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Complaints Over Cell Phone Service Abound
By ELLEN SIMON, AP
NEW YORK (June 4) - Your cell phone company knows you hate it. Mobile phone
service was the second-lowest ranked industry - beating only cable providers
among the 40 rated - in the University of Michigan's newest customer
satisfaction index.
And there's more: mobile companies were the No. 2 sector in complaints last year
to Better Business Bureaus, dropping from first place in 2002. Only auto dealers
did worse.
"The industry claims that people love their cell phones and they're very happy
with the service," said Carl Wood, a commissioner on the California Public
Utilities commission who fought the industry for four years to establish state
wireless regulatory power. "That's half right."
Consumers complain of frequently dropped calls, lousy customer service and
exorbitant penalties for exiting a contract. Then there are the fees - Verizon
Wireless plans to collectively charge customers more than $173 million a year in
fees for number portability alone.
The complaints range from mundane to dramatic.
"It shouldn't take up to six months or a year to fix a bill," said Tracey Griser,
31, of Clinton, Iowa, who had a series of problems with her Sprint PCS phone and
the company's customer service. Sprint blamed her problems on the phone she was
using, then gave her a free replacement that had the same problems.
Carl Hilliard, president of the Wireless Consumers Alliance, heard from a woman
who had a Verizon Wireless family plan with her husband. After he died, Verizon
Wireless charged her an early termination fee on his service.
"I just happened to be in a meeting with Verizon Wireless's attorney and
mentioned it to him," Hilliard said. "It was reversed."
California last week adopted a Telecommunications Bill of Rights that requires
companies to inform customers about rate increases, bill customers only for
services that they request and allow customers to drop a service, without
penalty, within 30 days.
A tougher measure failed to pass. "In the last year or so, the industry has just
gone all out on every front to stop this," said Wood, the utilities
commissioner. The industry has promised to challenge the new regulations in
court.
The new rules offer fewer safeguards against deceptive marketing and advertising
than Wood proposal, which also would have blocked companies from changing the
terms of an existing contract.
Eric Rabe, a spokesman for Verizon Communications Corp. said the company thought
even the watered-down rules unnecessary.
"We do the majority of this stuff already," he claimed. "This is an attempt by a
regulatory body to exercise regulatory authority where they have not heretofore
had it."
But many consumers are frustrated.
Claire Smith, 21, of San Diego, set up automatic payments for her Cingular
Wireless bill. Cingular charged her credit card, then sent paper bills. When she
didn't pay the duplicate bill, they cut off her service, saying she was
delinquent. "They tried to double bill me," she said.
Neil Coleman, 34, of Jersey City, N.J., asked for a national plan when he signed
up with AT&T Wireless. He worked inside his local calling area for months, then
was sent to Dallas. His next mobile bill was $600, most of it roaming charges.
Calls to AT&T Wireless's customer service ended with a representative telling
him it was his responsibility to review his bill. There, on page four, in the
left-hand corner, in small print, the bill said "local plan."
Even simple things, like making a call, aren't always possible.
"Wireless carriers have been the victims of people believing their advertising,"
said Roger Entner, director of the wireless mobile services practice at The
Yankee Group. "The carriers have been able to position it as a utility in the
eyes of the customers, but it can't live up to that."
Companies insist they're working on improvements, that they're investing in
their networks, simplifying billing and tying bonuses to customer satisfaction.
But they've got some ways to go.
Sprint PCS ads even acknowledge consumer's frustration. A four-page ad in USA
Today asked, "What if the rest of the world were like the wireless industry?"
It showed a group of children outside a fenced playground, reading the rules,
which included, "You have to guess how many minutes you're going to use your
ball - for the next two years. Don't guess too high or too low, or you'll be
sorry."
The final rule: "If you don't like the rules, try another playground. It'll be
exactly the same."
To improve service, the company has increased training for customer service
employees to 10 days a year, introduced a new plan it said addresses common
complaints and tied executive compensation to customer satisfaction, said Cindy
Rock, senior vice president for customer solutions at Sprint PCS.
Cingular Wireless's chief operating officer, Ralph de la Vega, claims the
company's service is also improving.
In April, it started giving new customers a summary of contract terms and costs.
It also gives them a sample copy of what their first bill will look like.
AT&T Wireless, which has led the industry in complaints, according to Federal
Communications Commission statistics made public by Consumers Union, was bought
by Cingular for $41 billion in February. Cingular is in the process of merging
the two companies.
Verizon Wireless said it added 1,600 customer service employees last year.
The company has led customer satisfaction surveys, although the Michigan survey,
a quarterly index which this past week included wireless for the first time,
said it was tops in "a lackluster field."
Asked about the ranking, Verizon's Rabe said, "Compared to what? Lands' End? You
have to compare apples to apples. I wouldn't compare the customer experience of
dealing with a complicated technology with buying a shirt. It's just a whole
different challenge."
Cell phone troubles even dogged the reporting of this story.
Twice spokespeople for different wireless companies called on cell phones whose
signals faded to silence.
06/04/04 14:02 EDT
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