Clearly, T-Mobile is doing something right
Actually, T-Mobile does several things right. Yet again, America's fourth-largest wireless carrier was ranked No. 1 by J.D. Power and Associates for its customer service. For the fifth consecutive reporting period (I'm not exactly sure what constitutes a "reporting period"), T-Mobile gets the highest rating for positive customer care experiences. It also gets the highest retail sales satisfaction for the fifth consecutive period and the highest business customer service satisfaction for the second period. As for the other carriers: Verizon Wireless places second, AT&T and Alltel tie for third, and Sprint Nextel places last.
With T-Mobile constantly taking the title, I admit this contest is beginning to get a little boring. However, I commend T-Mobile for taking the prize. I'm interested if T-Mobile customers agree. So please leave your comments below and tell me what you think.
Kent German is a senior editor for cell phone reviews at CNET. When he's not testing the newest handsets on the market, he's blogging about cell phone news for Crave. In his On Call column, he answers reader questions and gives his take on the rapidly changing mobile industry. E-mail Kent. 
However, I DO agree that these shop owners should be a bit better at screening their employee prospects before turning raving lunatics loose on the general public.
I had the distinct pleasure of getting one such twit fired during the recent Christmas season. Ok.. Call me Grinch.. or Scrooge - I don't care. The guy got in my face and told me that my phone - which I've had for LESS than one year - is "too old" and I need to "upgrade" to a new one - IMMEDIATELY! Never mind the fact that I have another entire YEAR on my contract before I'm eligible for a new phone. Never mind that I'm actually HAPPY with my Motorola A1200 and the only way I'd be currently willing to part with it is when someone prys it from my cold dead fingers. NO! I had to upgrade to a new phone - right then and there. The ONLY reason why I just *HAD* to upgrade was that my phone was just "too old". Never mind that the phones he had in stock had FEWER and weaker features than the one I have. This is an "upgrade"..?
I told him where to shove his "upgrade" and left.
The next day, I was cruising by that particular kiosk, his boss was there. I told him to put a leash on the idiot because he was driving away business with is lunatic rants and gave him a short account of what happened the day before. Needless to say, the twit wasn't working there after that. Haven't seen him since. Good riddance.
A good salesman will recognize when a potential customer isn't ready for a new product and will NOT insist that he's right and the customer's wrong. A bad salesman will insist on being "right" to the point where he's lost the sale AND potentially lost the customer for good - and the worst part is the guy doesn't even realize he's lost the argument, the sale and the customer.
Given the kind of person who winds up looking for jobs at the local mall - more specifically working in kiosks at the local mall - it's not too big a shock to find ID-10-Ts manning the booths.
Personally, however, I would NEVER consider purchasing a phone at the mall - unless there weren't any better alternatives. Given the high rent they have to pay, it's a 100% guarantee you can find the phone and the accessories you want cheaper, elsewhere. About the only thing mall kiosks are good for is physically checking out phones and maybe asking questions about them. Of course, if you do, you run the risk of putting yourself into the position of possibly having to endure a high pressure sales pitch. Depending on your resistance level - it may be best to only window shop.
However, I DO agree that these shop owners should be a bit better at screening their employee prospects before turning raving lunatics loose on the general public.
I had the distinct pleasure of getting one such twit fired during the recent Christmas season. Ok.. Call me Grinch.. or Scrooge - I don't care. The guy got in my face and told me that my phone - which I've had for LESS than one year - is "too old" and I need to "upgrade" to a new one - IMMEDIATELY! Never mind the fact that I have another entire YEAR on my contract before I'm eligible for a new phone. Never mind that I'm actually HAPPY with my Motorola A1200 and the only way I'd be currently willing to part with it is when someone prys it from my cold dead fingers. NO! I had to upgrade to a new phone - right then and there. The ONLY reason why I just *HAD* to upgrade was that my phone was just "too old". Never mind that the phones he had in stock had FEWER and weaker features than the one I have. This is an "upgrade"..?
I told him where to shove his "upgrade" and left.
The next day, I was cruising by that particular kiosk, his boss was there. I told him to put a leash on the idiot because he was driving away business with is lunatic rants and gave him a short account of what happened the day before. Needless to say, the twit wasn't working there after that. Haven't seen him since. Good riddance.
A good salesman will recognize when a potential customer isn't ready for a new product and will NOT insist that he's right and the customer's wrong. A bad salesman will insist on being "right" to the point where he's lost the sale AND potentially lost the customer for good - and the worst part is the guy doesn't even realize he's lost the argument, the sale and the customer.
Given the kind of person who winds up looking for jobs at the local mall - more specifically working in kiosks at the local mall - it's not too big a shock to find ID-10-Ts manning the booths.
Personally, however, I would NEVER consider purchasing a phone at the mall - unless there weren't any better alternatives. Given the high rent they have to pay, it's a 100% guarantee you can find the phone and the accessories you want cheaper, elsewhere. About the only thing mall kiosks are good for is physically checking out phones and maybe asking questions about them. Of course, if you do, you run the risk of putting yourself into the position of possibly having to endure a high pressure sales pitch. Depending on your resistance level - it may be best to only window shop.
T-Mobile customer support is always available. I can call at three in the morning and talk with a live human being. They?re kept in the loop with regards to issues in their network and there are rarely long hold times. The longest I can remember waiting to speak to a representative is about 5 minutes.
The Support personnel I?ve had the pleasure of speaking with have always been friendly, knowledgeable and willing to escalate issues to whatever tier of support is necessary to help resolve the issue.
Their support staff is willing to assist with practically any problem on any phone that?s connected to their network. I purchased an unlocked Treo650 on its launch day and was having data issues when I first received it. Their PDA/Smartphone technicians worked with me, researched answers and helped me resolve the problem without once saying ?this isn?t an approved phone for our network?
T-Mobile customer plans are a good value and they won?t change the rates as long as the contract is in effect. For me this means that I?m still paying what I was five years ago for an unlimited data plan. They also occasionally offer loyalty perks. 3 years ago they added 100 minutes to my plan for being a customer for over a year. I still have those extra minutes!
If asked what companies I work with on a regular basis that provide excellent customer service to me on a consistent basis I would list T-Mobile with names like Dell and Cisco. In my mind all three of these companies define what excellent customer service in their sector of business is.
T-Mobile customer support is always available. I can call at three in the morning and talk with a live human being. They?re kept in the loop with regards to issues in their network and there are rarely long hold times. The longest I can remember waiting to speak to a representative is about 5 minutes.
The Support personnel I?ve had the pleasure of speaking with have always been friendly, knowledgeable and willing to escalate issues to whatever tier of support is necessary to help resolve the issue.
Their support staff is willing to assist with practically any problem on any phone that?s connected to their network. I purchased an unlocked Treo650 on its launch day and was having data issues when I first received it. Their PDA/Smartphone technicians worked with me, researched answers and helped me resolve the problem without once saying ?this isn?t an approved phone for our network?
T-Mobile customer plans are a good value and they won?t change the rates as long as the contract is in effect. For me this means that I?m still paying what I was five years ago for an unlimited data plan. They also occasionally offer loyalty perks. 3 years ago they added 100 minutes to my plan for being a customer for over a year. I still have those extra minutes!
If asked what companies I work with on a regular basis that provide excellent customer service to me on a consistent basis I would list T-Mobile with names like Dell and Cisco. In my mind all three of these companies define what excellent customer service in their sector of business is.
- Absolute BEST customer service !!
- by man4jc January 31, 2008 8:12 PM PST
- Before I purchased a cell phone plan in '06, I did research on this very thing, and WOW !! Almost every poll I found listed T-Mobile as the best in customer service. I must say that they are correct. The few times that I have needed them, they got the job done quickly and efficiently. I just wish T-Mobile had a little better coverage, but I am highly satisfied. Oh, and they had the best prices that I could find, too. :-)
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