The J.D. Power and Associates 2009 U.S. Wireless Prepaid Customer Satisfaction Study was released on July 30, 2009, and Net10 and TracFone finished #1 and #2. Carlos Slim must be proud. (Carlos Slim controls América Móvil, which controls TracFone).
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You can see how each carrier rated in each category here. I found it interesting how Net10 and TracFone ranked differently, even though they are owned by the same company.
For example, Net10 got 4 stars for Initial Activation, while TracFone only got 3, yet the process is virtually identical for both.
A bigger surprise, however, is that TracFone got 5 stars for Customer Service, while Net10 only got 3. Who knows why this is. Maybe Net10 users are more demanding than TracFone users. For all the abuse TracFone takes over its customer service, you would think they would have been 1 star in that area, but in fact only TracFone and Alltel received 5 stars.
Now, before you flame me, I will readily admit that there many legitimate cases of less-than-stellar customer service by TracFone, but overall they stack up very well against other prepaid carriers.
Anyway, I hope you find the survey results interesting!
I agree, tracfone customer service sucks so bad that I left tracfone and went back to verizon. YES, went back to verizon. UGH!! I wish I could find a really good cell provider!!
Ralph
Posted by: ralph | August 04, 2009 at 08:55 PM
i actually have had a few upsetting experiences with tracfone customer service. but i find that if you go off on them they eventually will credit you minutes or resolve the problem.
Posted by: shay | August 21, 2009 at 10:21 AM
Ordered a phone (Motorola w376g). Arrived promptly, but with an incorrect SIM card. Took an hour for a C.S. rep (in South America) to go through all their stuff to confirm that.
New SIM card arrived several days later, but again was an incorrect card. (Same lengthy procedure to confirm that fact.) OK, we'll send you another SIM card. A week later, when the card had not arrived, called only to find that they had cancelled the order, because I had already been shipped a card (the second card). Ok, we'll send you another one, hopefully correct. Same problem, someone intercepted the order, saying that I'd aready received a card (the third card). Now, a month later a "correct" SIM card is supposedly on the way---this will be the fourth card, including the one which was originally in the phone!
This is our second phone from TracFone---the first phone, purchased early this year, also had an incorrect SIM card in it, but that phone they got corrected on the first try, so they do (or should) know how to update their phones!
So far, I'm very unimpressed with TracFone Customer Service.
(As an aside, why at every step does the overseas TracFone C.S. person have to first apologize for asking the next question, then spend more time always saying, "Thank you for that information"? They could save a lot of my time and their time simply being concise (which they're not) and courteous (which they are) and get on with the job!)
Posted by: GeoC | September 17, 2009 at 06:11 PM
After being on contract for some time, I made the leap and changed to Net10 Prepaid. It is amazing how much less I am paying Every month now for almost exactly the same thing. The deal is great $30 for a phone and 300 minutes to start. The calling rate is so reasonable at only 10 cents per minute that I can use the phone when ever I need it. Ive heard that some of the phones work better in certain areas than others. This is because net10 uses the other companies towers to get a very wide coverage area.]The reviews have recently listed net10 as the number one prepaid provider for customer satisfaction. I personally found customer service polite and helpful. In terms of a prepaid provider I put them at my top. There are no bill, no hidden costs, unused minutes carry over, calls are 10 cents a minute and texts are 5 cents.
Posted by: jessier | June 25, 2010 at 02:12 PM
Net10 is my favorite prepaid service. I really like the fact that i only pay 10 cents a minute. For once I don't feel like my cell phone provider is ripping me off. With net10 I never worry about anything because the phone always works great.
My friend who also has net10 just messaged me this site. net10laughoff.com. I just finished participating and i really hope that i win.
Posted by: Max | June 30, 2010 at 09:11 PM
net10 SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES FOR RIPPING PEOPLE OFF.
THIS COMPANY SUCKS AND IS A FLAT RIP OFF!!!!
Posted by: shanman | February 24, 2011 at 02:24 PM