Which US wireless carrier offers the best customer support?

While we may have some of the most draconian wireless  carriers in the world, we can’t deny these US corporations sure do know how to handle competition. This war is not limited to device availability, data speeds and network coverage, either. Us Americans tend to be quite picky about the small details and really want the companies we patronize to treat us well.

Customer support is a big deal in this market, and if you are looking for the wireless carrier that will treat you the best you should definitely keep reading. The folks at Tom’s Guide have conducted a study on the level of customer service quality from all major US carriers. And yes, the list does include a bevy of prepaid carriers. Let’s take a look at the strategy before digging into the results.

How the test was conducted

The experiment was simple. The Tom’s Guide staff went undercover to see how the top 9 carriers in the USA handled online, social media and phone support. The time of a support call was also taken into account. They only asked 2 questions: “how do I get photos off my smartphone?” and ” how do I change my data plan?”.

Each calling test was attempted twice – once during peak hours and once late at night. They also went through online support and social media services to see how quick and effective they were.

The results!

So we can clearly see AT&T took the top spot, owning most of the factors taken into consideration. They offer the best online, social media and phone support, bar none. Every other manufacturer is either lower or equal in these categories. The only area AT&T loses in is in its average support call time, which averages at about 11:30 minutes. On the other hand, the winner in this category is Metro PCS, which averages at about 3:40 minutes.

It’s not surprising to see Metro PCS doing better in this segment. They have less customers and can probably handle the stress of unsatisfied users with more ease. We do have to say T-Mobile is doing pretty well here, though. They may be the third biggest carrier in the USA by now, yet they still managed to cut call times to a level much closer to the little guys.

Is there a direct correlation to price?

One would assume that the more you pay for your service, the better one will be treated by the carrier, and this is mostly true. After all, the top 4 in the list are the best and most expensive carriers around. The only discrepancy is that if we shall follow that logic, Verizon should be either second or first, but Sprint managed to beat Big Red here.

Now, this does makes sense if we take a look from another angle. Keep in mind Sprint’s network is really struggling to compete, which means they probably make a bigger effort to keep customers and bring in more people. Not to mention, Verizon has always been a bit more secure about its position in the industry. While their customer service is still awesome, they also know people will be hard pressed to leave their unbeatable cell phone coverage.

How much do you care about customer support?

To be honest, I have never worried too much about wireless customer support. Sure, I like when the big carriers bend over backwards to keep you satisfied, but it has never been a true deciding factor for sticking around with, joining or leaving a company. As long as I get what I paid for, I am happy.

Of course, this is mostly because I have never been one to really need too much help with my device or services. I tend to figure things out on my own or turn to awesome websites (like Android Authority!) for all my needs. I even get weirded out when representatives start playing around with my phone!  This approach usually allows me to go with more affordable alternatives, too!

I do understand that is not the best scenario for all of us, and some of you prefer walking out of a store with everything in place. Are you one of those users who place high value on quality customer care, or do you prefer to walk on the wild side like me?