Cell-phone service seems to stubbornly resist improvement. The Annual Survey of Cell-Phone Service conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center found that fewer than half of respondents were completely or very satisfied with their service. That makes cell service among the lower-rated services we survey, as it has been for the past six years.
S till, there are bright spots. Verizon and Alltel scored better than other providers this year, as they have in the past. T-Mobile matched satisfaction rates for Verizon in almost all the cities we surveyed. And T-Mobile plans generally offer more for the money than those of Verizon and Alltel.
Meanwhile, cell carriers are getting more consumer-friendly. Last fall, all of our rated service providers pledged to join Verizon and prorate their hefty $150 to $200 early-termination fees. Holdouts also said they would join Alltel and T-Mobile and end their heavy-handed practice of mandatory contract extensions when you make changes to your service plan.
