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by Editors of J.D. Power and Associates
J.D. Power and Associates surveys more than 20,000 cell phone users for the second volume of its 2008 U.S. Wireless Contract Regional Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) study. Carriers are rated across six… U.S. regions in key areas including call quality, brand image, cost of service, service plan options, billing and customer service. Verizon Wireless performs particularly well in the study, ranking highest in five out of six regions (including four ties). Strengths include call quality, brand image, service plan options and billing. T-Mobile places second overall in customer satisfaction, earning high ratings for cost of service, billing and service plan options. Alltel earns a tie for best in the Southeast and North Central regions, while U.S. Cellular ties for best in the Southwest region. J.D. Power and Associates also publishes the results of its surveys of call quality, customer care and wireless retail sales satisfaction. Verizon fares best overall in call quality and retail sales satisfaction, while T-Mobile provides the best customer care experience, according to the reports.
by Editors of Consumer Reports
For this article, Consumer Reports polls about 52,000 magazine subscribers in 23 metro areas, asking them to rate their cell service for call quality, handling of calls and complaints and billing problems.… Results are grouped according to urban areas, including New York City, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago and Miami. The survey, which was in progress during Hurricane Ike, allows Houston subscribers to give valuable feedback about how cellular services fare during inclement weather. As we see it, large surveys such as this one (and the J.D. Power survey above) are the only way to gauge quality of service.
by Eric Griffith
PC Magazine reports on responses from nearly 20,000 of its readers for the latest installment of its annual reader satisfaction survey. Among contract cell phone providers, Verizon Wireless and U.S.… Cellular score well enough to earn Readers' Choice awards. Verizon scores significantly above average in nine out of 11 categories, with cost of service being its greatest weakness. Alltel and T-Mobile finish just behind, although T-Mobile fees are deemed "significantly above average." Sprint/Nextel receives worse or significantly worse-than-average ratings in nine out of 11 service categories.
by Kent German
Kent German, CNet.com's cell phone "guru," says that finding the best carrier means considering a host of factors. Those include not only the comprehensiveness of the network, but also aspects like customer… service, costs, plan options, phone selection and more. Though CNet.com does not evaluate cell phone plans, it invites readers to do so. Reader feedback is summarized here. T-Mobile rates highest among readers for its customer service and plan selection. Other carriers have strong points as well: Verizon is liked for its network, Sprint for its features and AT&T for its phone selection. Though helpful, the ratings here are based on hundreds of reports, while the surveys we rate higher are based on feedback from thousands of subscribers.
by Editors of TopTenReviews.com
This website doesn't test phone services, nor does it conduct any owner surveys. Rather, ratings are said to be based on coverage, available plans and other features. This isn't the best way to rate cell… phone plans, because it doesn't take customer service or satisfaction into account at all. Furthermore, though the date on the report says "2009," the content itself has not changed from the last report. Editors rate Verizon the highest, with AT&T coming in second ahead of third-ranked T-Mobile, Likewise, Sprint is rated higher than U.S. Cellular and Alltel. None of the large customer surveys on other websites say that AT&T or Sprint are exceptional, which reveals that customer satisfaction is probably more important than available features.
by Contributors to LetsTalk.com
This site sells wireless phones and cell phone plans and features customer reviews. The services are rated on a five-point scale. However, the methodology is unscientific, and ratings are not weighted by… the number of respondents (for example, prepaid provider Net10, which has 10 reviews, is rated higher than T-Mobile, which has 12 reviews). The site does offer useful tools to compare prices and services from available carriers, though.
by Editors of CNet.com
by Sarmad Ali
by Eric A. Taub
Eric A. Taub provides a well-rounded basics course on avoiding the headaches of using a cell phone abroad by factoring in the carrier you use, the length of your trip and your destination. Taub points out… that 82 percent of the world's cell phone subscribers use the GSM network available with AT&T and T-Mobile phones. Thus, phones that use CDMA networks -- offered by Verizon and Sprint -- are much more limited. Taub advocates that if you have a GSM phone, get a temporary SIM card and unlock your phone before you travel. No particular services are rated or recommended, however.
by Roger Yu and Marc Saltzman
by Mike Gikas
A contributor to Consumer Reports' electronics blog, Mike Gikas discusses the hidden charges that create a big difference between what your cell phone plan supposedly costs and the actual amount that you… are billed each month. He covers major fees that you don't have control over -- such as state and local sales taxes, carrier administrative and regulatory surcharges -- as well as those that you do have control over, such a la carte text messaging, exceeding your allotted minutes and using 411. He also offers ways to avoid 20 cell phone bill rip-offs.
by David Pogue
Given the talk about hefty fees for add-on data services, New York Times' tech guru David Pogue has found a cache of free services worth tapping into. They range from voicemail services to free answers via… Google to a free voice messaging system. None of these services are offered by cellular companies themselves. Rather, they are services that have sprung up independent of the big carriers. There aren't any ratings here, and some of the information is a little out of date, but it's still a very helpful article.
by Adam Fendelman
Adam Fendelman, About.com's guide to cell phones, doesn't review or recommend specific cell phone plans. Rather, he provides an overall guide to choosing the best service based upon your needs, covering… prepaid and monthly billed plans. This includes the questionnaire "Prepaid Plans: Which Is The Cheapest" that points readers to the most-affordable plan based on their expected usage. Some, but not all, of the major carriers' plans are outlined as well. Cell phone user reviews are listed in "Users Respond: What's Your Favorite Cell Phone Plan?" (Note: ConsumerSearch is owned by About.com, but the two don't share an editorial affiliation.)
by Contributors to Amazon.com
Although the emphasis here is on the phones, we also found a handful of ratings for the plans themselves -- especially offerings from Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile and AT&T -- although the Tracfone and Net10… prepaid plans were the only ones to receive enough user reviews to be useful. In addition, there's a Cell Phone Help Center that covers basic questions like transferring a phone number to a new phone, using a phone abroad and carrier terms and conditions.
by Contributors to Epinions.com
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