T-Mobile wins again
OK, now it really is getting boring. T-Mobile announced today that it won yet another title from J.D. Power and Associates. This time the carrier took top honors in a survey of wireless retail sales satisfaction by hitting top marks in the four considered categories: sales staff, store display, store facility, and price/promotion. But T-Mobile wasn't alone at the top. trailed by two points to take second place while Verizon Wireless came in third. was rated as average and Sprint Nextel came in last with a below average rating in all four categories.
This is not the first time T-Mobile has won accolades from J.D. Power. Earlier this year the carrier held the number one ranking in a customer service satisfaction survey. That's the seventh consecutive time T-Mobile won that prize. As I've said before, T-Mobile must be doing something right.
So what's your story with T-Mobile? Is the carrier as hot as J.D. Power thinks? I welcome your comments and experiences. You get bonus points if you're T-Mobile's 30 millionth customer. The carrier announced it had reached that milestone yesterday. And considering T-Mobile launched its 3G network on Monday, it's been a big week. Congratulations to T-Mobile.
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. 
On the rare occasions when I've had to speak to T-Mobile's customer service, I've been nothing but impressed. Their people take their time, work hard to solve problems, and don't try to sell you something when you call in. That aspect of Sprint's customer service was one of the most frustrating -and least logical- parts of working for them.
In short, I'm happy T-Mobile is doing well. They absolutely deserve it.
However, our contract is almost up with Alltel, so we are trying to keep our options open. Alltel has been good to us so far ( 4 years)- except for the fact that they do not have a cell phone that can be used as a modem for a Mac. Being that T-Mobile roams on AT&T and SunCom, did your phone also not work for a couple of days (except for 911 calls) during Gustav?
Why did you switch from Alltel?
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I wish America would follow the examples of Asia and Europe. I also have an Unlocked phone form HK, but I have Verizon, and they don't support Sim Cards.
If Verizon became a GSM carrier, with nicer phones (Iphones, TYTNs, etc), that would be ideal.
I also might join T-Mobile, just for my company, but I don't feel like paying for 2 plans.
To complicate things, I called T-Mobile to exchange my two years old phone for T-Mobile Dash that is going out of fashion for a two years contract. And T-Mobile wants me to pay $99.00 for the phone. I have three accounts with them; one for me and my daughter, and the other one for my wife. Despite years of loyalty, T-Mobile would not even wave the price on an out-fashion cell phone for me. I went through chains of customer service representatives, without success. Is this the service that is rated highly by J.D. Power? We all need to be wary of polling. A friend who has been with Sprint for only four years, got a free Treo from Sprint to replace his old one. T-Mobile cannot match that feat.
T-Mobile is behind when it comes to smart phone. If you want a good can- do- all phone, go to ATT, Sprint, Verizon and Alltel. Now that I realized that T-Mobile does not believe in loyalty, I will take my wife, daughter and my subscription out of T-Mobile this summer.
I'm curious as to what statistics they're using to measure customer satisfaction. I don't call to complain anymore because I'm just used to the dropped calls and inconsistent service.
I travel to Asia very often and with T-Mobile I get good reception on my GSM phone EVERYWHERE. I also have access to GPRS services throughout all of China, and 3G in Singapore and Taiwan.
Additionally, T-Mobile is very good about giving me the code and help to "Open" my phone so that I can use a local SIM card when I am in a country for extended periods. I dare you to try that with ATT (Cingular). They REFUSE to give you the unlock number.
Also, if you try to buy an "After Market" phone, ATT will not provide any assistance what so ever, they even refuse to give you the APN, which is needed for access to GPRS systems.
I LOVE T-MOBILE and would strongly recommend their service to anyone, especially ATT customers.
I encouraged my mom to sign up when she finally got a cell phone (who is not very inclined to read between the lines in a contract) and every time she is upset about a charge she thinks is superfluous, the reps are always patient and explain why the bill is the amount it is.
Only thing I wish they had better: the sexy phones AT&T has!
In terms of performance (reception, dropped calls, etc.) - better than Sprint (but who isn't?)
- by zwolf4444 May 11, 2008 6:53 PM PDT
- As a number of people seem to echo above, J.D. Power must be testing right next door to a T-Mobile tower or something, or they heavily weight customer service instead of cell reception. Simply put, T-Mobile service is terrible (at least in New York State). I've done quite a bit of travelling on the east coast, and my friends who have T-Mobile always have the most inconsistent service. Verizon has always had consistently the best cell reception but the most restricted phones and the worst customer service, which why i suspect they trailed. But for most people, i think reception trumps all.
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