Survey: Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile USA tops in catching customer calls
Pali Research measures response times by the nation’s wireless providers
December 18 2008 - 12:40 pm ET | Allie Winter | RCR Wireless News
Sprint Nextel Corp. maintained its position at the top of Pali Research’s customer care survey during the third quarter. Sprint Nextel is not a common recipient of such news (aside from CEO Dan Hesse’s nod as an RCR Wireless News Mover & Shaker) but the carrier managed to keep its customer service in check two quarters in a row.
Pali also named Sprint Nextel best during the second quarter. Prior to its position on top, Sprint Nextel resided at the bottom of the survey’s results.
According to Pali, Sprint Nextel answered 89% of 1,000 customer care calls in less than 30 seconds, and was the only carrier to reach over 80% in the category. During the second quarter, Sprint Nextel answered 90% of calls in fewer than 30 seconds. T-Mobile USA Inc. could not match Sprint Nextel, but did see significant improvement. The industry’s No. 4 carrier answered 79% of calls in 30 seconds or less, a drastic improvement from the 43% posted during the second quarter.
The industry’s two largest players rounded out the bottom of the list. Verizon Wireless’ response time fell to 68% during the third quarter, down from the 85% of calls it answered in less than 30 seconds during the second quarter. AT&T Mobility saw even worse stats; the nation’s largest carrier only managed to answer 43% of customer service calls in fewer than 30 seconds during the third quarter.
Given more time, T-Mobile USA swam to the top of the ranking. The carrier managed to answer 100% of calls within two minutes, just nipping ahead of the 95% posted by Sprint Nextel. Verizon Wireless nabbed 91% of calls within two minutes, with AT&T Mobility managing to catch only 65% of calls in fewer than two minutes.
December 29, 2008 07:22 am
First of all the messaging is FREE. Enhanced messages are those 5555 numbers to get free text messages. So before you bash a company for charging you something, be sure you know what it is. As for CUMP. Even after losing a 1.5 million customer SPrint still has 53 Million which is a lot larger then Tmobile. Way more customer and still able to answer the calls better.Don't blame the company because YOU don't understand simple service plans.
December 24, 2008 01:44 pm
I have had Sprint and Nextel staff argue with each other over my phone bill and staff sell me a phone that would not work on Sprint when I clearly was adding a new phone to a Sprint family plan. The weirdest issue I have had with Sprint was calls being connected to the wrong phones but that seems to be fixed after several months of crazy confusion. Just moved to T-Mobile with no contract just in case they suck too. Loving that I can use an unlocked phone if nothing else.
December 24, 2008 01:44 pm
Congratulations Sprint! Job well done! One of my accessories broke and I went in to a Sprint store to replace it. They took the old one, gave me a new one and told me Merry Christmas. It was covered for an entire year. No paper work, no explanations, just took my phone, looked up my phone number and that was it. I was in and out of there in less than 10 minutes!
December 24, 2008 01:44 pm
My only concern with Sprint customer service is that I cannot understand their agents when speaking over the phone. Most do not have English as their first language, and they need to do a better job in training those on the " front lines " to speak clearly.
December 23, 2008 02:41 am
I've had Sprint for many years and I am very happy with there service. There "Ready Now" program explains everything the first time around. Dan Hesse is a great CEO, and I love the new line up of phones.
December 23, 2008 06:05 am
I have had sprint for 12 years and had no issues! So if you do not like sprint go to another service! Happy Holidays!
December 22, 2008 06:23 am
Sprint #1 in customer care? Give me a break! Perhaps they are answering their calls quicker because of all the customers that they have lost, but the quality of the people answering those calls leaves much to be desired. I have had occasions where I have been transferred to second and third tier tech support people who were as clueless about a solution for my problem as the first tier. I have called for routine account changes and reached people who could barely speak English and had no understanding of the US mobile phone system. And, the billing errors kept on coming every month. I recently switched my business lines to Alltel. Now, when I call Customer Care, the only problem that I have is occasionally understanding the southern drawl of reps in Virginia and Arkansas. That's much easier than trying to understand English the way that it is spoken in India.
December 20, 2008 05:05 pm
Sprint is worthless company that just needs to go away. My predectioni is sprint will go belly up or get bought out with in 5 years or sooner!!!! I cant belive that sprint have the nurve to call there unlimited text unlimited when its not. I recived my bill and noticed a enhanced text message charge, so I called there piss poor customer service and waited for 18 minute to speak to non-english speaking rep who was at no help at all. What I got out of it is if you type more then 100 characters spaceing in message then its called enhanced text message which is 35 cents per. Coverage sucks unless you live along the major citys or highways. Sprint likes extend a person contract without letting them know after applying feature to an account. ummmm features dont require contracts.... Sprint so messed up it needs to go under and the rumor of T-Mobile buying them out I hope so. T-mobile know how to take care of customers.
December 19, 2008 05:59 am
I've had Sprint for years and have been very happy with their service, but Dan Hesse is the best thing to happen to Sprint since fiber-optics. He is one of the best CEOs in the industry and "lightyears" ahead of his predecessors. Customer care, network coverage and handset selection have all improved under his watch. There are still many bumps in the road to overcome, but he is the right leader for this company.
December 19, 2008 05:59 am
I have had nothing but great service with Sprint. If you have not been in a store lately; try it. The smiling faces, willingness to help, providing top noch products and great service.Can't beat it.