The number of complaints filed with the FCC involving wireless ph...
The number of complaints filed with the FCC involving wireless phone service rose almost 38% in 2004 from the previous year, Consumers Union (CU) said after compiling publicly available data and more specific company data obtained using the Freedom…
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of Information Act. CU said complaints rose from 21,357 in 2003 to 29,478 in 2004; CTIA pegs the tally of U.S. wireless subscribers at 180,464,003, up significantly from late 2003. Highest of all was AT&T-Cingular, with just under 290 complaints for every million subscribers, nearly 25 per million worse than 2nd-worst Cellular One and over 100 complaints per million worse than the 3rd most complained-about carrier, T-Mobile. Verizon Wireless, the 2nd-largest U.S. carrier, had the 2nd-best complaint rate of all carriers with more than a million subscribers, at about 75 per million and nearly 1/4 as many as AT&T-Cingular. U.S. Cellular, with about 45 complaints per million subscribers, was the most consumer-friendly carrier, CU said, with soon-to-be parent Alltel only a few percentage points behind Verizon for the 3rd spot. CU said regional carriers tended to have better service records than major wireless carries, but that was far from a clear or scientific trend: Cellular One, with a very poor ranking, is a small regional carrier, while Verizon’s exceptional ranking belies its 44-million subscriber list. Billing and service problems tended to be the “sore spots” for customers, CU said, as just under half of AT&T-Cingular and Cellular One’s complaints came in those categories. “The staggering increase in complaints is further evidence that reform is needed in the wireless phone market so consumers can get a fair shake,” said Janee Briesemeister, CU Senior Policy Advocate. Carriers are quick to call pro-consumer legislation “cumbersome,” she added, but flexible gestures such as the CTIA’s “non-binding, voluntary consumer code,” offer no promise to consumers and carry no penalties for violations.