More woes for AT&T

AT&T is becoming something of a laughing stock over its legal battles with Verizon but plenty of its customers aren't amused.

AT&T recently went to court with Verizon because the competitor started an advertising campaign pointing out what many iPhone users already know - the network has very limited 3G coverage.

Unfortunately for AT&T the map Verizon shows is correct and it can prove it. It was left to AT&T to slink away with its tail between its legs.

Now the company has more woes. It has just been ranked dead last in customer satisfaction poll carried out by the influential by Consumer Reports.

Consumer Reports polled 50,000 readers in 26 cities and they gave AT&T the lowest customer satisfaction ranking in 19 of these cities, especially for voice service and customer support. By contrast Verizon topped the poll.

The report highlights what has been a tough year for AT&T. With exclusive rights to the iPhone you'd think the company would be in a strong position but success has come at a price.

The surge in iPhone users has meant a lot more mobile data being used. While this is a good thing it's been clear for some time that AT&T didn't have the infrastructure to handle that much data.

The company is investing in improving this by putting up new cell towers but it still has a long way to go, and surveys like this don't make its task any easier.

02 Dec 2009

Permalink

Do you agree?

Add your comment

One thing many miss in those commercials is that those maps are reflecting 3G coverage, and not voice coverage. I carry both a Verizon phone (personal) and an AT&T phone (work), and my AT&T phone has more consistent coverage than my Verizon phone. Go figure. Verizon is just the best of the worst in the surveys. All the US wireless carriers have significant flaws, either in their pricing, their coverage, their customer service, or their technology. Verizon's flaw - high prices, limited technology, and overly restricted devices that squeeze users for nickels and dimes on features that would normally be free on other carriers. As a Verizon customer, I can tell you they are pretty good at responding to issues or questions, but my bill is outrageous for the amount of usage my family makes of the phones we have.

Posted by: EJ 04 Dec 2009

You seem to hsve completely missed the point of all this. If they, AT&T, were really trying to do better, rather than rest on their rears, you need to ask how many new engineers working to improve their service, or how much new hardware they could have installed with the money they blew on this silly and fruitless lawsuit. Then, we might believe they were trying to improve, not just cover up.

Posted by: Wandering 02 Dec 2009

Add your comment

Your name:
Your email address:	We won't publish your address
Your comment title:
Your comment:	By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms & Conditions. Your comment will be moderated before publication.