T-Mobile Tops in Customer Care Followed by AT&T, Reports J.D. Power

J.D. Power surveyed all the types of customer care for major U.S. carriers and rated them. There has been an increase of contact in areas other then phone support, with more support from the web and retail store help.

T-Mobile ranked highest in wireless customer care performance
with an overall score of 777. T-Mobile performed particularly well in
phone contacts that originate in the ARS(Automated-Response) channel and are then
transferred to a live service representative, and through phone calls
made directly to a CSR. AT&T followed in the overall rankings with a
score of 757 and performs well among customers who visit retail store
locations and among customers who contact their carrier online. Verizon scored 749 while Sprint received 734 points. (Chart follows in middle of article.)

The study also finds several key wireless customer care patterns:

• Overall, 39 percent of wireless customers contact their carrier due
  to service and equipment-related issues, while 34 percent contact for
  billing, 25 percent for incorrect charges, 23 percent for price or cost,
  22 percent for call quality, 9 percent for messaging issues, 9 percent
  for network coverage, and 6 percent for credit issues.
• Wireless customers who have had a positive care experience are more
  loyal and are therefore less likely to switch carriers in the future, on
  average. Among customers who indicate they "definitely will not switch"
  carriers in the next 12 months, the customer care index averages 827,
  compared with just 602 among those who say they "definitely will
  switch"--a difference of 225 points.
• A vast majority of customers get through to their carrier on their
  first try (90%), but some customers (10%) are misdirected or are put on
  hold for too long and must make more than one contact. The average
  wireless customer spends 5.27 minutes on hold when trying to reach their
  carrier via phone.

Overall, wireless
customers who contact their service provider for customer care are
increasingly using contact channels other than the telephone, according
to the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 U.S. Wireless Customer Care
Performance Study^SM--Volume 2 released today.

Now in its eighth year, the semiannual study provides a detailed
report card on how well wireless carriers service their customers in
three contact methods: telephone calls with a customer service
representative (CSR) and/or automated response system (ARS); visits to a
retail wireless store; and on the Web. Within each contact method, the
study measures satisfaction and processing issues such as
problem-resolution efficiency and hold-time duration.

The study finds that, compared with six months ago, there have been
substantial increases in the proportion of wireless customers who use
the retail store location and online/Web channels to seek customer care.
During the first half of 2010, 29 percent of customers visited a retail
store location regarding their most recent customer care inquiry or
issue. In comparison, 26 percent of customers did the same between July
and December 2009. The change is even greater among those customers who
indicate they contacted their provider online either through e-mail or
the website, as 11 percent overall report doing so in 2010, up from 9
percent in the last half of 2009.

"While a majority of customers--60 percent, on average--still use the
telephone to contact their wireless carrier for customer care issues,
it's clear that wireless subscribers are increasingly relying on other
channels to resolve their customer service needs," said Kirk Parsons,
senior director of wireless services at J.D. Power and Associates.
"There are a number of reasons for this, such as an increase in retail
store locations; the expansion and efficiency of online methods,
especially the speed of communicating with a live representative via
online chat messaging; and general overall improvement in satisfaction
performance, especially within the retail store channel."

For example, the study finds that overall customer care performance
scores among customers who visit a retail store location have
significantly improved from six months ago. Overall satisfaction among
these customers averages 775 on a 1,000-point scale--an increase of 23
index points. Customers are notably more satisfied when they resolve
their issue by visiting a retail store than they are when they utilize
other methods of contact.

"The walk-in experience is unique due to the physical nature of the
experience and the immediacy of having an issue resolved in person,"
said Parsons. "It is critical, however, that the retail store
representatives first focus their efforts on resolving the customer's
core needs if that's the main reason for the visit, as first-contact
resolution is critical to a superior customer care experience."

The 2010 Wireless Customer Care Performance Study--Volume 2 is based
on responses from 9,690 wireless customers who contacted their carrier's
customer care department within the past six months. The study was
fielded from January through June 2010.

For more information, to read an article, or view wireless customer care ratings, please visit JDPower.com.