AT&T Fares Poorly in 'Consumer Reports' Ratings

[res1233]

Why "Sorry AT&T?"

AT&T is a freaking JOKE. Their coverage is pathetic. I love my iPhone, and the three iPhones before it, but the network is a joke. It's absolutely worthless at times, and nobody can depend on their coverage. Then AT&T has the nerve to SELL people stupid devices to actually give them coverage in their homes with a device that actually uses their own Internet connection.

AT&T should be shut down. Everyone should jump ship the minute the iPhone becomes available on Verizon. I will be there day one, and I will never look back. Neither will half of AT&T customers who leave within the first year or two when their contract is up. Honestly, I don't know who is more to blame, AT&T for robbing their customers and not providing the coverage or service expected and it sells to people or Steve Jobs for forcing all of its American Apple fans to use the freaking JOKE of a network as the ONLY/SOLE iPhone provider.

It is robbery, and SJ's is thief number one. Let the flaming begin, but the buck stops somewhere, and SJ's signed the dang contract locking Apple up with the worthless joke of a company since day one. Believe me, I want the Droid to beat the hell out of iPhone but it just isn't there yet. The day Android makes up in software and there is a well built competitor, I will be off the Apple bandwagon OR if January doesn't bring us news of iPhone on Big Red... waited long enough, and not willing to go it another year.

Nexus S, Droid 3, Galaxy 2, I don't care what they call it... beat iPhone in build quality and no iPhone on Verizon and we all should jump ship anyways. How dare these scumbags keep up the robbing and thieving of millions of Americans... just because we're Americans and SJ's wants to secure his AAPL stock prices remain high...

Many people here act like SJ's is a God, but I think he acts more like a crook and he's not any better than his bully colleagues over at Intel or crooked thieves at AT&T.

People treat steve jobs the way they do because the man earned it. Some of us remember when apple was on its deathbed, and now it's one of the most successful businesses in their industry. Few CEOs could have pulled off such a feat. Statistically, it's likely that you are one of those who didn't use Apple products during that time, so you have no memories from back then, but I could be wrong.

 

[Foxypaco]

Until AT&T works inside my condo, rather than 30 feet away from it, I say AT&T sucks. All my friends and family with Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint all get perfect reception inside.

 

[Imacer99]

The only reason why I have AT&T is for the iPhone 4. I would switch with another if their was one for the iPhone 4. They are to expensive.

 

[BriChi]

I agree with the ratings, Had the iPhone since day 1 of release, then 3g then 3gs, ATT is so bad on eastern Long Island (NY) that I had to finally give up the iPhone and get a droid on Verizon. Not 1 dropped call or problem with the service since the switch.

 

[AttilaTheHun]

I agree with the ratings, Had the iPhone since day 1 of release, then 3g then 3gs, ATT is so bad on eastern Long Island (NY) that I had to finally give up the iPhone and get a droid on Verizon. Not 1 dropped call or problem with the service since the switch.

I realy don't know whoes folt the iphone or ATT. but
I have my blackberry full bars in my home CT.
the iphone between 0 to 2 bars, droping call all the time,I use my iphone as an ipod tuch until the end of the contract and then move to Verizon

 

[AttilaTheHun]

People treat steve jobs the way they do because the man earned it. Some of us remember when apple was on its deathbed, and now it's one of the most successful businesses in their industry. Few CEOs could have pulled off such a feat. Statistically, it's likely that you are one of those who didn't use Apple products during that time, so you have no memories from back then, but I could be wrong.

Funny u say it. 20 years ago ATT was brack up because of monopoly lows,

 

[silentnite]

Duh! until apple came along nobody even knew who at&t was and didn't care. They better thank apple & the iphone.

 

[Popeye206]

Why "Sorry AT&T?"

AT&T is a freaking JOKE. Their coverage is pathetic. I love my iPhone, and the three iPhones before it, but the network is a joke. It's absolutely worthless at times, and nobody can depend on their coverage. Then AT&T has the nerve to SELL people stupid devices to actually give them coverage in their homes with a device that actually uses their own Internet connection.

AT&T should be shut down. Everyone should jump ship the minute the iPhone becomes available on Verizon. I will be there day one, and I will never look back. Neither will half of AT&T customers who leave within the first year or two when their contract is up. Honestly, I don't know who is more to blame, AT&T for robbing their customers and not providing the coverage or service expected and it sells to people or Steve Jobs for forcing all of its American Apple fans to use the freaking JOKE of a network as the ONLY/SOLE iPhone provider.

It is robbery, and SJ's is thief number one. Let the flaming begin, but the buck stops somewhere, and SJ's signed the dang contract locking Apple up with the worthless joke of a company since day one. Believe me, I want the Droid to beat the hell out of iPhone but it just isn't there yet. The day Android makes up in software and there is a well built competitor, I will be off the Apple bandwagon OR if January doesn't bring us news of iPhone on Big Red... waited long enough, and not willing to go it another year.

Nexus S, Droid 3, Galaxy 2, I don't care what they call it... beat iPhone in build quality and no iPhone on Verizon and we all should jump ship anyways. How dare these scumbags keep up the robbing and thieving of millions of Americans... just because we're Americans and SJ's wants to secure his AAPL stock prices remain high...

Many people here act like SJ's is a God, but I think he acts more like a crook and he's not any better than his bully colleagues over at Intel or crooked thieves at AT&T.

Wow... such harsh words. I never ever thought of Steve Jobs as a crook!

For what it's worth and from what I've read, Apple did go to Verizon first and they refused. Oh heck... let's face it... if Apple went Verizon first, there'd be people complaining about Verizon now too and SJ would still be a crook. UGH!

 

[Popeye206]

Funny u say it. 20 years ago ATT was brack up because of monopoly lows,

That was 26 years ago when they "bracked" up.

 

[slffl]

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.

Brand loyalty and 'fanboyism'. I for one have had Sprint, T-Mo, and AT&T and can't complain about any of them except for the price of AT&T plans.

 

[oban14]

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 only sucks in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and any other city worth living in.

I hear it's great in Minnesota and Iowa.

 

[shartypants]

No real surprise there.

 

[cvaldes]

Here are the results from December 2009:

Verizon: 75
T-Mobile: 70
Sprint: 67
AT&T: 66

http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/...sumer-reports-best-cell-phone-service-survey/

The average score last year was 69.5.

The average of this year's scores:

Verizon: 74
Sprint: 73
T-Mobile: 69
AT&T: 60

is 69. Only Sprint showed improvement.

Not headed the right direction, are we?

Last year, I described Verizon as a 37" giant in a land of three-foot midgets. This year Verizon and Sprint are three-foot midgets, T-Mobile is 35.5" and AT&T is 30". You can look down at all of them.

None of the big four should be proud of their score. Basically they all suck.

 

[oban14]

Here are the results from December 2009:

Verizon: 75
T-Mobile: 70
Sprint: 67
AT&T: 66

http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/...sumer-reports-best-cell-phone-service-survey/

The average score last year was 69.5.

The average of this year's scores:

Verizon: 74
Sprint: 73
T-Mobile: 69
AT&T: 60

is 69. Only Sprint showed improvement.

Not headed the right direction, are we?

I was glad to ditch AT&T and go to Virgin Mobile, which is on the sprint network. I wouldn't rank them as high as Verizon but they are miles better than AT&T, and I get 300 minutes/unlimited texting/unlimited data for 25 bucks. No taxes, either.

I was paying 70 a month to AT&T for a lame text plan, 450 minutes, and an "unlimited" data plan that was about as reliable as an alcoholic contractor.

In terms of quality, it's an improvement. In terms of cost and value, it isn't even close.

 

[Sean4123]

I've said it a million times before.

South Florida: A+++ Coverage

Utah: A+ Coverage

It depends where you live. And if you're dumb enough to get a phone on a network that is awful in your area, you deserve your dropped calls.

 

[jnpy!$4g3cwk]

The average score last year was 69.5.

The average of this year's scores:

Verizon: 74
Sprint: 73
T-Mobile: 69
AT&T: 60

is 69. Only Sprint showed improvement.

Not headed the right direction, are we?

My experience with all four of them somewhat matches the various surveys except that T-Mobile coverage and service has been a little better than shown. Verizon does have good voice coverage, but, not so good customer service. AT&T coverage is so-so, and they are pricey. But, they do have the iPhone.

 

[coochiekuta]

i was literally in the middle of nowhere on ft polk base and my blackberry was the only phone with service. part of that i blame on RIMs superior design and other part i think was tmobile.

several years after that i picked up at&t and i discovered what a dropped call was. i have both at&t and tmobile. the places i go normally supports both but one always outperforms the other. i did get pretty good download speeds out in the middle of nowhere in utah on at&t. 3 bars but i was able to dl porn like a champ.

 

[oban14]

I've said it a million times before.

South Florida: A+++ Coverage

Utah: A+ Coverage

It depends where you live. And if you're dumb enough to get a phone on a network that is awful in your area, you deserve your dropped calls.

Most people kind of assume that a nationwide cell provider would care about San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and other major markets.

I'm glad to hear it works well in Utah, Des Moines, and Kansas. If I ever move there and decide to never go to a major city again, I'll consider AT&T.

 

[coochiekuta]

Most people kind of assume that a nationwide cell provider would care about San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and other major markets.

I'm glad to hear it works well in Utah, Des Moines, and Kansas. If I ever move there and decide to never go to a major city again, I'll consider AT&T.

im just the opposite. i can understand if there is congestion in large markets. i want some form of reliability in areas where i must depend on my cell.

obviously this need differs person to person. in ny theres no shortage of ways to make a call. in the desert in nevada, you have fewer options.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

Here are the results from December 2009:

Verizon: 75
T-Mobile: 70
Sprint: 67
AT&T: 66

http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/...sumer-reports-best-cell-phone-service-survey/

The average score last year was 69.5.

The average of this year's scores:

Verizon: 74
Sprint: 73
T-Mobile: 69
AT&T: 60

is 69. Only Sprint showed improvement.

Not headed the right direction, are we?

Last year, I described Verizon as a 37" giant in a land of three-foot midgets. This year Verizon and Sprint are three-foot midgets, T-Mobile is 35.5" and AT&T is 30". You can look down at all of them.

None of the big four should be proud of their score. Basically they all suck.

Well Verizon and T-Mobile fall in the range of margin of error compared to last year so I would say no real change for them.
Sprint should some real improvement and AT&T showed some real drop in the ratings.

 

[cvaldes]

Well Verizon and T-Mobile fall in the range of margin of error compared to last year so I would say no real change for them.
Sprint should some real improvement and AT&T showed some real drop in the ratings.

Correct. Just wondering if anyone was paying attention. Changes of less than four points were statistically insignificant.

Sprint improved marginally. AT&T worsened marginally.

The whole industry is mired in mediocrity. None of the four nationwide mobile operators can be proud of their accomplishments. Year in, year out, these surveys show dissatisfaction by American consumers in the service quality of cellular companies and yet they don't seem to be making any headway in improving customer satisfaction.

Perhaps phone companies don't really care that much. Looking at these surveys, they apparently care more about customer retention than customer satisfaction.

 

[AttilaTheHun]

That was 26 years ago when they "bracked" up.

it's due again

 

[Will do good]

What a surprise. Just like water is wet...

 

[oban14]

im just the opposite. i can understand if there is congestion in large markets. i want some form of reliability in areas where i must depend on my cell.

obviously this need differs person to person. in ny theres no shortage of ways to make a call. in the desert in nevada, you have fewer options.

Of course, Verizon will work just as well in the middle of the desert.

 

[3282868]

Perhaps phone companies don't really care that much. Looking at these surveys, they apparently care more about customer retention than customer satisfaction.

Good post. Naturally, customer retention should be linked to customer satisfaction (in theory). Yet this has been proven wrong as AT&T has a monopoly on a device that consumers desire so much they will sacrifice the primary function of the device: phone and data mobility. Consumers need to realize voting with their dollars is essential as large companies generally pay most attention to one factor: profit margin. If profits fall, shareholders ask questions, share prices fall and the company responds. AT&T realizes they have a device locked to their network, they have taken advantage of it so much over the past few years, they have become a powerhouse in the mobile industry with the weakest mobile network. Oh, the irony…

On another note, I recall reading and speaking with ex-Cingular and AT&T employees regarding the history of the company. Cingular was leasing their towers to t-Mobile for a while to stave off bankruptcy. Before AT&T's acquirement of Cingular, Cingular renewed their leasing contracts to t-Mobile (I believe the numbers were 30-40% of their towers). This is especially true in the SoCal market. Further complicating the matter are laws in which mobile phone providers must follow. Town boards must approve the installation of new towers, and many do not want a tower in their backyard so most turn down requests. This is especially true with Los Angeles, a city in which I resided for a while. I learned that Beverly Hills, which resides between Hollywood and Santa Monica, typically squelches such request. This is one of the major reasons the Los Angeles subway system has never taken off as Beverly Hills has refused its progress towards Santa Monica/Pacific Ocean.

I welcome Verizon acquiring the iPhone as this will be a benefit to consumers on both networks. Those who leave AT&T for Verizon will lessen network congestion, and those who have resisted the iPhone due to AT&T's monopoly will finally have the service they wish.