AT&T Fares Poorly in 'Consumer Reports' Ratings

[MacRumors]

Popular ratings and reviews magazine Consumer Reports today announced the release of its latest report on cellular service providers in the United States, unsurprisingly demonstrating wide customer dissatisfaction with AT&T, the exclusive carrier for Apple's iPhone.

Of all the carriers rated, AT&T was the only one to drop significantly in overall satisfaction.

Over half of the survey respondents who used AT&T as a carrier owned some version of the iPhone, the Apple smart phone that is exclusive to AT&T, at least for now. Consumer Reports data, reflecting all versions of the phone, found that iPhone owners were much less satisfied with their carrier and rated data service (Web and e-mail) lower than owners of smart phones on other carriers that, like the iPhone, have a host of apps to encourage heavy data use.

The Houston Chronicle has published the key ratings chart for contract cellular providers at the national level, showing AT&T ranking dead last with the magazine's lowest "worse" rating in eight of nine areas and only one step above the lowest for the company's texting service.

In the 2009 survey, AT&T was at the bottom of the list locally, but came in next-to-last nationally. This time, it brings up the rear nationwide, and in every city in which Consumer Reports surveyed its readership. The magazine even calls out AT&T's shortcomings on its cover with a snarky blurb:

Plus
Best & worst providers
(Sorry, AT&T)

In contrast, Verizon Wireless, the country's largest carrier and widely rumored to be gaining iPhone distribution rights early next year, placed second among the five carriers included in the survey and garnered middle-of-the-road ratings in eight areas and even rated one step higher for voice service. Regional carrier U.S. Cellular topped the charts in the survey.

Among handsets, the iPhone 4 tied with the Samsung Captivate as the highest-rated handset on AT&T's network. Consumer Reports has notably refused to recommend the iPhone 4 due to antenna issues that received considerable publicity in the weeks after the device's launch.

Article Link: AT&T Fares Poorly in 'Consumer Reports' Ratings

 

[therealdeal]

AT&T sucks, I only have them because of the iPhone.

 

[kas23]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2 like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C134 Safari/6533.18.5)

AT&T. They'll get what's coming to them. And they'll have no one but themselves to blame.

 

[unr1]

do we really need a study to tell us AT&T sucks?

 

[mattwolfmatt]

"AT&T Fares Poorly in 'Consumer Reports' Ratings"

In other news, the sky is reported to be . . . blue. Also, late breaking news from Alaska: it's cold there.

I'm guessing (hoping??) that when Verizon gets the iphone, their scores will even out a bit. Verizon's will go down (heavy increased traffic) and AT&T's might got up a bit because of a lightened load.

 

[Eddyisgreat]

:O

not shocked.

 

[NoExpectations]

This Survey is Flawed

This survey is flawed. The participants are anonymous and cannot be verified. In addition, in this particular survey all of the iPhone users are on a single network (AT&T). As everyone knows, iPhone users have a unique expectation level and they stress the network far above all other cell phone users. This has skewed the results.

More than half of the AT&T respondents were iPhone users. I’m sure there are still some network capacity issues yet I bet more than a few of the respondents wanted to make a “statement” regarding exclusivity by clobbering AT&T in this survey. It would be interesting to see the survey results if you could take away the iPhone users.

Next year’s survey will become more meaningful when we can compare iPhone users on multiple carriers. (IE…how does a Verizon iPhone user compare with an AT&T iPhone user, T-Mobile, Sprint, etc).

In fact, Consumer reports should compare the same cell phones on various networks to get a “like for like” result. What’s the point of comparing a network full of voice/text users with a network that carries most of the wireless internet traffic?

My own editorial comment: for some reason, Consumer Reports has an “issue” with large and successful companies (Apple/AT&T).

 

[RawBert]

Last place... I would have never guessed.

 

[goobot]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

Do they actuallly get this from the network or are their phones poor phones and they blame the carrier?

Plus do they rate real know subscribers or just rate anyone and all the AT&T haters who want the iPhone say they suck?

 

[joeshmo2010]

this is a stupid article. att is not bad at all. way better than tmobile and verizon. ignorance these days.

 

[kas23]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2 like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C134 Safari/6533.18.5)

do we really need a study to tell us AT&T sucks?

We actually do. Many an AT&T sucks threads have been made, only to be invaded by AT&T fanboys saying that it all depends on your local and that they have been with AT&T 20 years without a single dropped call.

 

[Ovenall]

I live and work in downtown Chicago, and AT&T has the worst service. My iPhone 4 drops calls or fails to make calls pretty often, and a friend of mine with AT&T and a different, simpler phone has the same issues. My office has several people with iPhones with the same issues. My wife and friends on other networks do not have these problems.

It's inexcusable that AT&T would have such lousy service in the downtown Metro area of one of the largest cities in the country.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

Makes you wonder if part of the problem is the iPhone. Already a know fact that apple went against AT&T request in first hen iPhone on the chooser they used for the attenna. The chip used did not work well with the tower AT&T uses and with so many poor ratings it could be just the iPhone. I want to know the results with iPhone users stripped out.

 

[NKT]

This survey is flawed. The participants are anonymous and cannot be verified. In addition, in this particular survey all of the iPhone users are on a single network (AT&T). As everyone knows, iPhone users have a unique expectation level and they stress the network far above all other cell phone users. This has skewed the results.

More than half of the AT&T respondents were iPhone users. I’m sure there are still some network capacity issues yet I bet more than a few of the respondents wanted to make a “statement” regarding exclusivity by clobbering AT&T in this survey. It would be interesting to see the survey results if you could take away the iPhone users.

Next year’s survey will become more meaningful when we can compare iPhone users on multiple carriers. (IE…how does a Verizon iPhone user compare with an AT&T iPhone user, T-Mobile, Sprint, etc).

In fact, Consumer reports should compare the same cell phones on various networks to get a “like for like” result. What’s the point of comparing a network full of voice/text users with a network that carries most of the wireless internet traffic?

My own editorial comment: for some reason, Consumer Reports has an “issue” with large and successful companies (Apple/AT&T).

1. How do you know half the respondents were iPhone users?

2. Why does it matter if they were?

3. Sprint and Verizon carrier more data traffic than AT&T.

 

[NoExpectations]

Verizon....enjoy your last year at/near the top of this survey. Once you get the iPhone, look for a big drop in customer satisfaction. No network can live up to the iPhone.

 

[kas23]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2 like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C134 Safari/6533.18.5)

This survey is flawed. The participants are anonymous and cannot be verified. In addition, in this particular survey all of the iPhone users are on a single network (AT&T). As everyone knows, iPhone users have a unique expectation level and they stress the network far above all other cell phone users. This has skewed the results.

More than half of the AT&T respondents were iPhone users. I’m sure there are still some network capacity issues yet I bet more than a few of the respondents wanted to make a “statement” regarding exclusivity by clobbering AT&T in this survey. It would be interesting to see the survey results if you could take away the iPhone users.

Next year’s survey will become more meaningful when we can compare iPhone users on multiple carriers. (IE…how does a Verizon iPhone user compare with an AT&T iPhone user, T-Mobile, Sprint, etc).

In fact, Consumer reports should compare the same cell phones on various networks to get a “like for like” result. What’s the point of comparing a network full of voice/text users with a network that carries most of the wireless internet traffic?

My own editorial comment: for some reason, Consumer Reports has an “issue” with large and successful companies (Apple/AT&T).

You must work for AT&T. Actually, these results are not flawed if you own an iPhone on AT&T (which the vast majority of us do). Second, CR does not have it out for Apple. They only rated 1 single product of theirs poorly and rightfully so.

 

[bobsentell]

This study is stupid. On average the coverage and quality of the coverage where I live is the same between AT&T and Versizon. And how the hell do you have poor texting? I type it, hit send, and it goes. What beyond that is there to rate?

 

[Thunderhawks]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2 like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C134 Safari/6533.18.5)



We actually do. Many an AT&T sucks threads have been made, only to be invaded by AT&T fanboys saying that it all depends on your local and that they have been with AT&T 20 years without a single dropped call.

It's not about dropped calls it's having 3G.

Took them almost 3 years to get it to my area. Finally.

Somebody I know and drove with seems to have 3G wherever we drove.

ATT nada!

Stop working on 4G until you have 3G figured out.

Verizon I'll be there with my iphone 5G w. combo chip

Att has the most unfriendliest website and bill set up for businesses.

 

[groupeone]

I H8 Consumer Reports

Why does MacRumors give any credence to Consumer Reports? While the facts in the survey could be correct, always consider the source. For over two decades, Consumer Reports has been on a mission to destroy Apple. In report after report, Consumer Reports has always either slammed or ignored Apple completely when ranking various computers and products.

In the "Antennagate" (God, I hate that term), Consumer Reports tried to paint Apple as the only company whose products had a possible attenuation problem. They flat out lied about many aspects, and when proven wrong and caught in their lies, Consumer Reports never retracted their assertions, knowing full-well that the damage had already been done.

It would not surprise me if these purveyors of a beige, dull, unfriendly world that is Consumer Reports is on the take from Apple competitors. I sense that they hate Apple for all that it stands for, hate beautiful design, hate creativity and fun. The East Coast bureaucrats that run Consumer Reports envision a world where we all drive Chrysler K-Cars painted beige, where we live in a beige house that looks exactly the same as our neighbors, eat the same dull, generic foods and we all use beige PCs running DOS.

If you get the impression that I have long loathed Consumer Reports, you guessed right. So please, MacRumors, don't give these cork-soaking bastiches any links or clicks. You only empower them.

 

[NoExpectations]

1. How do you know half the respondents were iPhone users?

2. Why does it matter if they were?

3. Sprint and Verizon carrier more data traffic than AT&T.

1. It's in the article (online).
2. It makes a big difference. More than half of AT&T's users are unique.
3. Wrong. AT&T carries more than all combined (based on public statements from AT&T and a lack of challenge by the other carriers).

 

[Small White Car]

My own editorial comment: for some reason, Consumer Reports has an “issue” with large and successful companies (Apple/AT&T).

Ha ha, yeah, and Verizon got a better score because they're such a small company?

Right...

Great theory.

 

[kas23]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2 like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C134 Safari/6533.18.5)

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2 like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C134 Safari/6533.18.5)



We actually do. Many an AT&T sucks threads have been made, only to be invaded by AT&T fanboys saying that it all depends on your local and that they have been with AT&T 20 years without a single dropped call.

It's not about dropped calls it's having 3G.

Took them almost 3 years to get it to my area. Finally.

Somebody I know and drove with seems to have 3G wherever we drove.

ATT nada!

Stop working on 4G until you have 3G figured out.

Verizon I'll be there with my iphone 5G w. combo chip

Att has the most unfriendliest website and bill set up for businesses.

It's about dropped calls too. In fact, it's about every facet of their business. Look at the picture. Look at all the black circles across the bottom.

 

[Xian Zhu Xuande]

So we know AT&T sucks, that's nothing new, but they're ranking Verizon #2? And not just because of the quality of their actual product? What nonsense. Verizon's quality of product (aside from the messing they do with their phones, services, and penny-pinching on most of their products) is the only awesome thing they've got going for them.

Well, they've got great phones too, if you're not looking for an iPhone.

How can anyone who has used both rank Verizon considerably ahead of AT&T in terms of things like customer service and price? They're an absolutely horrible company to deal with when something goes wrong and they're probably the priciest regular provider in the US (with competition coming only from good ol' AT&T). I've had a lot of respect for ConsumerReports over the years but sometimes it looks like they pull things out of their asses.

 

[NoExpectations]

Ha ha, yeah, and Verizon got a better score because they're such a small company?

Right...

Great theory.

The smallest company, US Cellular, got the best scores by far.

 

[DroidRules]

Of course the results are flawed, and of course AT&T's major issue is the iPhone. I can't wait for the flood of post whinging about Vzn's network when they get the iPhone. iPhone users are some of the most network intensive users in the smart phone market and those that think the grass will be greener in Vzn land will learn a big and very funny (for those that will just sit back and say told you so) lesson come January or whenever Vzn is due to get the i. For all of you saying AT&T sucks, why are you dumb enough to stay with a network that isn't meeting your needs? Not very smart.