Cell users suffer service disconnect

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Cell users suffer service disconnect

Consumer Reports: Mobile phone customers aren't happy with their providers, and it might get worse

By Glen Warchol

The Salt Lake Tribune

An annual consumer report on the cell phone industry released Tuesday found more than half of mobile phone users are dissatisfied with their providers. Again.

The study, published by Consumer Reports magazine, seems to confirm mobile phone providers and their customers suffer from a chronically bad connection: Consumer satisfaction has risen only 1 percent since the studies began three years ago.

The consumer advocacy journal, which surveyed 39,000 cellular telephone users, found customers are less satisfied with their mobile phones than other services the magazine rates, including insurance, retail sales and cable television.

Jim Guest, president and chief executive of Consumers Union publisher of Consumer Reports, said that despite last year's marketing campaigns offering "buckets" of calling minutes, "There is a hole in the bucket. Consumers find that reliable, basic service - that is easy to understand - is absent."

The magazine rated cell phone service in 17 cities - Salt Lake City was not among them - finding Verizon Wireless fared the best for customer satisfaction. "But Verizon was not far ahead of the pack, and it was not problem free," Consumer Reports deputy editor David Heim said.

The Consumer Reports cell phone survey findings include:

l 83 percent of frequent users had at least one dropped call and 60 percent reported a bad connection in the week before the survey.

l Only 40 percent were helped by their provider's response to billing questions.

l Only 31 percent were satisfied with their company's response to a service problem.

l 35 percent of customers were considering a switch of carriers.

l 83 percent reported problems the last time they shopped for a provider.

Worse, the Consumer Reports researchers are not optimistic cell phone service will improve and, in fact, believe it might deteriorate.

"Our survey findings are particularly troubling in the context of the recent spate of mergers

within the wireless industry, which we believe will lead to decreased competition and increased prices," Guest said. "In the case of Cingular and AT&T Wireless, both companies had problems with overloaded circuits. We don't see how a merger could improve that."

The Consumers Union also unveiled a Web site, http://www.hearusnow.org, that offers consumers information and advice on electronic media, including choosing phones services, and news on media mergers and privacy issues.

How you can improve cell phone service

Talk to friends, co-workers and neighbors to find a company that best serves the geography of your life.

l Make sure you get a trial period. Use it to find out if the phone works where you need it to. If not: TAKE IT BACK.

Sign up for the shortest contract, even if it means paying more. It will give you a way out if the service deteriorates.

Check the kind of phone and network offered. If you spend a lot of time in Utah's rural areas, you'll need the analog backup provided by DCMA phones.

Read the fine print. It's probably the most courageous consumer action you can take.

Get involved in driving providers toward giving consumers better information, while protecting their privacy. The Web site http://www.hearusnow.org is a place to start.

- Consumer Reports