T-Mobile has highest rated customer service

Jun 10 2005 - 09:32 AM ET | T-Mobile
For the second year in a row, T-Mobile USA took the top spot in J.D. Power and Associates' Wireless Customer Care Performance Study. The rankings: # T-Mobile - 108 # Verizon Wireless - 104 # Nextel - 103 # ALLTEL - 100 # Cingular - 95 # Sprint PCS - 93 The study covers online, telephone and in store support. Telephone support with a human operator averages the best overall experience, with online being the lowest rated. T-Mobile USA won points for having a short hold time, 2.27 minutes or about 34% under the industry average. The study also finds several key wireless customer care patterns: * More than one-half (54%) of wireless users have contacted the customer service department for assistance within the past year, a slight increase from 2004 (52%). * Among those who contact their carriers, 71 percent do so via telephone and 26 percent through the carriers' retail stores. E-mail/Internet contacts account for only 3 percent. * The average initial reported hold time on calls to the customer service department is 3.44 minutes, compared to just over 9 minutes before speaking to a representative at a retail store.