AT&T rated worst again by Consumer Reports
I have been a long time AT&T customer mainly because of their devices and not because of their service or policies. Even though I have never really had a problem with AT&T, it seems I have been in the lucky few category according to Consumer Reports who just ranked AT&T worst for the second straight year. 66,000 of Consumer Reports subscribers said “No Ah Ah” to the Death Star which spanned 22 metropolitan markets.
Verizon and Sprint where one and two followed by T-Mobile who rated “significantly better” than higher priced AT&T. But Consumer Reports said that it was prepaid phones that hit closer to the mark with consumers:
“Our survey indicates that subscribers to prepaid and smaller standard-service providers are happiest overall with their cell-phone service,” said Paul Reynolds, electronics editor for Consumer Reports. “However, these carriers aren’t for everyone. Some are only regional, and prepaid carriers tend to offer few or no smart phones.The major carriers are still leading options for many consumers, and we found they ranged widely in how well they satisfied their customers.”
So what say you? Drop a comment and let us know what you think.
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Based on the pre-paid satisfaction results, I wonder if the consumer dissatisfaction is primarily cost based or actually has something to do with cellular service. In other words, I pay so much for to AT&T, it should be better than I can imagine. And if not, I am not satisfied.
Like you, I have no great love for AT&T, but I have service wherever I go, data speeds are so-so, but most of my downloading happens over a good WiFi connection anyway (home and office) so not that big a deal. I pay my bill (somewhat reluctantly) on time every month and get to upgrade my phone every 15-18 months. Should I switch carriers to maybe save $10-$15/month, have fewer phones to choose from, and maybe poorer reception. Don’t think so.
Why does this not surprise me? I have had AT&T for years now and I will not be renewing my contract. I can do without the fancy phones for better coverage and lower bill. It is aggravating to be in the middle of a city and drop a call when you have full service. AT&T has gotten too big for their own good, they are not about consumer satisfaction anymore. I guess higher rates mean worse service. That should be AT&Ts new motto. But that is my opinion.
I don’t understand these ratings. I’ve been with AT&T forever, and I’ve really had no issues to complain about. The coverage is good, the service is good, the equipment choice is good. Do I have a dropped call every now and then, sure. Doesn’t everyone on every carrier? I must be living a charmed wireless life.
I am a consumer reports subscriber and I read the magazine from cover to cover every month.
While a lot of the info in there is good, I never trust their ratings
until I see what they based it on. I remember in the 90’s they would not
recommend an otherwise great Toyota Corolla because the heating
controls were sliders, not dials. And rather than recommending the
iPhone 4 with a caveat that it could drop calls if held the wrong way, they refused to even put it in the ratings. (I do NOT own an iPhone.) So how can you not knock points off of Verizon and Sprint for not being able to talk and use the web at the same time?
What is the sense in having a smart phone with unlimited data if every time you make a call you get disconnected from the internet? The answer is that they did not look at that for their ratings because they are not really “users”. Just testers. So if
what they based their ratings on matches your needs exactly, then follow
what they say blindly. If not (and it almost never does for me), then read the info, adapt what is relevant, and toss the rest of the crap that they spew.ATT is not the most expensive. Verizon is. And their coverage depends where you are. In my house, Sprint gets the best coverage, at my office, ATT does. I was out of contract a few months ago and wanted the Galaxy S2, so I compared the big 4 carriers. Once you throw in full data, texting and a bunch of minutes, the only clearly cheaper plan was Sprint. And I wanted to stay on GSM. So I stayed with ATT. I average 5mb down and 1.5. Why on earth would I need more than that? Will I really see a difference between 5mb and 8mb? Only for downloads of hundreds of mb. And who does that on the phone? I actually am grandfatherd in to a true unlimited data plan, but even the great Verizon does not offer that anymore. So all the speed does is use up your battery. It is like buying a Porsche and driving up and down your side street with a 25mph limit.
Very well put Joe. Consumer reports objective analysis has been lost.
Hey Aaron! Totally Agree with the Consumer reports. In my area I have thoroughly tested Verizon and they are no better as a carrier here than AT&T. I have never called Verizon, but at least with AT&T, I now have very minimal wait times which was one of my huge complaints in the past. I get a live body in less than 30 seconds 95% of the time.
I don’t have issues with AT&T until now with their service even though I feel little bit it as expensive over Sprint or T-Mo, but on the other hand I always felt Verizon is the one as the most expensive carrier. I also have no issues with data speeds and I think I am also one of the lucky ones. My only request to AT&T would be expedite the LTE implementation in my area and allow free tethering to us because we are paying for the data, so whether we are using it for 1 device or many devices, they shouldn’t care, as long as it is under cap. This includes the ones who grandfathered into unlimited data plan like me. And for most of the time majority of us would be using WiFi anyway.
Here is the REAL TEST! My wife and daughters talk on their cell phones a lot, and they are not Bitching at me that their service sucks or that their calls got dropped. But me…With 2 power outages this year, shutting down my wifi at home, I learned just how bad my service is at home, for data. I never really talk on my cell phone, just text an data. I did hear suggestions that the cell towers didn’t have power either. That Sucked! Bored at home, couldn’t surf!
And at work, on a regular basis, I don’t have the fastest OTA Data, sometimes it pisses me off, but I blame my devices for about half of that.
Wish wifi was everywhere!
Peace
I was an ATT subscriber for years, we had a a family plan with 5 phones, data, the whole shooting match. 2 years ago, I wanted to add a phone for my daughter – the family plan was full, and ATT was going to make me add another plan. I wasn’t too happy with the coverage and the service, so I gave Verizon a try and we could evaluate the phones side by side. Over the past two years I have migrated every phone I have to my verizon account and added 2 data devices. My data speeds absolutely rock, my coverage is tons better. I have 3G almost everywhere, 4G in major areas, I don’t remember my last dropped call. The customer service is courteous, cooperative and responsive. I cannot imagine what would make me go back to ATT.