Consumer Reports Gives AT&T Lowest US Carrier Rank

tekgoblin writes "Consumer Reports has just released results for consumer satisfaction across all US cell phone carriers. The survey covered around 58,000 Consumer Reports subscribers. Over half of the respondents who used AT&T used the iPhone when taking the survey. According to Consumer Reports, iPhone users were less satisfied with AT&T than other users with different phones. An AT&T spokesman responded by citing independent speed tests, as well as higher subscriber numbers and a dropped call rate within 0.1% of the industry leader." Update: 12/07 01:49 GMT by S : Corrected last sentence to indicate the 0.1% dropped call rate statistic is the difference between AT&T and another carrier, not 0.1% overall.

Comments

Dropped call rate of 0.1%?!

[Anonymous Coward]

Look AT&T, if you're going to lie you should at least make it a plausible lie. Nobody who uses AT&T (or has to call people on AT&T) is going to believe your ridiculously low 0.1%.

Re:Dropped call rate of 0.1%?!

[Anonymous Coward]

ridiculously low 0.1%.

...what's your basis of calling it ridiculously low? Do you know the dropped call rate of other companies?

Perhaps 0.1% is very high compared to other companies? Heck, assuming 10 million calls a day, that's 10,000 dropped calls daily!

Anyway, I'm just trying to say the number has no context. If I said my penis was 5,000 flagoogles long, it might *sound* impressive, but maybe a hundred flagoogles is only half of a nord?

Re:Dropped call rate of 0.1%?!

[Matheus]

Bad Summary / RTFA. They say "our dropped call rate is within 1/10 of a percent - the equivalent of just one call in a thousand - of the industry leader." NOT that they have fewer than 0.1% dropped calls.

Re:Dropped call rate of 0.1%?!

[dgatwood]

...what's your basis of calling it ridiculously low? Do you know the dropped call rate of other companies?

There are periods when I have no dropped calls. There are also periods where I drop a call two or three times in a single hour. This is in an area that typically has 3-5 bars of signal. A number as low as 0.1% can't possibly be correct unless their methodology is flawed. Most likely, their methodology is the same as the methodology used for determining whether to credit the customer: if the customer calls the same number back within a minute, it's a dropped call. That only works, however, if you're able to get a call out within a minute. Most of the time, when I see dropped calls, it takes longer than that before I'm able to get a call out because the tower is too overloaded. I suspect that their dropped call rate is low by at least an order of magnitude as a result of their methodology, and possibly two orders in some parts of the country.

Now, I know that correlation != causation, but...

[rekenner]

"Over half of the respondents who used AT&T used the iPhone when taking the survey."

at&t isn't that bad

[p51d007]

And when the hoard of iPhone users flood another carrier (Verizon?) when at&t loses its exclusive contract with Apple, maybe two things will happen. 1. The speeds on at&t's network will increase 2. The call quality/service will increase. at&t will have to try harder, to keep customers because you won't have to go there if you want an iPhone. I have been with them for 8 years, never had a problem. It will just be nice to walk into an at&t store and not have to look to see if you accidentally didn't wonder into an Apple store LOL.

Not Just Iphone Users

[Greyfox]

My room mate just had to drop AT&T as her carrier because conversations were garbled and she could not understand about one word in four. She tried three different phones while trying to resolve the problem, and borrowed my HTC from Sprint a couple of times. She just switched over to Sprint, problem solved.

A lady I know over at my favorite coffee shop also complains of problems with AT&T data service and dropped calls both at home and at the coffee shop, and she doesn't use an iPhone either.

Studies mean nothing

[Mishotaki]

If your service sucks and your customers hate you, citing studies and statistics won't make them hate you less...

Duno

[mrsteveman1]

Most of the iPhone users i've talked to say its been just fine on AT&T. I've got an iPhone 4 and it's working great, 3G speeds are plenty fast, and calls haven't dropped at all. Voice sounds bad, and AT&T might be worse in that respect than other carriers, but poor call quality seems to be part of a trend that followed the switch to digital phones, they just sound worse than the older analog ones and definitely worse than landlines.

Most of the AT&T hate seems to be coming from users in large cities like SF and NY. I expect that the signaling issues that TechCrunch and others have reported on that are specific to AT&Ts network are hitting hardest there.

Re:Duno

[Overzeetop]

This is true of every carrier I've ever had. Everything is peachy until you have a problem. That's when you find out that EVERYONE has the worst customer service in the world.

Moral of the story: figure it out yourself or throw the company away and start fresh.

Reminds me of Kitchen Nightmares

[Vrallis]

The response by AT&T reminds me of almost every episode of Kitchen Nightmares. Gordon goes in, finds out the food is shit, and the owners always respond "but the customers all tell us the food is great!" (to which Gordon usually responds "What customers?").

Re:Reminds me of Kitchen Nightmares

[garcia]

"but the customers all tell us the food is great!" (to which Gordon usually responds "What customers?").

Yeah because AT&T has no customers and none of them think the service is acceptable--nope, not one. Please. I have an iPhone and while I wish I had a phone with a physical keyboard and true multitasking, the iPhone is a killer device and certainly still the best available for the touchscreen only market.

I rarely have dropped calls, I have 3G most everywhere I happen to be, and the service is acceptable to me. While I certainly wouldn't hesitate to jump ship to another network which was faster, cheaper, and offered a better phone, that doesn't mean I don't hate all mobile phone network operators equally.

Not surprising at all

[dwhitaker]

My girlfriend and I have been in a long-distance relationship for a while now and communicated almost exclusively via phone at night. Some nights there would be 5-10 dropped calls in a 30 minute period. It didn't matter which side dropped the calls because we both used AT&T. Moreover, even when the dropped call rate was tolerable, the call-quality was very poor. We both finally decided to switch to T-Mobile when our contracts ran out and have never looked back.

Re:Not surprising at all

[zippthorne]

You're in a long distance relationship and you get a lot of dropped calls?

Have you considered the possibility that you are not, in fact, in a long distance relationship..?

Speaking as an iPhone Owner and New Yorker

[Azureflare]

I can tell you I am completely satisfied with ATT, but ONLY when I'm in Brooklyn. In fact, 3G service has better latency than my cable connection through Cablevision.

As soon as I go to Manhattan, ATT provides the most horrible experience I've ever had with a phone.

I'm not totally sure if this is ATTs fault though, for two reasons: 1.) Buildings interfere with cell signal, and 2.) Tons of people there have an iPhone/smartphone.

I find that the latency in Manhattan (especially lower down in Hell's Kitchen, the Village, or near the WTC) can sometimes be atrocious, especially when just coming out of the subway. When you're looking up directions or reviews, you don't want to have to wait a minute for results to come back... That minute can feel like much longer especially if it's freezing cold out.

Does android on verizon or sprint have similar issues, or is it just ATT? Anyone?

Another Data Point

[jIyajbe]

Seattle area, iPhone, AT&T, fully satisfied. No problems.

(Plus, the SB baristas all know my drink, so I don't take up time ordering it. :-) )

Interpretation: Wireless data plans suck

[dirkdodgers]

If Verizon had the iPhone too, albeit the results would be similar. 2GB is a ridiculous monthly cap. $10 for every additional GB? What is this, 1995? OK, throttle bandwidth as needed to deliver QoS, but don't put an artificial per-month cap on my usage.

The main advantage of having the iPhone on Verizon will be that it will drive down data plan prices and drive up caps.

And $20/month extra for tethering? Really AT&T? Go shove it up your ass.

Re:Interpretation: Wireless data plans suck

[rgviza]

Or Verizon will adopt a "Let's fuck iPhone users too, what are they going to do, go to AT&T?" stance, like they did with the blackberry.

Demand, not cost, will drive the prices. Verizon won't rock the boat as far as pricing. Why should they?

Their Network is Too Fast

[NicknamesAreStupid]

It is so fast, the bits just fly by before anyone realizes it. Calls are not dropped, they merely end before the subscriber does. The problem is 2G subscribers on a 3G network. Subscribers need to upgrade themselves to 3G. Truth is, no one is nearly fast enough for AT&T. Send them all your money, and they will forgive you.

No, I am not a shill; I just play one on the Internet.

Re:They didn't ask me

[dgatwood]

I'm sure dissatisfaction has a lot to do with the iPhone antenna issue.

Doubtful. Customer satisfaction with AT&T was in bad shape long before iPhone 4 came out. It is, however, regional.

For a great way to check your coverage in many major cities, go to CNet's cell coverage map. As soon as you look at the San Francisco Bay area, you'll understand why the reviews are so negative. Verizon's data service map looks awful, but their voice service map looks good. AT&T is the reverse. Guess who is optimizing for what?

T-mobile

[russotto]

I have T-mobile prepaid. Fewer dropped calls because more often you can't place the call because there's no service at all. On the good side, it's cheap.

What I like and dislike about AT&T

[kimvette]

What I like about AT&T:

* They use SIM cards
* They offer the iPhone

What I dislike about AT&T:

* Everything else

I've been with them since they were Cellular One and I had a big old bulky NEC phone - They were great back then. Now, not so much. I'd love to be able to use the iPhone on T Mobile (I know, I can unlock it blah blah blah)

Re:Now, I know that correlation != causation, but.

[dumbnose]

I had two different iPhones over two years. I experienced dropped calls all the time. It was awful. I hated AT&T. During this time, I even moved from the East Coast to the West Coast and still had the same poor experience. I was ready to leave AT&T. I had friends on AT&T that didn't have iPhones and they said they had a good experience with AT&T. So, I decided to get a new phone. I got a Samsung Focus running Windows Phone 7. Now, my experience is really good. The network seems fast and reliable. No more dropped call issues. I can't speak for everybody. But, this is my experience. I wish I had changed phones sooner. It would've saved me tons of aggravation.

AT&T admits to being sub par anyway.

[Anonymous Coward]

I got hired with Convergys, a company that handles AT&T customer service. During the course of the training, we were told that, yes, AT&T is the most expensive carrier. We learned how AT&T grades their customers, on a scale of 1 to 0 to 5, with 0 being the type of customer they want to lose, the one who always calls with complaints and requesting adjustments. Meanwhile the 5's they will bend over backwards to keep.

The most astounding thing I learned, however, was during a discussion about international roaming charges. The question was posed to the class, "If I take my iPhone to Mexico, and hook up to my brother's wi-fi, will I be charged international roaming?" Of course, I answered no, seeing as how being connected to a private access point means that AT&T is not providing any network service at all, but it turns out I was wrong. We were told that the customer can avoid the charges by not having their SIM card inserted. But if the card is in there, apparently AT&T can charge you for a service they are not providing.

Re:They'd complain about anything probably.

[hedwards]

Customers that demand good service are too expensive and need to be driven out, didn't you get the memo on that?

Re:They'd complain about anything probably.

[nxtw]

Tens of millions. Big deal. There are 4.6 billion cell phone subscriptions worldwide as of 2009 according to Wikipedia. Actually, that's pretty sad.

Those tens of millions of iPhone subscribers:

• have a high credit rating or the extra cash to put down a deposit
• have enough money to afford a $200+ (subsidized) mobile phone
• have a stable enough income to pay at least $40/mo for voice service and $15/mo for data service, plus taxes

They are among perhaps the top 10% richest and most influential mobile subscribers worldwide. Not the kind of people who barely scrape together the money to top up a prepaid SIM in their Nokia.

This is complete BS...

[Smooth and Shiny]

I am posting this reply from my iPhone 4 on AT&T and I have never had a dr

Re:their internet / home phone is worse

[Z34107]

Their internet service especially is awful. Ideally, setting up DSL should go something like this:

1. Unpack box, throw away disc.
2. Plug modem into wall.
3. Plug other end of modem into router

How it works with AT&T:

1. Open the DSL modem's management page, expecting to find something useful. Instead, experience a "setup wizard."
2. The "setup wizard" requires Internet Explorer and flash, because the setup wizard has to talk to you. Good thing the instructions are also mostly on-screen, unless you're on a netbook, in which case you're just fucked because 600 vertical pixels just doesn't cut it for AT&T.
3. If you can click on the "next" button from step 2, the setup program will try to download some other setup program, for Lord knows what reason. Unless you're running 64-bit Windows, in which case the x64 installer will just crash. Or unless you're running Linux, in which case you never made it past step 2, neckbeard.
4. Pride wounded, you open the disc, which requires breaking a a seal labeled something along the lines of "open only under the instruction of AT&T support."
5. Rage at the disc, because the setup program on it is password protected.
6. Dig through the directory structure a bit and find an older version of the setup program that died in step 3. This will finally let you finish activating your account with AT&T, and your DSL modem will now finally have service.

If you're like me (easily frustrated and poorly shaven), there's a few optional steps:

1. Immediately call AT&T to cancel because you'd rather eat the business end of an iPhone (you know which end) than give money to anybody who thought any of the above was a good idea.
2. Send back your used modem for the largest deposit I've ever paid for a lump of plastic.
3. Get sent a bill for $150 over what you owe because they lost your modem.
4. Spend a week trying to call their support number. Contrary to what their website and any other department you call will tell you, it's only open until 5:00 in your timezone. (Bonus points for making them call that number themselves and listen to the "we're closed" tape.) (Although you can add services online, you cannot cancel online; imagine that.)
5. Finally get somebody to "find" the modem.
6. Get told to wait for a new, corrected bill.
7. Receive a collections notice in lieu of said new, corrected bill.
8. Call back AT&T during work hours. Play back the recording made of step 6.
9. Pay correct amount over the phone, and then cancel the card.
10. Thank the Almighty God, who makes the Sun orbit the Earth, that your service, bill, and credit check were all in the name of Ranka Lee. (Kira~! ^_>) Let me know if you see her name in a telephone book somewhere; I didn't pay extra to opt out of that.

Can anyone tell me if signing up for their wireless service still requires an acoustic coupler and landline?

Funny thing is...

[warGod3]

On my AT&T Blackberry, I can't even load a site like Speakeasy.net to test the speed...

Re:Now, I know that correlation != causation, but.

[icebike]

My experience is different. The only place in Seattle I have problems is Safco/Quest during a game. Drop back to Edge, problem solved.

I used to have dropped calls by the airport in SeaTac, but not since I switched to Android from iPhone. Even in the I5 underpass I don't drop calls.

AT&T in NYC and San Francisco may have serious problems, but in Puget sound area, AT&T is solid. If you are still stuck with an iPhone you may still think AT&T sucks, but not more so in Seattle than anywhere else.

Re:Now, I know that correlation != causation, but.

[timeOday]

You bought two iPhones plus the Focus in the space of two years? An iPhone is $400 if you haven't served out your two-year sentence, isn't it? Then about $100/mo for service. I'm just curious how much all that cost?

Could there be a Geographic Bias?

[ElmoGonzo]

Where I am located -- a relatively rural area -- AT&T has the best service available. That's my subjective analysis which gives a higher weight to coverage and a low weight to speed because I don't use the phone for anything but making calls and sending messages. If I were a smartphone user, I'd probably care more about speed than I do. If smartphone users are distributed equally through the population, more of them will be in urban areas and signal availability may not be as important.

CRO report is meaningless

[wcrowe]

Though well-intentioned, the CRO report is meaningless. I've used four different carriers in the last 12 years. Saying that one is better than another is like saying one of Satan's minions doesn't stick you with the pitchfork as much as another of Satan's minions.