AT&T Dead Last in Customer Satisfaction [REPORT]

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The annual results from over 50,000 readers surveyed in 26 U.S. cities found AT&T to have the lowest customer satisfaction rating in 19 of them, while Verizon ranked highest (that undoubtedly stings AT&T).

Considering that customer complaints have frequently been brushed under the rug as relatively isolated problems in high-profile markets like New York City and San Francisco because of the proliferation of iPhone usage, the poor showing in the 17 other markets suggests AT&T's problems are wider ranging than public relations would have consumers believe.

What's fascinating about the survey results is the huge percentage of iPhone users -- 98 percent -- who say they were satisfied enough with the phone itself to consider buying it again, even though the same sample set reported extremely low satisfaction with AT&T's exclusive carrier service. The average "would buy again" metric for other cell phones across the four networks was only 79 percent.

A spokesperson from AT&T stressed that their low 1.17 percent customer turnover (or churn) was a better indicator of customer satisfaction than the Consumer Reports survey. On the other hand, if a huge swath of those customers are only sticking with the carrier because they simply have to have the iPhone, it's still not good news for AT&T, especially when its iPhone exclusivity ends -- which it will, sooner or later.