Customers Rate AT&T Worst Carrier in US

[hancoma]

I have not had any issues with ATT. The service for 3g, ect has always been reliable...but this may be due to the large metro area I live in.
Regarding customer service, the wife and I went on a cruise to the bahamas, she left her iphone on push for data resulting in a $3k data bill!
ATT removed all the charges, thank God!

It was a hassle and a lot of run around, but they were very cool about it!

Now I take control of the wife's iphone if we leave the Conus! Whew!

[havoc0351]

is this a surprise to anyone?

To be honest I am a bit surprised. I have never had and issue with AT&T in my area or any other area I travel to. That includes phone and customer service, I guess I'm one of the lucky ones.
I think people are just upset about the limitations of the iPhone and the lack of MMS service but most don't understand who's responsible for what. I can see how someone might blame it all on the carrier...

[snap1500]

In areas with no congestion problems AT&T is just fine, but seriously. Come to Las Vegas and try to use your iPhone on the strip. I have WiFi at my home where I spend the majority of the time and not having 3G is just fine for me. Besides the fact that I get 300-400 down with "5 bars" of 3G in a 3G service area, it's beyond sad.

I just checked the coverage map for Santa Clara and I can't believe it, why the F is it so spotty? That is a large area, and Apple HQ is located in the same area..

I know, wack huh?

[sebgonz]

everyone keeps talking about what cities were surveyed, which i agree with. but also, what phones are the customers using, how old are their phones, what condition were their phones in? and again, it all depends on your area too. some providers have better and/or worse coverage in different areas of cities. How do they measure messaging? just price? or the amount of messages they didnt receive or that didnt send? just a lot of variables. oh, and btw consumer reports sucks. i have also worked at a large electronics store for a few years and every time a customer brought one in or mentioned it, i told them to look at the model #'s and they were a few months old. most of CR's surveys are biased and mainly based on price, not quality. MY 2 CENTS

Yeah, but they're talking about the service, not the phones. So I don't know how off they would be to say that those that were surveyed in whatever city thought that Verizon was best. Granted, there are TONS of variables to this, I still would say that overall, they're probably right. I recently switched to Verizon because it was more economical, and if I were surveyed, I would also say that Verizon is better than AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint. But that's just because it's what works for me.

[thetoothfairy]

In Florida where I am at.... At&t is bad, bad, bad...... I get so frustrated with them right now I could scream! As comparing the two of them... At&t and Verizon.... I liked Verizon coverage in the areas I traveled in and live in but hated their customer service.... I returned a phone and they did not make note of it and would not give me a credit for it and I had to argue with them until I was blue in the face and then after two months they finally gave me my credit. Not to mention I had proof that they owned it the credit also...

Now for At&t I like their customer service, they have always been nice if I needed to talk to them and also willing to work with you but hate the phone service...

[BlackG35]

Wow I feel bad for half you guys, Att apparently sucks in a lot of places and you guys probably wont switch because of the iPhone.

I feel lucky, I have the phone I want and my coverage is pretty good, I can get up to 180KB/s downloads while tethered.

I don't know if I would keep this phone if I moved somewhere else and it was as lousy as I've been hearing, like in San Francisco.

[DontBeJealous]

Wow I feel bad for half you guys, Att apparently sucks in a lot of places and you guys probably wont switch because of the iPhone.

I feel lucky, I have the phone I want and my coverage is pretty good, I can get up to 180KB/s downloads while tethered.

I don't know if I would keep this phone if I moved somewhere else and it was as lousy as I've been hearing, like in San Francisco.

Its all a matter of location which everyone knows. I'm in the northeast and 3G is abundant here. I get the same speeds as you on 3G. I stream radio all day long and I'm burried in the middle of the building here at work. People on Sprint and Verizon have to literally run outside to take a call. Its pretty funny.

[demonslave]

Eh, I'm surprised and I'm not. My coverage seems to be on and off at times, voicemails come late or I just don't receive the call at all. Even my sms messaging has become finicky, not just mms, which can take hours.

However, when it does decide to work, it's wonderful. I've heard friends on other networks complain a lot more than I do.

[Luppin]

This is really no surprise. ATT is the worse in all Services they provide. I have known this from several experiences. They are the worst and will never improve. All about money to ATT.

You act like the #1 priority of every single business on the planet isn't to make money, if you really think Verizon of T-Mobile actually care about anything other than the money you give them then I feel bad for you.

And to anyone experiencing bad service with AT&T, I recently moved from Long Island, New York to Houston, Texas which included a 2 day car trip to bring down my car and whatnot, and for a good 85-90% of the time I had 3-5 bars of 3G service. The ONLY times I experienced any kind of coverage outage was when I was passing through basically uninhabited, rural areas of the country. So basically, from my experience, as long as you don't live in a backwoods as hell community and actually live in a somewhat populated area of the country, you will do just fine with AT&T. And to the comment about the slow speeds experienced in Las Vegas due to congestion, AT&T opened up the 850 MHz spectrum for the Long Island-NYC-New Jersey area (probably the most densely-populated area in the US) which greatly improved speeds, I wouldn't be surprised if once enough people notice slow speeds and actually complain to AT&T that they would do the same for those areas.

[KartRacer]

All the proof you need for AT&T having ****** coverage compared to Verizon is in their postcard commercial with a fatass Luke Wilson in it. Every single post card that he throws around in that ad is a major metropolitan area with millions of residents. They singlehandedly proved Verizons point; don't live in a big city, you don't get 3G. AT&Ts coverage is laughably bad and they even confirmed it. There is absolutely no defense against this fact, anyone that opposes it is simply flat out wrong.

And to anyone experiencing bad service with AT&T, I recently moved from Long Island, New York to Houston, Texas which included a 2 day car trip to bring down my car and whatnot, and for a good 85-90% of the time I had 3-5 bars of 3G service.

I don't believe that even remotely. Every single interstate between cities is EDGE only even in inside individual states. I've driven from Atlanta to San Diego solo 6 times in the past three years, three different routes every time, and not a single highway in any state inbetween any city had 3G. None. Nowhere in the country will you get 3G the whole way, not even close.

[GIRLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL]

It is all about money, but AT&T is the only one charging what Big Red charges and offering subpar service. I had AT&T back in 2004 prior to me trying them out earlier this year and it was horrible, even standing out side the call would drop no sooner than 2 minutes into it.

[confucious]

I feel lucky, I have the phone I want and my coverage is pretty good, I can get up to 180KB/s downloads while tethered.

Wow! I get between 1 ans 2 Mb / s when tethering on my iPhone with T-Mobile.

[battlecrushr]

Wow! I get between 1 ans 2 Mb / s when tethering on my iPhone with T-Mobile.

lol me 2

[ty22]

Lol... I just bought this edition of this magazine a few hours ago.

[LanCo Rider]

I have only had a few small issues with AT&T.

Nextel/Sprint was by far the absolute worst company I have ever dealt with in any type of business in my life. My phone was constantly breaking, service was constantly going out, and the customer service reps were completely useless. I have never been so aggravated with a company before. I switched from them to ATT about 4 years ago and have not looked back.

[steve-z17]

All the proof you need for AT&T having ****** coverage compared to Verizon is in their postcard commercial with a fatass Luke Wilson in it. Every single post card that he throws around in that ad is a major metropolitan area with millions of residents. They singlehandedly proved Verizons point; don't live in a big city, you don't get 3G. AT&Ts coverage is laughably bad and they even confirmed it. There is absolutely no defense against this fact, anyone that opposes it is simply flat out wrong.



I don't believe that even remotely. Every single interstate between cities is EDGE only even in inside individual states. I've driven from Atlanta to San Diego solo 6 times in the past three years, three different routes every time, and not a single highway in any state inbetween any city had 3G. None. Nowhere in the country will you get 3G the whole way, not even close.

That's not true at all, I've personally been to Bozeman, Montana which has a population of 40,000 ppl or less. So I already know that what your saying isn't true. It's funny to hear you say that ppl would be flat out wrong if they oppose what you said, when clearly you're statement is just not true.

[KartRacer]

That's not true at all, I've personally been to Bozeman, Montana which has a population of 40,000 ppl or less. So I already know that what your saying isn't true. It's funny to hear you say that ppl would be flat out wrong if they oppose what you said, when clearly you're statement is just not true.

That's amazing considering AT&Ts own website shows zero 3G coverage in the whole state of Montana, so who's right? You or the company? I know that their map is up to date because I got an email from them telling me that 3g coverage has expanded to Macon GA and the map shows that. I live 40 miles from Savannah GA, the fourth biggest shipping port in the East Coast and they have 3G, but we don't here in Beaufort. I have EDGE service, but not 3G. But only If I'm outside anything that could be considered a building, and not moving. And even then it doesn't always work. They were whining about how even without 3G you they still have a huge amount of EDGE coverage. That's great, when it works. And traveling anywhere on the East Coast it's a joke. It doesn't work faster than about 2-15kbps, if you are standing still, and calls drop all the time. Do Verizon, T-mobile, and Sprint have this problem in this area? Nope. I'm not wrong, I've traveled most of the US and AT&T is a g-o-d-d-a-m-n joke.


The point of the commercial was to show how good their 3G coverage was and they named major US cities. How is that hard to understand? They have ****** service nationwide, except in large cities and few spots around the country, and it showed just how stupid they are. AT&T has ****** service, coverage is ridiculously small compared to the company they are competing against in these commercials and they know it. I used to live in Atlanta and Columbus GA. Layoffs at the company I worked for forced me to relocate for employment, and the coverage all over the interstates in Georgia and South Carolina (in particular) are infuriatingly bad. I didn't choose to live in an area with bad coverage, so that isn't my fault in any way. I bought the phone where coverage was great, and due to things outside my control I had to leave and move to a place where they charge me extra for a feature I don't get that they are contractually bound to provide. When I was in Atlanta and Columbus service was beyond fantastic, same in nearby Savannah. But anywhere outside large cities and a small number of other spots, the coverage is crap. They don't have a problem providing useable service 60% of the time, but if I paid my bill 60% of the time I'd be in a world of hurt. That isn't right.

Say what you want, AT&T coverage is only in large cities and fewer smaller areas than Verizon. That's fact, and they continually lie about it.

[LanCo Rider]

^ Dude, that is total BS. I live in an area called "The Buck" in Pennsylvania. Now, you should be able to imagine how redneck and backwoods and area called The Buck is. I have 3G coverage all over my area. Into Philadelphia, Lancaster, and 90% of areas within an hour of my house.


I'd honestly say that the little "3G" icon in the top of my screen can show coverage area better than some dumbass postcard that a competitor sends out.

[KartRacer]

^ Dude, that is total BS. I live in an area called "The Buck" in Pennsylvania. Now, you should be able to imagine how redneck and backwoods and area called The Buck is. I have 3G coverage all over my area. Into Philadelphia, Lancaster, and 90% of areas within an hour of my house.


I'd honestly say that the little "3G" icon in the top of my screen can show coverage area better than some dumbass postcard that a competitor sends out.

Does the name Philadelphia not mean anything to you? Do you not comprehend what you said? You live near a major US city. Jesus Christ, it's like talking to a wall. The reason you have 3G there and in Lancaster because you live where I would guess that alot of people that work in Philly live. Philly iteslf has 1.5 million residents, in the urban areas around it, usually about an hours or so drive outside any big city, the population is almost 5.5 million. Lancaster has over half a million. My point is proven yet again. I live less than 45 minutes from a major US port for cripes sake and we don't have 3g in a county of 150k+ people. Are either of you capable of basic comprehension and possess basic reading skills? Because it sure doesn't seem that way. Living within 70 miles of a city that it's residents live pretty close by, it shouldn't be hard to understand why you have 3G.

And it wasn't a competitor sending out postcards, it was in a frickin AT&T commercial talking about where they had 3G coverage by throwing postcards at the cities that have it. Amazes me that you call BS on my points when you have no clue what you are talking about in the first place. Their own map shows zero 3G coverage in the whole state of Montana as you can see below. I know it's updated because they show the recently expanded coverage into Macon GA.

[KartRacer]

You mean like BMW, VWAG, Toyota, Subaru, etc?

You might want to remember that all of those companies have production facilities inside the US.

Don't worry, I know it's easy to read what's spoonfed by places such as Faux News.

Whatever you've been spoonfed isn't working. The US never bailed any of them out, their native countries might have, but not us. What's worse? Your stupid attempt at making fun of Foxs News, or the bullsh*t you've been sucking down without thinking for yourself?

Report: BMW may apply for state aid, plans to cut production - MotorAuthority

Auto Bailout: Et Tu, Toyota? - BusinessWeek

Toyota, Honda, Mazda May Ask for Government Bailout - U.S. News Rankings and Reviews

They got it from their own countries governments moron. Quit sucking the teet of mainstream media bashing, you look stupid when you do.