TORONTO – Wireless service providers and phone manufacturers in Canada take note. Your customers are not happy.
The J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Canadian Wireless Customer Satisfaction Study released Wednesday indicates customer satisfaction has decreased considerably since 2006.
Now in its third year, the study examines perceptions of wireless customers with their service, the phone itself and their retail experience.
Overall customer satisfaction with contract service this year declined by 18 points, from an average of 675 on a 1,000-point scale in 2006 to 657 in 2007.
In the prepaid service segment, overall customer satisfaction averaged 652, down from 666 in 2006, while overall satisfaction with mobile phones declined from an average of 714 in 2006 to 702 in 2007.
Five factors are measured to determine customer satisfaction with contract service and prepaid service: call quality, billing, service plan options, cost of service and customer service. Mobile phone satisfaction is measured based on customer ratings of five factors: features, physical design, durability, battery and operation.
“Customer expectations are a moving target, and what works one year may not be enough to satisfy consumers the following year, which means that it is essential for wireless service providers and phone manufacturers to continually strive to find new ways to surprise and delight their customers,” said Charles Schade, senior director of research at J.D. Power and Associates, in a statement.
For the first time since the inception of the study, national provider Fido ranked highest in customer satisfaction among contract service providers with an overall index score of 700.
Fido performed particularly well in service plan options and cost of service. SaskTel and Aliant follow Fido in the rankings, achieving scores of 696 and 681, respectively. SaskTel performed well in the remaining factors that contribute to satisfaction in the contract service segment: call quality, billing, and customer service.
“Although an array of new service plan features, bundling options, and ways to reduce package prices have been made available in 2007, customers indicate that they are dissatisfied with the cost of these services,” Schade said. “One reason for this may be the media attention that has increased the visibility of innovative service plan pricing in the United States, which the media contends is considerably lower than in Canada.”
The study finds that resolution of problems in a timely manner gives service providers an opportunity to improve on customer satisfaction.
Among customers who say they contacted their provider to report a problem, those who report their issue was resolved in a timely manner provide overall satisfaction scores that are 171 points higher, on average, than do customers who say that their issues were not resolved in a reasonable time.
For the prepaid service segment, Virgin Mobile (732) ranked highest for a third consecutive year, performing particularly well in service plan options, billing, call quality, and customer service.
Following Virgin Mobile are Telus Mobility (690) and PC Mobile (682), respectively. PC Mobile performed particularly well in the cost of service factor.
The study found that the average monthly fee paid by contract customers is $67, compared with $25 for prepaid customers, which is primarily due to the fact that prepaid customers make considerably fewer calls per month (29, on average) compared with contract customers (who average 81 calls per month).
Sony Ericsson ranked highest among mobile phone brands with a score of 728, performing particularly well in features, physical design, battery, and operation. Sony Ericsson is followed in the rankings by BlackBerry (721) and Sanyo (713). BlackBerry performs well in the operation factor, while Sanyo performs particularly well in durability.
The study is based on responses from nearly 6,000 mobile phone users. Respondents were surveyed in September 2007.
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