T-Mobile Tops Again in Wireless Customer Service, Says J.D. Power - While T-Mobile may only be the fourth-largest mobile carrier in the country, it certainly hasn’t shied away from investing in making its customers happy. The carrier came out tops in customer care performance for the seventh consecutive time in J.D. Power’s semi-annual “Wireless Customer Care Performance Study.” T-Mobile customers reported especially high satisfaction in the carrier’s ability to resolve problems in one call or store visit. Verizon Wireless resumed its number two spot in the J.D. Power Rankings, after falling briefly to third place, a spot now occupied by Alltel and AT&T, who tied. Sprint-Nextel continued its dismal string of last-place showings in the survey. With the market for wireless phones becoming increasingly saturated, carriers have increasingly sought to differentiate themselves by offering ever more powerful data capabilities (mobile data yields higher profit margins than simple voice, after all). While this may be a boon to tech-hungry consumers, those of us who just want to make voice calls and have our problems answered quickly and efficiently often get overlooked. Indeed, the J.D. Power survey found that despite the fact that 73% of customers who contact their carriers do so over the phone, average hold times on calls to the customer care center increased by 19% over the past six months. In addition, customers are increasingly frustrated with hard-to-navigate phone trees, leading to the fourth consecutive reporting period in which customer satisfaction with automated response systems decreased. Given the fact that carriers are trying to cut costs by employing fewer human customer service representatives and steering more customers to these automated systems, this data should be worrisome to the wireless companies. From a consumer point of view, customer satisfaction ratings should be an increasingly important factor to consider when shopping for wireless service. With carriers competing less and less on price, the ability of carriers to resolve customer care issues in a fast and effective way is becoming much more important. After all, there are only so many hours in the day. Who has time to sit on the phone with their wireless company?
To read more about the J.D. Power study, click here.
SkyFire Brings PC-Like Web-Browsing to the Mobile Phone - Consumers trying to surf the mobile Web are likely to find that the experience is less than satisfying. The mobile Web browsing experience typically falls into one of two categories. First, early versions of the mobile Web (which many consumers with older handsets still use) were limited to a select number of sites within the carrier’s network. These sites were optimized for viewing over a slow data connection and on a small screen and so tended to be text-heavy and image-light (with Flash and video animations all but unheard of). As mobile data connections have sped up and more consumers have purchased data-ready handsets and PDA’s, many popular websites on the general Internet have created mobile versions of their content that consumers can access from any device on any network. However, these mobile-optimized sites generally continue to lack the bells and whistles that make the Web such an enjoyable experience when accessed from a desktop computer. Enter SkyFire, a startup company based in Mountain View, California that this week announced a free private beta test of their new mobile browser. (Note: A private beta differs from a public beta in that users can try the software, but they must apply and be accepted by the software developer rather than simply downloading the software without the application process.) SkyFire claims to offer a mobile Web browser that can support most of the software that modern websites use to enhance their content, such as Flash, Windows Media, full video, Java, Ajax, etc. (Check out all the dynamic content on the front page of ESPN.com to get an idea of what such software can do to liven up a Web page.) Based on their demonstration video, it looks like they may have achieved their goal of a PC-like web browsing experience on a mobile phone. There are a few caveats, however. First, SkyFire currently only support handsets equipped with the Windows Mobile 5 and 6 operating system, so Blackberry, Palm OS, and iPhone users are out of luck for the moment. Second, while the SkyFire software is currently free, data charges to download and use the browser will apply, so it is probably only a good bet for users with unlimited data plans to try SkyFire (though users with Wi-Fi enabled handsets without a data plan can still use SkyFire). Finally, the support system for SkyFire users is currently limited to an e-mail feedback system so if the software doesn’t work right, it might be tough to get questions answered quickly. To find out more about SkyFire, click here.
TIP OF THE WEEK
Interconnect Your Landline and Cell Phone to Save Money - As the economy slows down, consumers are looking for strategies to tighten their belts and cut costs of daily living. TRAC hopes to help by providing practical cost saving tips. This week’s tip is for people who have both a landline and a cell phone. The tip is to pare your landline phone service down to the most basic plan available (sometimes as low as $5.00 a month, plus taxes and fees) with only one option calling feature – call forwarding. Such plans typically charge by the minute for outbound calls to your calling area. Don’t worry, though, because all of your outbound calls will be made from your cell phone thanks to the call forwarding (make sure that there isn’t a per-use fee for call forwarding). Start by setting up your call forwarding on the landline to forward all incoming calls to your cell phone. Once this is done, all calls to the landline will ring through to the cell phone, where the conversation will take place. This trick is best for consumers who are not using up many of the minutes on their cell phones and can afford to combine the calling that would occur on the landline with their regular cell phone usage without incurring overages. For safety’s sake, however, the landline is available as a backup in case the cell phone is lost, stolen, or simply out of battery life. The savings versus “standard service” landline plans, which typically include unlimited regional calling with voice mail and Caller ID may be significant. We encourage readers who have tried this trick or other telephone-related cost-saving strategies to let us know how the experience has been. E-mail trac@trac.org with your stories.
TRAC IN THE NEWS
A Little “Head Room” Can Save Money on Wireless, Says Simon - Consumers shopping around for a new wireless plan should check out a carrier’s reputation with friends and relatives before signing a contract, said TRAC chairman and founder Sam Simon in a recent interview with WJLA Channel 7 News. Getting feedback on wireless service (or any product or service) is often one of the most powerful influencers in a buying decision. Wireless carriers have responded to consumer demands for trial periods, but they could do even better, noted Simon. For example, most major carriers offer a 30-day trial period during which new customers can end their contract without incurring an early termination fee. Unfortunately, the 30-day window typically begins on the date of service activation. Since many customer complaints are due to billing errors and the first bills tend to come after the 30-day window has expired, the trial period is really only useful for customers who want to end their contracts due to coverage issues. Many consumer advocates say that a better option would be to have a 60-day trial window to encompass issues that arise after the first bills are mailed out. Contract extensions are another area where carriers have responded to consumer pressure. Until recently, many wireless companies automatically extended contracts for an additional one or two years whenever a change was made to a customer’s service plan, often without properly notifying the customer of the extension. Thanks in part to pressure from consumer groups like TRAC, most of the major carriers have agreed to end this practice. Finally, Simon advised consumers to factor in some “head room” when selecting a service plan. With overage charges of 45¢ per minute or more, under-estimating minute usage can quickly become a costly mistake. On the other hand, buying too many minutes leaves money on the table each month in the form of unused minutes. The key is to leave a comfortable buffer of minutes (generally 50-75 per month) so as to account for months of unusually high usage without overbuying minutes. A good way to figure out how many minutes one needs is pull out the last 4-5 months worth of wireless bills and average the number of minutes actually used. That average number can then be compared against the plans offered by carriers. To see the full interview with Sam Simon, click here.
INTERESTING LINKS
FCC Main Page: http://www.fcc.gov
FCC Complaint Form - http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cib/fcc475.cfm
List of State Regulatory Commissions: http://www.naruc.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=15
What do you think? Got a tip you want to share? Nominate your "Scam of the Week" and your "Tip of the Week" - If we select your submission, we'll give you a one-year free membership in TRAC and acknowledge your contribution by name in TRACNotes. Send an e-mail to trac@trac.org to submit your ideas!
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