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Cell Phone Customer Service Ranked Next to Last
Posted by
CowboyNeal
on Thu Jun 10, 2004 06:05 PM
from the as-bad-as-we-all-thought-it-was dept.
from the as-bad-as-we-all-thought-it-was dept.
Paulrothrock writes "A recent report shows that cell phone companies are the second lowest ranked industry in terms of customer service, just above cable companies. Also, they are second only to car dealers in number complaints to Better Business Bureaus. Complaints include being charged a fee to cancel a cell phone contract for a deceased husband and being double-billed for using an online bill-pay system. I guess I've been lucky, the only problem I've had is getting reception."
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Go ahead and complain... (Score:5, Funny)
I wonder why... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:I wonder why... (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
Re:I wonder why... (Score:4, Insightful)
Have you ever worked a customer service job? In particular one that supports people over the phone??? I have done tech support, telemarketing, and support for a cell phone company. Telemarketing was terrible, tech support was frustrating, but cell phone support was a living, breathing hell. Consider first off the way the company is treating the employees, like utter and complete crap. The employees are worked mercilessly, the pay is shit and the benefits are null. Almost any call center is a haven for drugs and sex, you end up with an enviroment close to high school. Strangely enough, in thier own twisted way the employers actually support this kind of behavior. Until you have sat down, answered a call of a screaming customer, getting paid next to nothing and having to drown out shouting, ill comments and what have you from other employees.
I am not saying that you are altogether wrong, I am just saying consider the enviroment these people are made to work with. I once lived by the motto, "if you don't like your job quit". After the past two years of rampant unemployment, my attitude has changed. If you need a job, a place to live and food, a call center is the meal ticket. With that, comes the enviroment described above.
Before you yell at the person on the other line, consider these facts. Training is a joke, supervisors will do little or nothing unless they ABSOULTELY have too!
Please, yes your bill maybe wrong, you may not be getting the service you expect, what have you. However, the people on the other line are people, they are not the cause of the issue, they are fodder. Simply fodder to keep you from dealing with the people that are responsible for the real issue. Be nice to them, your chances of a solid resolution are much higher. That and finding a company that treats thier employees well, could very well end up with much better support.
Parent
Well what did you expect? (Score:5, Insightful)
After you sign that contract, they get your money no matter what, so there is very little incentive for them to improve customer service(also note how customer service is never touted in television commercials for various carriers). But damn do they make those phones tempting. I wish that the manufacturers didn't charge you out the arse for them if you buy them directly...
Re:Well what did you expect? (Score:4, Informative)
FWIW: whenever possible, I try to go to a (in this case) Verizon store and deal with a person face-to-face. I get much better results than calling the main CS number because you're talking to an entry-level CS person and you have to convince them you're not an idiot to get them to transfer you to a level-2 CS person.
Parent
Re:Well what did you expect? (Score:5, Insightful)
When I wanted to try out Sprint last year, they gave me the option to opt out of the contract for $10 per month. I could eliminate the $10 charge by signing a contract any time.
It was interesting, though, the sort of leverage this gave me with customer service. Twice I got to the point in a service call where I mentioned that if a problem wasn't corrected, I would be dropping service, and they reminded me of the contract fee, and I mentioned that I was free of that, and after an aural double take, I got something to the effect that "we might be able to arrange something"
But damn do they make those phones tempting. I wish that the manufacturers didn't charge you out the arse for them if you buy them directly...
Two things:
(1) Ebay and phone unlocking put phones in an affordable price range
(2) If your new provider of choice has an option like I did with sprint, you'd quite possibly be able to sign up, carry service for a month, and drop -- and keep the phone.
Overall, though, I wish that the law required companies to provide sans-hardware contract-free service at comparable rates, and let the market fight it out. Because at that point, the competition would be almost all about service, and the companies that would survive would be the ones with the best service.
Parent
An interesting story. (Score:5, Funny)
Shows how good cell phone customer service is.
Re:An interesting story. (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Partially Correct (Score:5, Funny)
There's also: (Score:5, Informative)
- Verizon
- Singular
- AT&T
- Sprint
The most hated cell phone companies [itfacts.biz] (their customer service has something to do with it, I think):
- T-Mobile
- Sprint
- AT&T Wireless
- Cingular
Re:There's also: (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Re:There's also: (Score:4, Interesting)
I had a phone that died. It just stopped working one day. I didn't drop it, flush it, stick it up my ass, or do any of the other things they asked when I claimed it didn't work... They told me I would have to send it in and pay a $35 fee. I could get a new damn phone w/a different providor for that.
After 4 hours on the phone, 6 different CSRs, and 2 different supervisors I got what I wanted. The cheapass phone replaced for free. I still was stuck w/the original battery that gets 3 hours to a charge.
So I drive around in the Minneapolis metro and have frequent call and service drops. I have to redial numbers 10+ times after 9pm because I just can't get through. Sometimes a call will go through and will drop after a minute forcing me into an AOL-like re-dial session from 1997.
I got a T-mobile Sidekick. I have had to call them twice. Once for money back and once for changing my plan (upgrade).
No sweat, no complaints, no bitchiness, no nothing. My calls don't drop, I can get a call through on the first try, and my roaming is free.
Sorry but T-mobile doesn't suck as bad as AT&T for me.
Parent
Call centers (Score:5, Interesting)
The biggest problem with the line group is that ANYONE can be on it. If you can read at a 5th grade level, type at 10 wpm, and spell decently, you're on. I've heard all sorts of horror stories from the team leaders of people sitting there for 10 minutes going "umm... umm.. I don't really know.. let me give you a different number, maybe they will know.."
If call centers like ours would raise the bar on entry requirements and actually train the agents better, I'm sure we'd see less complaints.
Re:Call centers (Score:3, Insightful)
Well that's all fine and good. Some of us knew what the hell we were talking about. Problem was that AT&T changed *DAILY* yes it says daily what it let us say about stuff. One day we could say this and another day completely contradict ourselves.
It's not entirely t
A joke (by me) (Score:5, Funny)
"Mine has got Dance Dance Revolution on it."
Re:A joke (by me) (Score:5, Funny)
In Soviet Russia, lame jokes rehash you.
Parent
More details... (Score:5, Funny)
Totally saw this coming (Score:3, Interesting)
headline misleading.. a bit :) (Score:3, Insightful)
If they provided better coverage and better service usa wouldn't be a 3rd world country when it comes to cellphone service and usage(so - they'd probably make even more money if they'd just bothered to do it properly)...
Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist (Score:5, Interesting)
LS
Re:Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist (Score:3, Funny)
But have you ever had a billing error in YOUR favor?
Yeah, but it's been a while. I haven't played Monopoly since I was eight.
the pics (Score:5, Funny)
I love the pictures in the article. They just show people merrily using their cellphones. It would make more sense if they showed the angry users, you know, the ones who smash their phones to teeny tiny bits, feed the bits to a squirrel, and then smash the squirrel into teeny tiny bits.
script readers... (Score:5, Funny)
Me: Yes, I'd like to know if your cell phone service is secure for making an order over the phone?
Support: Ah, you want to buy a new phone?
Me: (?!!) No. I'm asking about the security of cell phone usage. See, I'm planning on placing an order over the phone from a company.
Support: You have a phone from another company?
Me: No. I want to know if someone can intercept my cell phone call.
Support: T-Mobile does not record and monitor your calls.
Me: Thanks.....have a nice day.
I was hoping for a "Yes, the service is encrypted" or something. Guess that's what I get for being lazy to research myself.
Your tinfoil hat is ajar. (Score:5, Insightful)
Do you think someone is sitting around listenting to people's cell conversations until they hit on one where someone is placing an order, and then write down your information?
If that actually worries you, do you ever actually use your credit card?
Credit cards are not secure. Any clerk at pretty much any place you use it has access to your number, as does any IS employee at any internet company you've ever placed an order with.
The time and money you spent calling T-Mobile to ask about their network was greater than the time/money lost if your call had been intercepted times the chance your call was intercepted. Now, stop driving up my cell phone bill by making T-Mobile pay people to field your stupid questions.
Parent
Poor Business Model (Score:3, Interesting)
This seems to be a very common complaint about wireless phone, and one of the main reasons I haven't migrated to it. Seems like every person I ask says their plans' customer service stinks, but they've heard such-and-such has a good system. I'll then find someone who is on said system, and they'll tell me that theirs stinks, but they've heard another system is good. Repeat the process ad nauseum.
What I'm wondering is, is the service in the industry really this awful, or is it a "grass is greener" syndrome? Seems to me that it's the perfect opportunity for a smaller wireless company to *gasp* invest in non-outsourced, quality customer care representatives. Word of mouth will spread, and theoretically, people will say "Yes, I like the customer service on this plan" instead of referring you to another company. This will in turn lead to increased customer base, increased satisfaction, and most importantly increased profits.
Of course, then there's still that pesky reception issue to deal with...
The conversation in the board room tomorrow... (Score:5, Insightful)
"Life is good."
-Adam
Re:The conversation in the board room tomorrow... (Score:5, Insightful)
You forgot the step that makes it ever-so-much more offensive...
"...people don't like it. So they switch before their contract runs out, then have to pay the rest of their contract off and our early termination fee. Of course, the loss of a customer doesn't matter, because for every one going out, we have someone coming in equally annoyed at our competition".
Once they have your signature on the dotted line, they have an actual incentive to piss you off enough to drop them early. Why would they provide customer service?
Parent
US Cellular... (Score:5, Interesting)
Actual Numbers: Throw out Sprint PCS (Score:4, Informative)
They fail to understand what a "contract" is. (Score:5, Interesting)
Anyway, they sold me this stuff, it didn't work, and I was on a 2 year contract. In going back and forth with them for a while, they explained to me that this was an 'unusual' problem, that their GSM service was good, and that the telephone was not buggy (and perhaps I should warranty mine). This greatly conflicted with reports from fellow users of their GSM service and this Motorola telephone that I'd been reading on the Internet....as it turned out there seemed to be a great number of people in my situation.
So I called AT&T and told them our contract was at an end, and to cancel the service immediately. They of course demanded a $175 cancellation fee. I informed that they would not need this fee, as the reason for the cancellation was their failure to provide the services which were set forth in the contract, i.e. cellular telephone service. It takes a LONG TIME to explain how this works to any customer service rep. Eventually, they actually figured it out and agreed to part ways without additional costs. I consider myself lucky for not having to take them to small claims over the $175.
That's because cell phone companies suck.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Tmobile has screwed me over so many times it isn't funny. I have had 3 different days where I could place or receive no calls. All three days happened to be times where I was trying to coordinate events that involved people travelling. Needless to say, I had a lot of people pissed at me. During the blackout in New York, my brother's and my Tmobile phones would not work while everyone around us were talking on their cell phones. When we tried to access the other networks and force our phones to roam, they would allow emergency calls only.
For about a month of my contract, only half the calls could be completed. Oh ya, Tmobile also guarantees nothing about calls being made inside. So, I can't use my cell phone in my own home.
This isn't just Tmobile, though. I had a contract with Sprint. During the first week of the contract, I had trouble getting good service and my calls were getting dropped. They assured me I had 14 days without fee. Then, they sent me a bill for $235. Then, I called them and had $200 removed. They sent me another bill for $35. I also called and had that removed. Then, they sent me to collections for $235. I was able to settle for $0. I wonder how many people ended up paying that $235 or even the $35.
They have confusing minute plans. Tmobile assured my brother that he had free nights and weekends with his $35/month plan. Then, after recklessly using his phone as a camp counselor after 9pm on weekdays, he got a bill for $450. It turns out that he needed a $39/month plan to get the free nights part of the free nights and weekends. Tmobile also kindly let him know that nothing they ever say is contractual - only what is in fine print.
I could seriously bitch about cell phone companies all day. I heard Sprint is making something like $230million this year in fees for saving peoples' old cell phone numbers. That is bullshit. The entire goddamn industry has put fees for every damn thing.
At least when you buy a car, it generally works. There is no cell phone service that works everywhere - and there is no such thing as a cell phone customer who never gets dropped calls (unless they never really use their phones.)
The service here is great (Score:4, Interesting)
I won't go into all the bells and whistles of how great the phones are &c. save to say the only limiting factor I could find was that I had to get a certain brand of phone that had dual language capabilities. Once I chose my phone, everything I got with it was in English, and not the broken English manuals and instructions I expected.
Any time I have had to talk with an operator or contact NTT directly, all I have to do is say Eigo and the person immediately switches to English.
Apparently NTT won't even hire you for customer service unless you speak English as well as Japanese.
I had a setup problem with my e-mail service on my phone, I was getting spam and wanted to know waht to do about it. I called them expecting to be shuffled around or misunderstood, but instead, the woman helping me gave me the answers I needed right off the top of her head without a stutter even though I was not doing the best job of explaining what I was trying to accomplish. In the end, she sat with me on the line and helped me to create an accept list for e-mail messages. Anything not coming from the 20 odd addresses I punched in would not be accepted by my phone. I think this is much better than any block list you can hand me, and much easier on the system side of things too. At the same time I had a question about my home internet connection, also with NTT, and instead of transfering me to another division, she again answered my questions as if she had them written on the back of her hand.
After having had to deal with Rogers and Bell in Canada , and having a nightmare of a time even getting someone who spoke English, dealing with my issues become secondary to being able to communicate, I have found the service and quality of personel here amazing.
As to TV operators, we here have to pay a tax even if we don't have a television or cable, somthing along the lines of the U.K. the only experience I have with the TV guy is when someone comes to the door looking to sign me up so they can collect the monthly tax automatically. Here, not speaking Japanese pays off. I feign ignorance and confusion repeating over and over again TV nai and they go away for a year. So far this has been my only contact with them. Now whether they have tried to contact me by phone or not, I will never know because as soon as some one on the line realises I don't speak Japanese, they usually give up, and so far no one has contacted me in English about the TV tax. I can't wait till they do, in English, so I can practice my French...
Thought about the cable companies (Score:3, Insightful)
When customers are approached (admitedly, not always with the best method) regarding their handiwork, they do become defensive on the matter, perhaps citing poor customer service in the process. Additionally, the broadband RF spectrum that cable providers make use of (53MHz to 850+Mhz) is filled with oodles of sources of interference. (Pagers, Ham Radios, etc)
Also, my work in the cable industry has been entirely in Canada. I think that the canadian cable industry is a lot more mature, and two of the 3 major companies have strong family roots. I believe there is a stronger sense of customer responsibility north of the border when it comes to cable.
MLife, from one who's lived it. (Score:5, Funny)
When the nifty new features that modivated you to purchase the phone in the first place don't work, or when "customer support" uses paying customers to beta test nifty new features, THATs MLIFE.
When you have to hold for AT&T's billing department FOR OVER AN HOUR to explain to them that you canceled their so called service a month ago, and that you just ain't gonna pay 'em any more, THAT'S MLIFE.
When AT&T bills you after you've canceled the contract because AT&T didn't deliver the promised service, THATS MLIFE.
When AT&T sends you to collections because you are so f$cking fed up with AT&T's complete and utter lack of service that you just can't stand another Minute on hold, THAT'S MLIFE.
When you carefully read the terms of service and contract before you sign up, then try to cancel the contract within 30 days without penelty as specified in the contract, you your life goes to hell, THATS MLIFE.
When you've been on hold for so long that you start writing sarcastic replacements for AT&T's marketing, THATS MLIFE.
When you start looking at cell phone sales droids as generally having less integrety than your typical car salesman, THAT'S MLIFE.
When you've had such a searingly horrible experience with a big nasty f'ed up corperation such as AT&T that you VOW that you will never use ANY service from them EVER EVER AGAIN, THATS MLIFE.
Similar thing happened to my family (Score:3, Insightful)
2 months later after the funeral was behind us, I decided to call and see just how high up I could get by asking for supervisors. At this point, with 4 months left on the contract, and my grandmother actually deceased instead of just of ailing health, despite my explanations and disgust with their customer service, I didn't get very high up and got shut down within minutes.
That was 5 months ago. The INSTANT we paid our last bill on contract, I waltzed into the nearest verizon store with a typed letter of open digust to attach to the form for my reason for no longer choosing their service. We have since moved on to a different provider with inferior coverage but much superior customer service.
It amazes me that with all of the competition in the cellular market ANY company can get away with treating people like that and not suffer a mass exodus of customers. I suppose its because of the fine tradition they have of locking us in to contracts - fortunately, laws (such as California's new cellular fairness law) and competition are slowly starting to change the landscape. When a 30 trial period, a ban on small print, and much shorter contracts are the norm I would not be surprised to see the customer service shape up industry-wide.
Re:Similar thing happened to my family (Score:5, Informative)
People with poor service fear media exposure. It's like a bright light shining into a cockroach-infested hovel - watch the creeps run for cover. And watch as your previously intractible problem is suddenly solved.
Parent
sprint sucks (Score:4, Informative)
Well, for another $5/month they will. What utter bullshit.
But it gets better. I'm paying $65/month for 800 minutes. I get charged 40 cents/minute after it. They can't charge less per minute, or so they say, but I could get 1100 minutes each month if I want. The price? Well, the same $65, they just don't automatically move customers.
Fine. I say switch me. She says there's a two year service agreement. Again, bullshit. I've been with them for 5 years. Then she tells me that I have some 2 year agreement that's up next year. I didn't even know about that faux agreement. It was verbal, according to her, but she was a bit short on details.
I asked to speak to a supervisor and, after a few minutes, lost the connection.
This is stupid. If anybody knows of a better provider, let me know.
i watched a man with his two kids standing outside (Score:4, Interesting)
that was enough to keep me away from them forever
Parent
Verizon is my carrier - and here are my thoughts.. (Score:4, Interesting)
For starters, the majority of people don't really consider their phone a seperate issue from the service provided by a given carrier. EG. If you use a cheezy phone with relatively poor reception and/or battery life, you're likely to blame the resulting dropped call issues on your carrier. While this isn't really fair, I think Verizon does an "above average" job of only offering people phones that work pretty well at these basics. Therefore, they manage to keep these complaints down a little bit.
Also though, Verizon seems to have a pretty good customer satisfaction policy. Despite them screwing up my billing at least 2 different times, and giving me hassles about a new phone I purchased that starting acting up while still under their warranty, they always have resolved the issues in the end. Basically, with Verizon, you'll get to talk with your share of clueless cust. service associates, just like with the other carriers, *but* unlike some of them, Verizon mandates that if you complain enough, you will eventually have your issue resolved.
The biggest thing I think any of the carriers could do to please customers would be easing up on the contracts. That's likely the LAST thing they'll ever do, though, because it's too much of a cash cow for them.
My perspective (Score:5, Insightful)
On the other hand, the contracts are bullshit. I will never EVER sign a contract. If 10 years from now all there is for phone service is cell and it's done by 3 companies and you're forced to sign a contract then I'm sorry, I won't own or use a phone ever again. Contracts are for buying houses, renting cars, financial agreements etc etc. Not for phone service. It makes as much sense to me as signing a contract at a restaurant to return 4 times a week when all you want is the ocassional hamburger. I had a cell as part of my job a few years ago and I used it at most, twice a day and that was just a quick 1 minute convo with the boss. Yet he was paying upwards of 160$ a month for that phone (top of the line service contract). It just doesn't make sense to me. A girl I work with has a cell and pays 50$ a month for it, not counting the over charges (she showed me an $800 bill once). That's just nuts to me. Maybe I'm cheap but I just don't have unlimited funds, nor do I feel secure enough under the current economic climate to contract out a 50$ payment each month for 2 years with no recourse should I need to cancel. Hell my bank gives me ways out of my loans if I need it, even refinancing should times get real hard. I can also negotiate settlements with them if I need to file bankruptcy. None of that is possible with the cell phone gustapos "FUCK YOU PAY ME" attitude. All in all, why sign up? Other than to fit in with the cool crowd and have equally obnoxious cell phone jangles. I don't see the value and "cool gadget, must have" feelings aside, I just can't make myself buy one again.
Big man in a pub (Score:4, Insightful)
Always follow the BIG MAN IN A PUB rule.
Imagine you're sat in a pub and there's a big, tough-looking man who's maybe had a bit too much to drink. That man is your customer. Make sure that every policy, every rule, every clause in a contract, every apology or excuse, everything about your customer service, is something that you would comfortably say to that man in the pub while you're sat right there next to him.
If you think there's a part of your customer service that might provoke the man into hitting you then you wouldn't say it to him, would you? So why would it be okay to say it to him over the phone, by letter or by e-mail? Why would it be okay to have an employee say it to him in person?
Keep the big drunk man happy and everyone else will be happy too. Including you.
As any consistently ethical business person will tell you, it isn't a myth or a fantasy -- the better you treat your customers, the better your bottom line will be. You may occasionally get ripped off. You'll even get the odd one or two customers who decide to take a disliking to you for no good reason. But at the end of every day you'll always have a business that is more popular and more profitable than it was at the end of the previous day.
Short term gains generally lead to long term losses.
Cingular Customer Service (Score:5, Informative)
They were mostly unfamiliar with Cingular service/plans/phones/etc because Cingular's training system is basically a webpage called 'The Learning Edge' that reps could just click thru without reading (the test at the end even gave you the answers if you knew how to cheat it.) The main tool for communicating was email which few reps read. There was also a problem with getting user accounts set up so a lot of reps didn't have access to all the tools and information they needed to do the job. And God help you if you needed a password reset.
Twice a month, a Quality Assurance rep will monitor a rep's call to make sure the rep says the right verbage ("Thank you for calling Cingular Wireless where our goal is blah blah blah...") and handles the call correctly. However, on every call, reps are scored by call stats which basically tell how quickly the rep gets the customer off the phone and moves on to the next caller. Giving accurate information and being courtesy to the customer seemed to take second priority to call handle time.
Managers weren't much better. Most of them don't want to be bothered with customer's calls and will keep sending the rep back to the customer until they hang up. Some managers were just lazy and rather than take the call, they would just tell the rep to give the customer want they wanted. Of course, this was fine for most customers, but after millions of dollars in unjustified credits were given, Cingular decided to implement 'protocol training' which basically says no more credits on customer's bills unless there's an unquestionable mistake on Cingular's part. Actually, this seemed somewhat fair because there are a lot of customers who call in and make up some bullshit story to get a late fee or some roaming charge taken off (one lazy guy I spoke with didn't even bother to make up a story. he just called and politely asked "I need a courtesy credit on my bill.")
I finally got fed up with being one of the few reps who actually cared about the job and made a decent effort towards correcting customer's issues. I quit and moved on. I still use Cingular service because it's the best in my area, but I only call customer service when there's no other way around it. If I can, I go into company-owned store to make changes and such (though there are some things that stores don't have access to.) Here's some advice on calling in if you have to.
1. Always get the name, CUID (cingular user id), and call center location of the person you are speaking with. They are required to give this to you. Document this with the date and time and reason you are calling. Keep this information for the next two billing cycles (or whatever length of time applies to your situation.)
2. If you make any changes to your account, find out when the changes will go into effect and if any charges or service will be prorated.
3. Even if the call goes perfectly well, call back and verify everything the previous rep told you and make sure any requested changes have been done. This may sound unecessary, but I once changed a rate plan with a feature addition that took 3 calls to get it right. Yes, THREE calls!
4. Be polite to the rep. Attitude begats attitude. If you're nice, most of the reps will be nice to you. If you're an asshole, the rep will do nothing for you (and probably note your account so no one else will either.)
Hope this helps.
I find this puzzling (Score:5, Interesting)
Hold times are short (under 5 minutes), the CSRs are pretty competent (and they transfer you to level 2 when they know they are out of their league), and the staff is always polite.
Frankly, Comcast isn't bad either. Neither is DirecTV. I don't see what everyone is complaining about (except with Qwest - they put you on hold for an hour and then explain that their DSL network is down and will be down for the next two days).
The problem is that people expect too much. You can't expect level 1 CSRs to be able to fix every problem.
Here are my "rules":
- Act dumb, but not too dumb. If your GPRS WAP service is out, say that you can't connect to [[branded GPRS service name]] and read off the error messege. Let them run through their script and transfer you to someone who can help.
- Be polite. You get excellent results if you say "Thank You" and use a polite tone of voice. Remember, it's not the CSRs fault that your service sucks.
- Don't expect too much. You shouldn't expect a CSR to give you six months of free service because your coverage sucks. Nor should you expect to have your contract revoked.
- Play CSR Russian Roulette. If you don't get what you want, call back. You'll get a new CSR and can try your routine again. This works particularly well for scoring discounted (or free) service when you have network outage issues.
And finally, some tips about wireless:
- Don't expect too much. Your phone, particularly if it's in the PCS spectrum (most GSM, Sprint) will have trouble inside buildings, paritcularly if they are metal. Your best bets for coverage inside are Verizon or Nextel (800mhz, penetrates walls better).
- Don't buy GSM (in the US) unless you know what you are doing. I love my T-Mobile service, but it is not something that I would rely on. GSM networks in the US simply do not provide the quality of service and coverage of CDMA-based networks. You can get good deals with GSM (particularly with T-Mobile - $20 unlimited GPRS; $50 2-phone plan with plenty of minutes), but you must understand that you will not always have service, particularly indoors or in rural areas.
- Stay away from AT&T. Their GSM network is, quite frankly, crap. Not that T-Mobile's is much better, but at least T-Mobile has cheap data. AT&T's customer service is also awful.
- Stay away from Sprint. Verizon CDMA isn't any more expensive and it is far more reliable and comprehensive.
- Go Verizon if you need dependable service. Verizon's CDMA is simply unmatched in terms of reliability and coverage. I had Verizon (CDMA2000, not AMPS) service in Yellowstone National Park.
- Get a good phone. Do research. A good phone makes all the difference. T-Mobile is actually pretty decent with a 1.2W Nokia phone (Nokia 3590). With the 600mW T300 (or the Sidekick with the crappy radio chipset) it is practically useless.
- Test out your service during the free trial. T-Mobile, for example, gives you 14 days to opt-out of the contract. They are throwing you a bone here - you have the perfect chance to see whether their service is acceptable. Go to the tough locations; everywhere you would use your phone on a regular basis, call 611, and keep going through the phone tree (for T-Mobile, you can hit # every 30 or so seconds and it will read you your minute usage indefinately). Listen, walk around, and check to see if the audio quality is acceptable (or if the call drops). You don't have to pay for the minutes.
Contracts are evil (Score:5, Informative)
This one is a no-brainer.
LK
Sure this will turn into a cell bitching thread... (Score:3, Informative)
I added a second phone to my plan for my wife when we got married. This cause Cingular to silently erase all my vaunted "they're yours -- keep 'em" Rollover Minutes, of which I'd accumulated about 1,800. I started getting big overage charges on my bills. Each month, I'd call them up to straighten things out, and each month they'd be screwed up still. This went on for about six or seve months, till I finally got someone who seemed to know which end is up.
After all was
Re:Sure this will turn into a cell bitching thread (Score:4, Interesting)
"10 Dollar Credit: -$7.24"
Parent
Re:Cell phones have customer service? (Score:5, Funny)
But then try calling a payment hotline, I've never talked to such a group of prompt, cheerful jerks in my life!
Always happy to take your money (obviously).
Parent
Re:Ironic (Score:5, Funny)
"Can you hear me now?"
[silence]
It's official. Someone finally found the Verizon guy and shoved his fucking cell phone back up where it belonged.
Parent
Re:Visible charges are bad enough... (Score:5, Funny)
I work* for a cellular phone company, and I can tell you that we get very few** complaints*** despite what this survey says. One thing we care very much for is that customers know what they're going to be charged****. So naturally I'm very disappointed***** to hear this kind of thing.
* Does not include actual employment, work implies any form of work including having to try and figure out what AT&T intends to charge me this month.
** The word "few" should not be implied to have any specific, non-subjective, definition.
*** Excludes concerns about service quality or hidden charges
**** Does not include monetary amounts
***** Disappointment should not be read to imply any desire to make anything better.
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There are no lies in this message, because you can make any claim you like as long as you say it's completely false in the small-print.
Parent