AT&T Mobility continues mastery of J.D. Power survey, while Sprint prepaid brands rule no-contact space

AT&T Mobility often finds itself playing second fiddle to rival Verizon Wireless in terms of network rankings, but when it comes to consumer purchasing satisfaction as compiled by J.D. Power the carrier continues to dominate.

J.D. Power’s latest 2015 U.S. Wireless Purchase Experience Performance Study – Volume 2, again found among “full-service” carriers that AT&T Mobility provided the best wireless purchasing experience for customers using a variety of sales channels (telesales, in-store, online), racking up a total score of 804 out of 1,000. AT&T Mobility was noted for performing “particularly well in four of the six purchase experience factors, including the offerings and promotions and phone sales representative factors.”

AT&T Mobility topped Vol. 1 of the ranking with a score of 802, and last year’s Vol. 2 ranking with a score of 801.

T-Mobile US maintained its No. 2 position in the survey rankings, scoring 801 points in the latest survey, which was a significant improvement from the 792 points scored earlier this year and 796 points scored one year ago.

While dominate in J.D. Power’s network quality rankings, Verizon Wireless came in No. 3 and below average in the latest purchasing experience rankings with a score of 795. Verizon Wireless has maintained that position, scoring 784 points earlier this year and 788 points one year ago.

Sprint again pulled up the rear among full-service carriers, scoring a distant 777 points in the latest survey, which was the same total it scored earlier this year and down from the 781 points scored one year ago.

While Sprint suffered in its branded efforts, the carrier’s Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile USA prepaid brands came out on top among “non-contract” providers. Boost managed a score of 796, just ahead of the 793 posted by stable mate Virgin Mobile USA.

J.D. Power noted Boost Mobile performed “well in the store facility, website and phone sales representative factors.”

T-Mobile US’ MetroPCS brand was No. 3 in the category with a score of 789, followed by AT&T Mobility’s Cricket brand with a score of 786. A trio of brands from Tracfone Wireless, which is controlled by America Mòvil, rounded out the non-contract rankings, with Tracfone at 780 points, Straight Talk at 775 points and Net10 a distant No. 7 with 747 points.

Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile USA topped the segment’s previous ranking, with MetroPCS scoring 19 points better to move up two spots; Cricket sliding one position though gaining two points; Tracfone slipping a spot while losing 2 points; Straight Talk scoring 20 points better in gaining a spot; and Net10 dropping 19 points and one spot.

Among the different sales channels, J.D. Power found customer satisfaction from full-service carriers via online channels improved 22 index points from the last survey, while telesales satisfaction surged nine index points and a single point improvement from in-store sales channels. The moves rearranged the overall rankings of the three options, with online sales moving from last to first, telesales moving from first to last and in-store performance maintaining its No. 2 position.

“The study shows a direct correlation between an efficient sales transaction process and improving satisfaction with the overall website purchase experience,” said Kirk Parsons, senior director and technology, media and telecom practice leader at J.D. Power. “Full-service customers who make purchases on websites are finding it much easier to complete their transaction. This is largely because full-service carriers have invested heavily in self-service and online channels to make the overall sales experience more enjoyable and efficient.”

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