Vodafone came second, just ahead of equally third-placed 3 and Optus. Telstra was voted by customers as being the least satisfactory mobile phone carrier.

Canstar Blue Manager, Rebecca Logan, said the company’s survey by professional market researchers, Colmar Brunton, unveiled strong customer frustration with carriers who ‘missed the mark’ on service, network coverage and billing.

Service

“Customers told us they were frustrated at times with communication problems when dealing with call centre operators,” she said. “When it comes to technical and billing details, customers want to understand and be understood.”

Virgin Mobile top-scored on service, with Vodafone, 3 and Optus coming in equal second and Telstra on the third ranking.

Price and billing

Mobile phone carrier customers were concerned about the value their contracts offered and annoyed with problems with billing and account management.

“A number of customers complained about incorrect accounts and contracts that were hard to understand or had hidden fees,” said Ms Logan.

As with the service supporting category, customers were most satisfied with Virgin Mobile in the categories of price and billing, ahead of Vodafone, 3 and Optus (equal second).

Network coverage

Customers who were dissatisfied with network coverage predictably complained about poor coverage in suburban or country areas. Virgin Mobile was closely followed by Vodafone and Telstra in terms of customer satisfaction. Other carriers ranked equally behind Vodafone and Telstra.

Ms Logan said differences in customer satisfaction ranking on network coverage could be related to the customer profile of the different providers. For example, Virgin Mobile has a largely city-based clientele, as opposed to Telstra, which had a broad spread of customers across regional and CBD areas.

Accessibility

Virgin Mobile received the highest levels of customer satisfaction for accessibility of store locations. Vodafone, 3 and Optus came equal second followed by Telstra.

27 Jul 2010.