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macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,523
30,815


Consumer Reports today released its most recent survey of more than 50,000 readers that found only 54 percent of respondents were completely or very satisfied with their cell-phone service (regardless of network). In a press release Consumer Reports notes that despite “smarter phones,” more flexible plans, and faster wireless networks, cell service continues to be among the lower-rated of all the services that they evaluate.

The survey also showed that almost two-thirds of respondents had at least one major complaint. About one in five readers cited high prices as their top complaint, which is more than any other annoyance.

“America is in love with the cell phone, but they are lukewarm about cell phone-phone service,” said Paul Reynolds, Electronics Editor at Consumer Reports. "They’re especially concerned about its cost in these tight economic times.”

AT&T was the lowest-rated cell-phone service provider and received low marks in voice service and customer support. Verizon was the top-rated carrier and handily beat AT&T in all areas surveyed.

The full report is included in Consumer Reports January 2010 issue and is posted on their website. A city-by-city rating is available for 26 metropolitan areas. Also included in the January 2010 issue is an update to the organization's cell phone ratings. Apple's iPhone models continue to remain on top of Consumer Reports smart phone ratings as of this posting.

Article Link: Consumer Reports Finds U.S. Cell-Phone Service Providers Lacking
 

amac4me

macrumors 65816
Apr 26, 2005
1,303
0
Please let there be truth to the reports that the iPhone-AT&T exclusivity will end in 2010!!
 

gibbsj

macrumors newbie
Dec 1, 2009
1
0
here

here you go

I believe the findings to be factual.
 

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DakotaGuy

macrumors 601
Jan 14, 2002
4,226
3,791
South Dakota, USA
Verizon gets the very top score in voice connection and quality and AT&T gets the lowest however some still try to argue that AT&T's GSM network is somehow superior to Verizon's CDMA network.
 

DMann

macrumors 601
Jan 13, 2002
4,001
0
10023
Nevertheless,

Despite AT&T's lower ranking :

"The Consumer Reports survey found that iPhone owners are willing to put up
with a creaky network just to have the device: The survey found that 98
percent
of iPhone owners liked their phones enough to buy it again, despite
the sub-par ratings for AT&T."


To be willing to tolerate a sub-par network for the sake of using an iPhone speaks volumes, in regard to customer satisfaction.
 

puckhead193

macrumors G3
May 25, 2004
9,570
852
NY
way to go big V... (hopefully my stock will go up tomorrow :p)
Imagine the perfect phone on america's perfect network :D
 

Doctor Q

Administrator
Staff member
Sep 19, 2002
39,786
7,518
Los Angeles
Same story for me

I had better sound quality with Verizon and I was happy with Verizon service. But AT&T had iPhones! So I'm an AT&T customer.
 

stagi

macrumors 65816
Feb 18, 2006
1,125
0
I am somewhat satisfied with the performance just not happy about paying $200 a month for 2 iPhones, wish the price would start to go down a bit.
 

sanity

macrumors member
Oct 23, 2007
54
10
Geez AT&T sucks! However, I fall into the camp of "AT&T sucks, but not bad enough that I will abandon my iPhone".
 

bloodycape

macrumors 65816
Jun 18, 2005
1,373
0
California
Not sure how true this is, since I have read many times that Sprint can roam on VZW towers and even on some phones force roaming so you are like always on VZW towers(sprint doesn't charge roaming fees so its all good). So, if Sprint can roam on VZW service when needed, then shouldn't Sprint be up there in reception and call quality?
 

dukeofhurl

macrumors newbie
Aug 5, 2008
4
0
In Portland, OR, I have never had a dropped call on AT&T with my iPhone. However, it wouldn't take very many dropped calls to get me upset with AT&T. I want what I pay for. I feel extremely lucky that I get what I pay for.
 

Marzzz

macrumors 6502
Nov 1, 2002
316
445
The Desert
I put up with AT&T in order to have the iPhone, but the second the iPhone is opened up to other carriers, I am gone.
 

AlphaAnt

macrumors regular
Sep 9, 2006
120
5
MD, USA
america's perfect network :D

Whoa, there, buddy. No one was insinuating that. The point I got out of the article was that they all suck, it's just that Verizon sucks slightly less.

Alas, that puts me in that group mentioned at the end of the article. I don't like AT&T, but I'm not gonna get rid of my iPhone for a slightly less crappy network.
 

john0879

macrumors newbie
Mar 5, 2009
26
0
Whoa, there, buddy. No one was insinuating that. The point I got out of the article was that they all suck, it's just that Verizon sucks slightly less.

Alas, that puts me in that group mentioned at the end of the article. I don't like AT&T, but I'm not gonna get rid of my iPhone for a slightly less crappy network.

Agreed. The difference between reader scores is only 9% and Verizon's 75% satisfaction rate is far from perfect.
 

kas23

macrumors 603
Oct 28, 2007
5,629
288
I'm sick of AT&T. I get about 1 dropped call per day on average. Can someone post the city-by-city results from CR?
 

cmcconkey

macrumors 6502
Nov 22, 2005
313
5
Rocky Face, GA
I just wish that they would come up with some sort of low minute usage, but high data usage plan, then I would be happy. As it stands I am paying almost $100 a month for 78 minutes of usage on Verizon's network. I have unlimited data, unlimited GPS, unlimited "in" texting.
 

JabbaMac

macrumors newbie
Sep 21, 2009
18
0
I hardly use my iPhone as a phone because I have so many dropped calls. I bet iPhone on VZ end of summer 2010.
 

Furrybeagle

macrumors 6502
Sep 13, 2004
285
4
AT&T must be raking in cash from iPhone subscriptions, right? So you'd think their network would be top notch… :confused:
 
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