D. Power for the thing so many anecdotal and professional research reports highlighted as the carrier's major weakness in recent months.
That's right, this particular "global leader in consumer insights, advisory services and data and analytics" continues to view T-Mobile as the national champion of wireless customer care, with 823 points tallied out of a maximum 1,000 in studies conducted between July and December 2021.
Although there's definitely a chance the dissatisfaction (loudly) voiced online lately will indeed be reflected in future J.D. Power reports, it's worth pointing out for now that T-Mo's score has actually increased from 819 points in last year's Volume 2 study.
The same goes for Verizon, which has managed to jump from 789 points six months ago to 796 in 2022's Volume 1 US wireless customer care report. By no means a small leap, that was still way too modest to threaten T-Mobile's supremacy, extending its winning streak to nine (!!!) consecutive studies.
In third place, AT&T was unable to move the needle from a total score of 783 back in July 2021, while Cricket Wireless impressively gained 20 points to snatch the MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) crown away from Metro by T-Mobile.
With 824 points, Cricket Wireless even edged out T-Mobile itself, although that's obviously not an entirely fair comparison. Neither is comparing T-Mobile and Cricket with Consumer Cellular, the unchallenged leader of the "value mobile virtual network operator" segment with an outstanding 855-point tally.
In case you're wondering, the report relies on the customer care experiences of nearly 11,500 people, which means that it's far from superficial or insignificant but at the same time it cannot possibly reflect the feelings and opinions of most (let alone all) wireless consumers across the nation.
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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