Cell Phone Carriers: Rate Their Customer Service

[legion]

I've had Nextel/Sprint for the past 4 years and the service has been excellent, but with the outsourcing of their network maintenance and the fact that they don't have coverage in two places we visit at least once a year, I'm starting to ponder switching. (That, and my wife wants an Android phone.)

So the leading contender is Verizon, because they have coverage in both Houghton, MI, and Mountain Home, AR. But it seems like based on anecdotal evidence, their service is abysmal.

Any thoughts?

[jhynesrockmtn]

They all suck. I practically grew up in the industry at McCaw then ATT Wireless after being gobbled up. In the early days the customer service was local to the market, then region, then.......... I wouldn't make a decision based on customer service. What handset do you want, what network has the best coverage where you need it, is there a network technology or proprietary issue that is a deal breaker, what pricing plan works for you? Those are things to make a decision on. Customer service is all based on IF and who answers the phone when you call and that's a game of russian roulette.

[Rick Lee]

I've never had an issue with Verizon's cust. service. In fact, now they tell you if you're about to go over your limit and ask if you want a bigger plan before you get hit with overage charges. The only slight turn-off was having no signal when I had a flat tire in the middle of the desert in July 4th. Good thing I had my AT&T Blackberry with me and it worked there.

[Evans, Marv]

My wife called Verizon just to change her phone number. She stated several times that was all she wanted, and they confirmed that was all she would get. They slammed her with a plan for more time and money. When she called to complain, they told her their records indicated it had been explained to her and the she had agreed to it, and there was nothing they could change about it.

[cashflyer]

As stated, They all suck.

[Rick V]

I liked the service I got with VZ. I was an Alltel customer and suffered the buy out. I have had no issues with VZ other than the fact I had to drop it for money reasons. (belt tightening) I will return to them when I get better off.
Sweet service in Va, NC, SC, GA, PA, MD, OH, MI, MN, WA, DE, W.Va.
I could always run my mouth

[porsche4life]

I'm on ATT for the iPhone.... But in our area basically the only 2 decent options are ATT and CellularOne(owned by ATT). Its not perfect but the folks at the store are helpful...

[BGCarrera32]

Spokesperson

Verizon = James Earl Jones

T-Mobile = Catherine Zeta Jones

I went with T-Mobile.

[john70t]

1). I used to have a Sprint phone with the elderly parent's family minutes plan.
-It was supposed to be about $60/mo., but Spint would charge them up to $280 some months!
-The itemized bills were just plain warped- They would show my phone number using a million minutes and their's ten minutes, but in the "if the bill was divided" part would show each phone using about 33% of the total minutes used.
-Customer service would say that my physical phone had a problem disconnecting from email. This was not true, I was careful. The problem was on their end. I didn't talk much either.
- When my father in law tried to get a breakdown, they'd send him to the website which he couldn't access.
-End of story: Nuts to Sprint.

2). I won't pay AT&T or Verison a dime, ever, if possible.
Both are guilty of violating the Fourth Amendment provision of illegal search and seizure, and there should be some massive fines/jailing going on.

3). I wanted to get a landline with TDS Telecom, but they wouldn't provide me with a written plan(the fine print). Period.
-It's not listed on their website, and I emailed them about four times asking for a copy of the plan to no avail.
-Customer service woudn't sent me a physical copy either, and said "it's an oral contract only". WTF?

4). Got an unlimited local/long distance phone with TDS Metrocom, but it wouldn't even get coverage in three different locations near downtown: Only dropped calls and/or static.
-The employees signed me up for a different plan, lied about it, and then loudly yelled at me and security chased me out of the store after I took a freakin' cell phone pic of the advertised coverage area on the wall.
-Legal issues are ongoing.

5). T-mobile was one of the few options left. Weak reception, but it's nice getting through a complete conversation for a change.
Great employee service, but they charge $5/mo if the bills are not automatically debited. Also didn't have the camera->pc cable in the store and couldn't order it.

Communications are outrageously expensive these days. Ten years ago I had a landline with Netzero for $14. Now it's closer to $100.
The price of pizza is still the same though.