BBB: AT&T has lowest complaint rate among major carriers, T-Mobile highest

Among the top-four nationwide carriers in the United States, AT&T has managed the lowest ratio of Better Business Bureau complaints to customers over the past three years. Earlier this month, the BBB published data collected between August 2008 and July 2011 for the eight biggest wireless carriers in the U.S. The firm then measured total complaints for each carrier against its approximate total subscriber count according to the CTIA as of July to determine each carrier’s “complaint ratio.” Read on for more.

Between August 2008 and this past July, MetroPCS had the lowest number of complaints filed with the BBB with just 997. The regional carrier’s 9 million subscribers gives it a minuscule complaint ratio of 0.011%, the best among all carriers covered in the report. AT&T found itself in second place overall with a complaint ratio of 0.016%. Just 15,178 complaints were filed against the carrier over the three-year period in question, and AT&T’s complaint ratio was the best among the four major U.S. carriers.

Verizon Wireless was the No. 2 major carrier and fourth overall according to the BBB with a complaint ratio of 0.020% (20,876 complaints), and Sprint followed in the sixth spot with 0.044% (22,300 complaints). T-Mobile racked up 26,387 complaints over the three-year span and found itself in dead last with a complaint ratio of 0.078%.

Interestingly, carriers’ BBB complaint ratios don’t appear to correlate closely with the perceived quality of customer service they provide. According to a recent poll by J.D. Power and Associates, Verizon Wireless has the best customer service in the country, having scored 770 out of a possible 1,000 points. T-Mobile was second with a score of 766, Sprint was third with 752 and AT&T was scored the worst among major U.S. carriers with 751 points.

Tags: .bbb, AT&T, Customer Service, Sprint, T-Mobile, verizon wireless

Zach Epstein