Which phone provider has the best customer service?

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In times where something might be going wrong with your phone plan, if customer service is bad, it might be enough to send you to a new provider. If that’s the case, and you’re fed up with poor customer support, you might want to know which phone providers have a reputation for great customer service.

When it comes to phone plans, there are a lot of things to consider. However, choosing a telco based only on the price, or perhaps a name you’re more familiar with, could mean you’re missing out on a better customer service experience when you’re in need of support. In this guide, we take a look at the providers with the best mobile customer service and how important customer service is when choosing a phone plan.

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Best mobile customer service: Prepaid providers

Prepaid phone plans are a popular no-hassle phone plan option, with some SIM cards even available to purchase in supermarkets and stores. Setup is usually easy — and because you have a set amount of inclusions to use within an expiry period, they make great phone plans for kids.

When it comes to the best customer service from a prepaid provider, Amaysim not only won our 2023 ratings for Most Satisfied Customers for prepaid SIM-only providers, but it was also the only telco to score five stars for customer service, making it the prepaid provider with the best mobile customer service, according to our ratings. Amaysim offers a range of customer support contact options including the online chat, plus the option to call, email or contact via Facebook or X (Twitter).

If you want a wider range of options to compare, Coles Mobile, iiNet, TPG and Catch Connect all scored four stars for customer service in the same ratings. The rest of the prepaid providers in our ratings, including ALDI Mobile, Boost Mobile and Everyday Mobile, scored three stars for customer service.

The following table shows all published Amaysim phone plans from Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of standard cost, lowest to highest, then by data allowance, largest to smallest. If you want to compare a larger range of offers from other providers, use our phone plan comparison tool. This table includes products with links to referral partners.

Best mobile customer service: Postpaid providers

If you prefer the sound of a postpaid phone plan rather than prepaid, there are plenty of providers to choose from, offering a range of SIM-only postpaid plans. Most postpaid plans are available as month-to-month plans where you pay that one monthly bill and if you go over your month’s inclusions, you might be charged fees.

For postpaid SIM-only plans, our Most Satisfied Customers winner for postpaid mobile SIM-only plans in 2023 was Circles.Life, which also scored five stars for customer satisfaction. However, it wasn’t the only brand in our ratings to top the list for customer service. Southern Phone also scored five stars for customer service, but scored four stars for overall satisfaction.

Circles.Life offers several options for customer service, including email, live chat (via the app) and the option to leave a voicemail for a call back. It’s worth noting that Circles.Life does not have the option to call, as the telco does not operate a call centre. Southern Phone primarily offers the option to call for support, but there is also an online chat function on the website.

While there were only two brands to score five stars for customer service, Everyday Mobile, Belong, Moose Mobile and Vodafone all scored four stars for customer service in our ratings, while the remaining providers scored three stars.

The following table shows a selection of Circles.Life and Southern Phone postpaid plans as published on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of standard cost, lowest to highest, then by data allowance, largest to smallest. If you want to compare a larger range of offers from other providers, use our phone plan comparison tool. This table includes products with links to referral partners.

Compare SIM-only phone plans

It helps to compare a wide range of plans and providers to ensure you’re choosing the best plan for your needs. The below tables show a range of prepaid and postpaid SIM-only providers and plans. You can compare more plans with our free phone plan comparison tool.

Best mobile phone-on-a-plan provider for customer service

Apart from SIM-only plans, some telcos offer the option to bundle a new mobile phone onto a plan. These phone-on-a-plan options are postpaid services, where your monthly bill includes the cost of the phone, along with the cost of the postpaid plan bundled with your service.

If you’re wondering which mobile phone provider has the best customer service, Southern Phone won the 2023 ratings for Most Satisfied Customers for phone on a plan providers and also scored five stars for customer service, backing up its five-star customer service rating for its SIM-only postpaid plans. Vodafone scored four stars for customer service, while Telstra and Optus both received three stars.

If you’re after a phone on a plan, unfortunately you’ll have a much smaller pool to choose from, so customer service ratings might not be the deciding factor when choosing a plan. You might also be limited in your choices depending on what phone you want to buy on a plan. Southern Phone has a much smaller selection than what’s on offer from the big three.

Why is it important to have good customer service from your telco?

For some, customer service can make or break an experience with a telco — good customer support can ensure you remain a customer, while bad support can have you looking for a plan elsewhere.

Having access to good, and especially helpful, customer service can ease a lot of pressure if you’re experiencing issues with your plan or service. You may already be stressed from whatever the issue is, such as being unable to make calls, and a negative customer support experience can exacerbate this problem.

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) often releases reports that track telco complaints from customers. Some of these TIO reports show that issues such as service reliability and customer service are some of the issues that plague customers the most. These reports also show impacts that major incidents like network outages and data breaches, have on customer relationships with their provider.

If you’re looking to avoid becoming one of those statistics, and you’re searching for a new phone plan, you might want to look into which providers have a reputation for good customer service — as rated by the customers themselves. However, it’s important to keep in mind that not everyone will have the same experience with a telco. Just because one person had a good experience, doesn’t mean the next person will — and vice versa — as there are lots of variables that contribute to what makes a customer service experience. But, it still doesn’t hurt to look at telcos that have a more positive reputation as rated by customers.

Should I choose my phone plan based on a telco’s customer service?

Choosing a phone plan based on a provider’s reputation for good customer service isn’t a bad idea, however it shouldn’t be the only metric you use for choosing a plan.

Basing your decision solely on the best mobile customer service could leave you disappointed with a provider and a plan. As we’ve already mentioned in this guide, just because one person has had a good experience with a telco, doesn’t mean that the next customer will have the same experience.

There are so many variables when it comes to what constitutes ‘good’ customer service. The issue you have, whether it is simple or complicated, can impact on what the experience is like. As too can the customer themselves — a more savvy customer who understands their plan and can clearly describe what the issue is, is more likely going to contribute to a smoother experience than someone who is confused, frustrated or doesn’t know what the issue is or struggles to articulate the problem. After all, a customer service representative can only help you if they know or understand what the problem is.

As further proof that some customers will have different experiences with a provider, some telcos offering multiple plan types, may have rated higher for customer service across one type of plan than they did for another. While using these ratings, and other feedback you might read online or from family, friends and even colleagues, can be helpful to determine which providers have a good customer service reputation, you might want to use it as a metric to help you choose between providers.

When choosing a phone plan, the most important thing to do is to choose a plan based on what you need and what your budget is. There are a few things you should consider, first and foremost, when choosing a phone plan:

• Inclusions — how much data do you need?
• Cost — what is your budget and can you get plans with enough data at this price?
• Coverage — does this network have coverage in areas you live/work/frequently visit?
• Plan type — do you need a new phone or SIM only? Prepaid or postpaid?

Once you’ve made decisions on the above, and compared a range of plans, if you have your choices narrowed down to a few providers you might then want to look into which of those telcos has a better reputation for customer service, as a means of making that final decision. Keep in mind that many telcos offer plans as month-to-month plans, which means you can cancel your plan typically without any exit fees, so if you’re unhappy with your choice, switching to another provider should be simple — but be sure to read the plan’s details before signing up to be aware of any charges or fees.

Ultimately, the choice is yours. While looking into telcos with quality customer service isn’t a bad thing, doing your research, and comparing plans from a range of providers, can really help you to find a plan best suited for your needs. Shop around and even ask friends and family what they think about their provider, to also help you make an informed decision when signing up to a new phone plan.