Cell phone carrier ratings

Well, it's out again... Consumer Reports has issued its findings about cellular phone carriers. Guess what?! Carriers scored a D+. Go figure. It seems that carriers can't do anything right--that is if you listen to the people who are trying to sell magazines.

What amazes me is that people look at that and take it as gospel. Because of that people actually believe that carriers are horrible and that carriers are actually trying to do things to tick off their customers. But rather than trying to fix the problem Consumer reports is trying to capitalize on the issues and fuel the fire.

The question I ask is: Do people REALLY TRULY understand what services carriers are trying to provide? Do people REALLY TRULY understand what a wireless service can do? I am not saying that it is the fault of the consumer---completely. But consumers have to realize that it is up to them to find information and learn about the services they use and get that information from reliable sources. If consumers rely on message boards and other forums to try to gleen information they will usually come up with an answer that is partially from someone who is trying to help but doesn't have all the information.

People complain of dropped calls and poor customer service. I have had poor customer service from many technology companies including Microsoft, XM Radio, Dell, Nikon, HP, etc. How did I get through that? Did I complain? No…I kept working on fixing the problem. It took some time but I got it resolved and they went above and beyond once I found the person that could fix my problem. Carriers are the same way.

I look at these articles and think of the people that responded to the survey. For example, I know people who are complaining of dropping calls near their home and then going to the city council meetings and say things like: "You can't put a tower near my house!! Oh no! I won't have it!". How does that fix anything?

Carriers could fix every problem in coverage and customer service if consumers weren’t demanding continually cheaper service. I know some people who think it is a game to try to switch carriers and get the new carrier to eat the contract fee—just to get 50 or 100 extra minutes a month. This costs the carrier money and YOU pay for that.

Some reputable publication should talk to the carriers and get them to explain the reason that the problems persist and how they are working on the problems. If people understood the real reasons there are customer service issues and dropped calls—if people understood how the technology worked I can guarantee that the consumer reports scores would increase.

I think it is very disturbing that consumer reports continues to position itself as there for the consumer when all they really want is to make money and not really help to fix the problems.

-Paul