JD Power says T-Mobile tops for late 2010 help

T-Mobile claimed a leading position for a second time on Thursday as it won the award for JD Power's cellphone customer care rankings for the second half of 2010. Its absolute score of 758 was down from before but enough to keep it ahead of both the industry average of 739. Verizon was also just above the average at 743.

AT&T and Sprint weren't behind by a wide margin but were below the average at 729 and 731 points each. Their subjective opinion was also much lower. Where T-Mobile customers gave five stars and Verizon customers four, both AT&T and Sprint subscribers rated help at two stars.

T-Mobile's lead came primarily through the gracefulness of its support on the phone. It often scored the best either in shuttling a customer from an automated phone system to a real person or through direct phone contact. Verizon also did well with direct contact and was good at helping online.

As with past surveys, the best help came from talking to a live person, whether on the phone or in person at a store. The lowest scores came from methods meant to distance the customer, such as automated response systems alone or web-based help, which dipped individual responders' scores as low as 704 and 684.

Most requests for help were closely split between technical problems, usual billing questions and inaccurate charges. Call quality and concerns about high price were also significant factors.

By Electronista Staff