July 20, 2005

Cingular Wireless is closing the gap in customer care, but Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA maintained their positions atop Vocal Laboratories' quarterly report, measuring the quality of customer care among wireless carriers.

The research firm awarded Verizon Wireless the only A for caller satisfaction, but the nation's No. 2 carrier dropped to a C in call completion.

T-Mobile USA, meanwhile, maintained Bs in both categories.

Cingular improved one grade to a B in satisfaction, remaining at a C in completion and finishing third in the survey.

AT&T Wireless Services Inc., now part of Cingular, showed improvement in all categories, passing Sprint PCS, which finished last with a D in call completion.

The seventh quarterly report ranked Tier 1 carriers in six categories: caller satisfaction, single call completion, automation rate, caller frustration rate, average call length and customer loyalty.

Results are culled from more than 90,000 users recruited to provide feedback about their carriers.

"Grades for caller satisfaction ranged from an A to a D, showing that customers get very different experiences from different companies," said Peter Leppik, Vocal Labs' chief executive officer.

"The companies with higher scores tend to have more loyal customers, suggesting that an investment in customer service pays off."

Source: RCR News