Verizon Wireless & Virgin Mobile Top Best Customer Caring - Unlimited Data Customers Happiest

According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 U.S. Wireless Customer Care Full-Service Performance Study—Volume 2 and the 2012 U.S. Wireless Customer Care Non-Contract Performance Study—Volume 2, Wireless customers who have tiered data plans(748 score) are a lot less satisfied than those with unlimited data plans (775 sc0re).

The two victorious companies start with the letter "v"."

Verizon Wireless ranked highest in wireless customer care performance among full-service carriers with an overall score of 771. Sprint came in second (764 ), AT&T (756 )third followed by T-Mobile (722).

Virgin Mobile ranks highest in overall customer care satisfaction among non-contract service carriers with an overall score of 750, Trafone was second (718), Straight Talk ( 705), MetroPCS(702) third, Boost Mobile(698) fourth, Net10( 677) and Cricket( 673) last.

This lower level of satisfaction for tiered data plan users can be attributed to how these customers are handled from an operational perspective:

• Full-service customer spend an average of 1 minute more on hold waiting to speak with a service rep (5.52 minutes vs. 4.49 minutes, respectively) and have a lower incidence of having their service call resolved in a timely manner (63% vs. 68%, respectively).
• Full-service customers with a tiered plan contact their wireless carrier more often over the last 6 month period than do those with an unlimited plan (49% vs. 46%, respectively),
• The problem is a result of the complexity of tiered plans, billing problems and how it effects billing.

The study also found these wireless customer care patterns:

• Four in 10 full-service wireless customers who resolved their issue via the online channel say they used their carrier's online chat function for customer service, an increase of four percentage points from the 2011 Vol. 2 study.
• Satisfaction averages 234 points higher among non-contract customers whose issues are resolved on the first contact, compared with among those whose issues require multiple contacts (799 vs. 565, respectively).

The 2012 Wireless Customer Care Full-Service Performance Study—Volume 2 is based on responses from 7,428 wireless customers. The 2012 Wireless Customer Care Non-Contract Performance Study—Volume 2 is based on responses from 3,026 wireless customers. Both studies are based on the experiences of current customers who contacted their carrier's customer care department within the past six months. The study was fielded from January through June 2012.