Cell Phone Carriers Providing More Customer Service Than Ever

If today you have a question about your wireless service or about the features of your cell phone, you are more likely than ever to rely on your carrier's customer care department for the answer. This finding is part of a July, 2006 study by J. D. Power and Associates, which shows that the number of cell phone customers relying on their wireless provider for customer service issues is at an all-time high after climbing 10 percentage points since 2005.

First conducted in 2000, J. D. Power's semiannual Wireless Customer Care Performance Study analyzes the customer service performance of the major wireless carriers--Verizon Wireless, Cingular, T-Mobile, Sprint Nextel and Alltel. As part of this study, J. D. Power measures the incidence of cell phone users contacting their providers' customer service department by phone, in person or online within a 12-month period. This rate has steadily increased from 47% in 200 to 54% in 2005 and finally to 59% in 2006.

Besides carriers competing to provide better service, J. D. Power has identified two important reasons for this increase in customer-care reliance. On one hand, there are more wireless products and services available to the American consumer today than any time in the past--from phones that fill most consumer niches to plans tailored to the user's needs and lifestyle. On the other, today's cell phones incorporate more features than ever before, which customers enjoy and want to fully understand. For instance, as an increasing number of wireless customers use their cell phone to take pictures or videos, listen to music and download files, more are likely to seek support with their provider for any of these cell phone functions.

While this trend shows a positive interaction between cell phone users and service providers, there are some concerns in the medium term. "As more wireless companies encourage customers to try new services, this trend will continue to rise," says Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services at J. D. Power and Associates. "The downside is that carriers run the risk of decreasing customer satisfaction and losing customers to other carriers. Since future switching levels are 50% higher among customers who need to contact their carrier to get the inquiry resolved than those who do not, the challenge for wireless providers is to provide contact channels that can offer an informative and efficient experience for their customers."

And so far, the users' preferred channel of communication with their providers' customer service department is the telephone (74%), followed by in-person visits to wireless retail stores (22%) and finally by email/Internet (4%).

Which Cell Phone Service Providers Rank Highest in Customer Care
Among the nation's largest cell phone service providers, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless are tied in first place for creating the most positive experience for users who contact them for customer service questions or issues. Alltel follows T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless in second place, according to the same J. D. Power and Associates study.

About Wirefly

Wirefly (www.wirefly.com) is the online leader in one-stop comparison shopping for cell phones, wireless service plans and wireless accessories. Wirefly is an authorized dealer for every major cellular carrier in the U.S. Wirefly also offers discounts and services not available in retail wireless stores, including real-time online order status and tracking, and the guaranteed lowest price – online or anywhere else -- on cell phone devices from Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, LG, BlackBerry and many other cell phone handset manufacturers. Wirefly.com has been named Best of the Web by Forbes magazine as the “best all-around number portability portal” and “Best in Overall Customer Experience” by Keynote Performance Systems. For more information on Wirefly, its wireless products and its services, visit www.wirefly.com.