Latest Consumer Reports, AT&T gets horrible scores for US cell service

[pm]

I got the latest issue of Consumer Reports and read the article on cell phones and cell phone service. The somewhat surprising thing was how badly AT&T did on the reader scoring. It wasn't just bad, it was consistently awful.

Generally the ratings were Verizon pretty consistently at the top, and then T-Mobile and Sprint in the middle, depending on region, and then consistently AT&T at the very bottom with a score at least 30% less than Verizon. Above Verizon was US Cellular, but they only serve about half the US.

In the article they write:

AT&T is now the worst carrier. AT&T was the only carrier with scores that dropped significantly in our satisfaction survey of Consumer Reports readers. AT&T are now positioned in last place overall and in almost every market we rate

I thought this was interesting too:

Our survey data, reflecting all versions of phone, found that iPhone users were, by far, the least satisfied with their carrier.

I wonder how much that is due to the iPhone's signal abilities and how much was AT&T's network.


My personal experience with AT&T was that it got slightly better in the spring of this year here in Fort Collins, Colorado, but now it's worse than ever before. In the last two weeks my phone will drop calls on 4-5 bars of service while sitting on a chair inside. I would say one 1 of every 2 calls is dropped. I was talking to my father tonight and our connection dropped twice. It's been so bad recently that I called AT&T twice about it (and I'm generally not too much of a complainer). I might be tempted to blame my iPhone but my wife's cell phone isn't much better.

 

[QueBert]

I hate AT&T and I know people who hate AT&T as much as I do, but they still switched to them just so they could have an iPhone. I think without the iPhone AT&T would be on life support. These numbers don't surprise me at all.

 

[TheStu]

I don't have much in the way of issues with AT&T. Verizon seemed to get better building penetration (Oh! /Quagmire) when I had them, I could get signal in elevators and stairwells and the like. But their customer service has been ok, at least in the sense that I can usually get the information I am looking for and in a reasonably timely manner. There have been a couple of times that I have been given, not so much a run-around, as incorrect information the first time I asked the question.

So, they could be better, but the wait times are usually pretty short, and the staff is polite and corteous, and they don't cold transfer.

 

[Bateluer]

I hate AT&T and I know people who hate AT&T as much as I do, but they still switched to them just so they could have an iPhone. I think without the iPhone AT&T would be on life support. These numbers don't surprise me at all.

This is an act of an uninformed consumer with high quality smart phones that rival or exceed the iPhone on the other three national carriers, but that's a separate discussion.

Still, when Verizon gets the iPhone next quarter, lets watch subscribers leave AT&T en mass. Few sales people I've spoke with at independent locations, Sam's Club and Best Buy Mobile, believe its going to be a BIG drop. Take that with a grain of salt considering the sources though.

 

[MrX8503]

In my area the service is decent. I prefer sprints network, but I wasn't really interested in their smartphone lineup. I ended up getting the iPhone and I've been happy with it so far.

 

[shortylickens]

I'm not enthused about AT&T but I have also long since learned to not trust Consumer Reports. They seem to get way too many things wrong.

 

[Bateluer]

I'm not enthused about AT&T but I have also long since learned to not trust Consumer Reports. They seem to get way too many things wrong.

Its the results of a survey, not an editorial or opinion piece. I suppose the customers could be wrong. Its their perspective that's wrong, not AT&T. Maybe they're just not holding their phones correctly?

 

[Demo24]

Its the results of a survey, not an editorial or opinion piece. I suppose the customers could be wrong. Its their perspective that's wrong, not AT&T. Maybe they're just not holding their phones correctly?

Well to truly know how representative it was we'd need to know how many people responded, from where, etc. Could very well be the people that have issues are those bothering to respond.


I'm not sticking up for ATT though. We hated their service. I dropped calls all the time with them, on edge network cause 3g isn't up here, and customer service was horrid. Since their phone selection sucked ,besides the iphone, we went to Verizon. Get 3g just about everywhere and have dropped 1 call in the past year. I don't care if they release the most amazing phone for the next 5 years, ATT won't get my business again until they show some significant improvements.

 

[zerocool84]

I hate AT&T and I know people who hate AT&T as much as I do, but they still switched to them just so they could have an iPhone. I think without the iPhone AT&T would be on life support. These numbers don't surprise me at all.

I work at an internet company in downtown LA and most people there have an iPhone. Many "tech savvy" people went so far as to get a Verizon or Sprint Mifi to compensate for AT&T`s reception and almost all of them have that in-home signal booster modem thingy.

 

[Slick5150]

AT&T is the main reason I got rid of my iPhone and got a Sprint Palm Pre back in June 09. I was happy to see Sprint move way up on that Consumer Report list. They've really done a TON to improve their service and their customer service. While my iPhone signal just sucked all the time, my Sprint signal in my home has been pretty good, but one day Sprint called me just to see if I was happy with everythign and I told them I had trouble getting a good signal in one room of my house, so they overnighted me one of their Airvana devices, no charge, and waived the monthly fee for it. Now I get full bars in every room in my place.

Couldn't be happier with Sprint. Plus it's way cheaper.

 

[quakefiend420]

Am I the only one that's afraid that the iPhone users are going to bring Verizon's data network to its knees just like AT&T's in the first year?

 

[ew915]

Am I the only one that's afraid that the iPhone users are going to bring Verizon's data network to its knees just like AT&T's in the first year?

what makes you think verizon is going to offer unlimited data plans with the iphone?

 

[apac]

I'd think sprint would be a best buy then, given sprint phones can roam for free on the verizon network, and the service costs less.

 

[rockyct]

I'm like the people waiting for the Verizon iPhone but instead I'm waiting for a windows phone. Although, going with Sprint may be a better option as I do expect Verizon to get raped when they release their iPhone which probably will line up with a Verizon Windows phone.

 

[richierich1212]

AT&T is the only carrier that's pretty affordable for a family plan 3 lines. (2 smart phones). Otherwise I'd switch.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I think there's this public perception that AT&T sucks, so whenever things go wrong, we blame AT&T.

Internet slow today? Blame AT&T. Today I can only get 1.5mbps down. Well what about you fellow Verizon customer? You can get the same? Oh, but since I'm AT&T and I'm used to 3mbps+ usually, 1.5mbps is a downgrade even if it's a temporary issue and it's still better than Sprint/VZW. AT&T sucks even though I can download faster than VZW. But since something sucks today, I'll blame AT&T.

Oh, dropped call? It could be my shitty iPhone and its crappy antenna, but I'll blame AT&T again. OH wait I live in the middle of nowhere and I get no 3G coverage? Blame AT&T.

We need independent data going out there analyzing dropped calls. The Nexus One and iPhone are the two worst victims in terms of reception, and given that those are both GSM phones, AT&T will get hit hard.

Verizon users have learned to act like their reception is the most godlike. When they can't make calls in our stadium they attribute that to the fact that there's too many people. But wait, AT&T can make calls and surf the internet too? What's up with that? So we had tower upgrades but VZW can't handle the capacity? Surely it's not VZW's fault, it's the fault of having too many people. Ridiculous. But the minute something goes wrong on AT&T, people blame the carrier.

Sucks to be AT&T. They might suck, but at the same time, they might not suck that bad. People dig holes deeper and exaggerate problems.

 

[rockyct]

I think there's this public perception that AT&T sucks, so whenever things go wrong, we blame AT&T.

Internet slow today? Blame AT&T. Today I can only get 1.5mbps down. Well what about you fellow Verizon customer? You can get the same? Oh, but since I'm AT&T and I'm used to 3mbps+ usually, 1.5mbps is a downgrade even if it's a temporary issue and it's still better than Sprint/VZW. AT&T sucks even though I can download faster than VZW. But since something sucks today, I'll blame AT&T.

Oh, dropped call? It could be my shitty iPhone and its crappy antenna, but I'll blame AT&T again. OH wait I live in the middle of nowhere and I get no 3G coverage? Blame AT&T.

We need independent data going out there analyzing dropped calls. The Nexus One and iPhone are the two worst victims in terms of reception, and given that those are both GSM phones, AT&T will get hit hard.

Verizon users have learned to act like their reception is the most godlike. When they can't make calls in our stadium they attribute that to the fact that there's too many people. But wait, AT&T can make calls and surf the internet too? What's up with that? So we had tower upgrades but VZW can't handle the capacity? Surely it's not VZW's fault, it's the fault of having too many people. Ridiculous. But the minute something goes wrong on AT&T, people blame the carrier.

Sucks to be AT&T. They might suck, but at the same time, they might not suck that bad. People dig holes deeper and exaggerate problems.

Nooooo...AT&T really does suck. They're getting better and I fully expect Verizon to get raped when they get the iPhone, but AT&T does suck.

 

[charrison]

I think there's this public perception that AT&T sucks, so whenever things go wrong, we blame AT&T.

Internet slow today? Blame AT&T. Today I can only get 1.5mbps down. Well what about you fellow Verizon customer? You can get the same? Oh, but since I'm AT&T and I'm used to 3mbps+ usually, 1.5mbps is a downgrade even if it's a temporary issue and it's still better than Sprint/VZW. AT&T sucks even though I can download faster than VZW. But since something sucks today, I'll blame AT&T.

Oh, dropped call? It could be my shitty iPhone and its crappy antenna, but I'll blame AT&T again. OH wait I live in the middle of nowhere and I get no 3G coverage? Blame AT&T.

We need independent data going out there analyzing dropped calls. The Nexus One and iPhone are the two worst victims in terms of reception, and given that those are both GSM phones, AT&T will get hit hard.

Verizon users have learned to act like their reception is the most godlike. When they can't make calls in our stadium they attribute that to the fact that there's too many people. But wait, AT&T can make calls and surf the internet too? What's up with that? So we had tower upgrades but VZW can't handle the capacity? Surely it's not VZW's fault, it's the fault of having too many people. Ridiculous. But the minute something goes wrong on AT&T, people blame the carrier.

Sucks to be AT&T. They might suck, but at the same time, they might not suck that bad. People dig holes deeper and exaggerate problems.

I am not going to say that ATT has horrible service or that they are not addressing their problems, but they do have problems and I think this is an honest report on their service.

I was recently at a stadium event and the ATT network was non functional during the peak crowd. Was this a function of a random network problem, capacity issues, or lack of onsite towers to deal with the crowd? Who knows but there was a problem and VZW worked fine that day.

 

[charrison]

Nooooo...AT&T really does suck. They're getting better and I fully expect Verizon to get raped when they get the iPhone, but AT&T does suck.

So far the reports are saying that androids are sucking down more data than iphones.

 

[GeekDrew]

AT&T is the only carrier that's pretty affordable for a family plan 3 lines. (2 smart phones). Otherwise I'd switch.

Hrmmmmm.... perhaps in your area? I just compared the plan prices between AT&T and Verizon a couple of months ago, and they were within $5 of each other. I configured a family plan with 4 lines... I'm thinking I made 2 of the lines smartphones.

 

[GeekDrew]

Oh, and I have to mention, not that it matters, that AT&T is by far the best carrier in my area.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I work at an internet company in downtown LA and most people there have an iPhone. Many "tech savvy" people went so far as to get a Verizon or Sprint Mifi to compensate for AT&T`s reception and almost all of them have that in-home signal booster modem thingy.

Yep, my friends/co-workers in LA have hotspots, signal boosters and prepaid cell phones they use instead of or to supplement their iPhones.

How ATT can screw up such a huge market is astonishing to me.

Personally I have used ATT for internet for many years, and have gotten the advertised service, but I live in mortal fear of changing that service or ever having to deal with tech support or customer service because of the insane corporate culture and structure, it's like trying to get something done in the federal bureaucracy.

 

[zerocool84]

snip

I simply say that if a wireless carrier has to supplement their network with wifi hotspots all over the country, you know they have a problem.

 

[zerocool84]

Yep, my friends/co-workers in LA have hotspots, signal boosters and prepaid cell phones they use instead of or to supplement their iPhones.

How ATT can screw up such a huge market is astonishing to me.

Personally I have used ATT for internet for many years, and have gotten the advertised service, but I live in mortal fear of changing that service or ever having to deal with tech support or customer service because of the insane corporate culture and structure, it's like trying to get something done in the federal bureaucracy.

We really suck for wireless cus of all the hills and how spread out LA is.

 

[Dulanic]

AT&T is the only carrier that's pretty affordable for a family plan 3 lines. (2 smart phones). Otherwise I'd switch.

That would be a first from my experience. In price Verizon >= AT&T > Sprint. I always hear nothing but bad with AT&T. I have Sprint and am very happy, their service has improved a ton over the past couple years especially their customer service.