Cell Phone Customer Service Ranked Next to Last

Grok Headline matches for Cell Phone Customer Service Ranked Next to Last

Internet Phone Customer Service
Uncertain (AP)

Internet Phone Customer Service
Uncertain (AP) 04/13/2005 01:25 PM
AP - Lured by the promise of a low monthly rate for unlimited domestic calls, Sherry Willis jumped at the opportunity to ditch the old phone company in favor of 8x8 Inc.'s Packet8 Internet telephone service.

Internet Phone Customer Service
Uncertain

Internet Phone Customer Service
Uncertain 04/13/2005 04:51 PM
ABCNEWS.com Apr 13 2005 8:22PM GMT

Face It: Cell-Phone Service Sucks

Face It: Cell-Phone Service Sucks 06/05/2004 05:42 AM
If it weren't for auto dealers, the cell-phone industry would rank at the very bottom of customer satisfaction polls. The technology is balky, and customer service has the bedside manner of a gravedigger.

Complaints Over Cell Phone Service
Abound

Complaints Over Cell Phone Service
Abound 06/04/2004 07:11 PM
AP via Newsday Jun 4 2004 11:01PM GMT

Complaints Over Cell Phone Service
Abound (AP)

Complaints Over Cell Phone Service
Abound (AP) 06/04/2004 03:55 PM
AP - Your cell phone company knows you hate it.

Complaints Abound over Cell Phone
Service

Complaints Abound over Cell Phone
Service 06/07/2004 03:41 PM
Your cell phone company knows you hate it. Mobile phone service was the second-lowest ranked industry—beating only cable providers among the 40 rated—in the University of Michigan's newest customer satisfaction index.

7-Eleven rings in cell phone service

7-Eleven rings in cell phone service 04/27/2004 02:36 PM
The convenience store chain is selling its own prepaid cell phone service in 1,400 stores. Analysts say other retailers will soon follow.

How to decipher cell phone service plans

How to decipher cell phone service plans 04/20/2004 08:50 PM
ZDNet Apr 21 2004 0:07AM GMT

Cell Phone-Based Service Made for Blind
(AP)

Cell Phone-Based Service Made for Blind
(AP) 06/11/2004 12:54 PM
AP - A Finnish government research project that combines cell phones, wireless Internet, global positioning, and voice technology to help the blind move freely in cities is ready for testing this fall.

Cell Phone-Based Service Made for Blind

Cell Phone-Based Service Made for Blind 06/11/2004 12:44 PM
San Jose Mercury News Jun 11 2004 5:24PM GMT

Japanese cell phone service rings in
Linux

Japanese cell phone service rings in
Linux 12/03/2003 08:32 PM
Japanese cell phone service provider NTT DoCoMo urges its handset suppliers to build Linux-based cell phones, a milestone for the operating system's acceptance by the wireless industry.

Cruise passengers can now set sail with
cell phone, Internet service

Cruise passengers can now set sail with
cell phone, Internet service 07/19/2004 06:24 AM
Semissourian.com - Mon Jul 19, 08:29 am GMT

Handset Shortage Plagues South Korea's
3G Cell Phone Service

Handset Shortage Plagues South Korea's
3G Cell Phone Service 12/28/2003 11:48 PM
Yonhap News Dec 28 2003 10:41PM ET

(LEAD) Handset Shortage Plagues S.
Korea's 3G Cell Phone Service

(LEAD) Handset Shortage Plagues S.
Korea's 3G Cell Phone Service 12/29/2003 05:58 AM
Yonhap News Dec 29 2003 4:39AM ET

Pride Communication Services, #1
Reseller of Krusell Leather Cell Phone
Cases, to Begin Selling Identity-Theft
Conscious Horizontic Plus Cell Phone
Case in April

Pride Communication Services, #1
Reseller of Krusell Leather Cell Phone
Cases, to Begin Selling Identity-Theft
Conscious Horizontic Plus Cell Phone
Case in April 03/29/2005 04:34 AM
To Better Accommodate the Needs of Today’s Identity Theft Conscious Cell Phone Users, Pride Communication Services (PCS), a Subsidiary Franchise of KaseIT and the Largest Reseller of KRUSELL Leather Cases, Announced Today that it Would Begin Selling the Horizontic Plus Cell Phone Case, KRUSELL’s Newest Offering, In its Online Store in April. [PRWEB Mar 29, 2005]

EarthLink High Speed and Dial-Up
Internet Services Ranked Highest in
Customer Satisfaction by J.D. P

EarthLink High Speed and Dial-Up
Internet Services Ranked Highest in
Customer Satisfaction by J.D. P 09/09/2004 06:56 AM
Techlinks.net - Thu Sep 9, 04:13 am GMT

Teens Get Support from Bush for Cell
Phone Recycling Drive to Benefit Service
Men and Women

Teens Get Support from Bush for Cell
Phone Recycling Drive to Benefit Service
Men and Women 08/20/2004 02:19 AM
Men and women serving their country are discovering the high cost of calling home from places like Iraq. A concerned brother and sister began a drive to help pay those bills, which has attracted attention from the White House. [PRWEB Aug 20, 2004]

Motorola Inc. said Wednesday that the
Internal Revenue Service claims the
cell-phone maker may owe $500 millio

Motorola Inc. said Wednesday that the
Internal Revenue Service claims the
cell-phone maker may owe $500 millio 08/11/2004 07:03 PM
Newsweek Aug 11 2004 11:19PM GMT

Telestial Announces Launch of GLOBAL
RIIING - New Low Cost International Cell
Phone Service

Telestial Announces Launch of GLOBAL
RIIING - New Low Cost International Cell
Phone Service 03/17/2005 04:12 AM
Today Telestial announced the official launch of its new Global Riiing cell phone service. Global Riiing offers travelers incredibly low airtime rates (as low as 52¢ per minute), unlimited free incoming calls throughout most of Europe, and the convenience of having a single cell phone number that works in over 100 countries around the world. [PRWEB Mar 17, 2005]

A Mickey Mouse Cell Phone Service Might
Not Be Goofy Idea (Investor's Business
Daily)

A Mickey Mouse Cell Phone Service Might
Not Be Goofy Idea (Investor's Business
Daily) 01/26/2004 10:15 AM
Investor's Business Daily - Fast starts in the U.S. wireless service field by Virgin Mobile USA and Boost Mobile have sparked speculation that others - most notably Walt Disney Co. - could enter the market.

Top 10 Enterprise IT Vendors ranked on
Customer Loyalty. Two-thirds of
customers will evaluate replacements
over the next three years accoding to a
newly released study by the InterUnity
Group.

Top 10 Enterprise IT Vendors ranked on
Customer Loyalty. Two-thirds of
customers will evaluate replacements
over the next three years accoding to a
newly released study by the InterUnity
Group. 06/23/2004 03:04 AM
The Top 10 Enterprise IT Vendors have three year customer loyalty rates that range from 53% to 71% according to an extensive and independent study by the InterUnity Group. On average 2 out of 3 customers will evaluate replacement products in the next three years from these vendors. The study evaluated the loyalty of 1188 users of 10 leading IT Enterprise vendors including Computer Associates, Dell, EMC, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Peoplesoft, SAP, and Sun.While customers may choose to continue to use the existing vendor after evaluating alternatives, pricing pressure is introduced. “Vendors who understand the drivers of customer loyalty can reduce customer defections and lower the cost of sales”, according to Richard Sneider, a Partner at the InterUnity Group. “ The Customer Loyalty ICSI is useful to purchasers as an indicator of how well a vendor will meet its needs over the long term.” [PRWEB Jun 23, 2004]

Korean E-government Service Ranked 32nd
in the World

Korean E-government Service Ranked 32nd
in the World 09/19/2004 07:44 AM
Digital Chosun Sep 19 2004 11:34AM GMT

Raster-to-Vector Conversion Service
Ranked First in August Sales for U.S.

Raster-to-Vector Conversion Service
Ranked First in August Sales for U.S. 09/08/2004 02:53 AM
CAD/CAM Services, an experienced leader in raster-to-vector conversion, has been ranked first in August sales for the United States. Company leaders attribute this high ranking to the quality and flexibility of their conversion scans. [PRWEB Sep 8, 2004]

Iowa phone company tries to block
incoming cell phone calls

Iowa phone company tries to block
incoming cell phone calls 08/16/2004 05:48 PM
Iowa phone company plans to block cell phone call in a dispute with wireless carriers. The Iowa Utilities Board has prevented the plan for now.

Quick-'n-Dirty methods to determine
which competing label is better: "Cell
Phone" or "Mobile Phone"?

Quick-'n-Dirty methods to determine
which competing label is better: "Cell
Phone" or "Mobile Phone"? 04/28/2004 11:39 AM

On the SIGIA-L mailing list, Stephanie Berger recently asked: "My cohorts are not sure whether to use "cell phone" or "mobile phone". Any evidence that one is better than the other, or one is used more often than the other?"

This is a good example of the kind of labeling questions information architects face all the time. The answer to these labeling questions will depend on the target audience (a better label for whom?), on business requirements (maybe the business want to promote one term over the other) and on the context in which the label will be used.

I'll discuss the conversation that followed here and afterwards point to some useful tools for if you have a labeling question yourself.

Andres Sulleiro: "Without any empirical data I will go with my own opinion. [...] A quick survey of the phone carriers seems to suggest that "wireless" (as in "wireless phone", "wireless customer") is most common among US carriers, though you see some references to "mobile" as well. T-mobile, a European company, uses "mobile" which is more common in Europe as well as being the name of the carrier."

Method: check what other websites call it.

Jason Cho: "I think "cell" is more widespread in the US as Andrés noted. "Call my mobile" can sound pretentious to Yankee ears. But I would think everyone understands the term "mobile" on a business card."

Method: personal experience.

Peter Van Dijck (and others): "Google for "cell phone" (including quotes): 6,230,000, Google for "mobile phone": 6,360,000. Looks like a tie, assuming your audience is similar. Just pick one and make sure your search engine knows both terms."
Christina Wodtke: "Y ahoo for cell phone : 16,800,000, yahoo for mobile phone: 21,200,000. What does this really tell you? you'd have to know who each engine indexes, how much of the web, etc.. better to use a magic 8 ball. ;-)"

Method: check popularity of the terms on the web.

Peter Van Dijck: "My next step would be to find out what people search for on your site,
or if not available, on the web (assuming that's more or less your audience). Google adwords can help."

Method: Find out what people (preferably your target audience) search for.

Dave: "I like "mobile" for the reason that Christina stated (forward compatibility); USers and non-USers will equally understand it. Also, it is more interoperable w/ most of the vCard based addressbook programs out there. I don't know any that are using "cell" or "cellphone" ... I also like the clear and easy two word approach of "mobile phone" ... I'm always wanting to say "cellphone" where "cell phone" is really the more correct version. "cell" though just doesn't feel like a real word b/c the "cell" doesn't fit a meaning to me. I know what it means if I am forced to think about it, but it really doesn't mean anything to me at all."

Method: personal experience, check what software programs use.

Christina Wodtke: "> As can Ove rture's keyword tool (couldn't find URL straight away).

You also might consider some adaptation of the freelisting technique on a subset of your target. E.G., a write in survey: what portable electronics do you own, then analyze for use of "cell phone" and mobile phone".

Method: freelisting technique.

Eric Reiss: "Having worked closely with several telecommunications companies, including Tellabs (US), Nortel (Canada), ADVA (Germany), and NetTest (Denmark), this discussion is one I've heard before. Europeans generally don't recognize the term "cell phone." North Americans seem to accept both "cell" and "mobile." ATT insists on promoting the term "wireless." In most instances, we've agreed on the word "mobile" since it is understood by the widest audience. Nortel, for instance, used "cell" almost exclusively until the late 90s, but now leans toward "mobile." I think there is a trend here."

Method: ask the subject matter experts.

Pabini Gabriel-Petit: "There's also Wordtracker.
[...]
In this vein, you might try just walking up to people, holding up your cell/mobile phone, and asking them what they call it."

Method: Analyze what people search for.

Method: Find out what labels your users use.

Quick-'n-Dirty methods to determine which competing label is better.

So, as a review, here are some of the methods used to determine which label is better.

1. What do you think?
Method: personal experience/insights.

2. What do your users think?
Method: freelisting technique.
Method: Find out what labels your users use: show them the item you're trying to label and ask them what it is. (You could build an online tool for this).
Method: Find out what people (preferably your target audience) search for / check popularity of the terms on the web. Ove rture's keyword tool. Google adwords. Wordtracker. Google and Yahoo both list how often a term is used on the web (use quotes around your terms!).

3. What do the experts think?
Method: ask the subject matter experts.
Method: check what other websites/software call it.

Gotcha's: be careful when using these techniques. You are looking for a label that works for your audience and your business requirements. Most of these techniques use audiences that may be very different from yours, and most are indicative only (ie: they're not hard science). Use your judgement.

FreeHeadset.org launches program to
promote wireless phone safety by giving
away free cell phone headsets.

FreeHeadset.org launches program to
promote wireless phone safety by giving
away free cell phone headsets. 07/26/2004 02:22 AM
New laws that mandate the use of cell phone headsets have recently passed in several states. In response, FreeHeadset.org has developed a program to provide wireless phone users with a free cell phone headset. [PRWEB Jul 26, 2004]

Cell Phone Users Interrupt Sex for Phone
Calls

Cell Phone Users Interrupt Sex for Phone
Calls 04/11/2005 08:07 PM
user survey reported

consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/cell_sex.html
track this site | 3 links

To Customer Service

To Customer Service 01/07/2004 03:21 PM
Dear Customer Service: Today I had a problem and called your help-line. I (like quite a few people) would prefer to solve the problem myself using your website, and I (like an increasing portion of the population) am perfectly competent to do so. Unfortunately, your web site does not have a solution to this particular problem, so I need to talk to a person. Imagine my dismay when, at three successive levels of telephone menu, I have to listen to lengthy exhortations on the wonderfulness of your Web site and on how it could solve my problem if I would go away and (please, please) not call you. If I could use the Web site, I wouldn’t be calling. This guarantees that by the time I eventually get through to a person, I will be irritated and prone to unfriendliness. As the proportion of people who are Web-connected and Web-competent increases, the cost-effectiveness of this kind of go-away message is going to fall. Please bear this in mind.

Customer service of the future

Customer service of the future 01/11/2004 08:15 PM
ZDNet Australia Jan 11 2004 6:34PM ET

What Ever Happened to Customer Service?

What Ever Happened to Customer Service? 05/23/2002 10:39 PM

Microsoft's New Customer-Service Face

Microsoft's New Customer-Service Face 06/03/2004 02:15 AM
Enterprise Security Today Jun 3 2004 6:05AM GMT

Banking on Online Customer Service

Banking on Online Customer Service 06/27/2004 11:34 AM
Technology For Finance Jun 27 2004 3:09PM GMT

Ask Gizmodo: Customer Service Blues

Ask Gizmodo: Customer Service Blues 06/21/2004 12:22 PM

It seems like every time I call my cell phone company I have to spend an hour on the phone just to make simple changes, which half the time end up getting screwed up in the process. Is there anything I can do to up my chances of getting what I want?

Basically, you're screwed. It's best to start any interaction with your carrier's customer service department keeping this simple mantra in mind: I am worth nothing to my carrier, and I'm lucky they'll have me.

Read the rest after the jump.

Novartis Delivers Customer Self-Service

Novartis Delivers Customer Self-Service 02/10/2003 05:02 AM
Novartis conducted focus groups and found that consumers typically begin their search at a resource like Google.com, find an interesting page and then drill ...

Microsoft looks to boost customer
service

Microsoft looks to boost customer
service 07/06/2004 01:41 PM
AP via Seattle Post Intelligencer Jul 6 2004 4:51PM GMT

Sprint PCS Customer Service Follies

Sprint PCS Customer Service Follies 06/28/2004 07:42 PM
I was trying to get my wife Karen's defective cell phone replaced. The repair place had never seen the model in question and the national phone number, which I had to call 4 times to get a human, said they couldn't just send a replacement because it's not being made any more. I used the store locator on their web site and got the number of the local repair shop. I dialed it, and the option for customer service kicked me back to the main line. I called back and hit "0" right away. The response? An automated "Good bye". And they hung me up! What's up with that? I combed through the invoices one at a time ooking in vain for anything detailed about the phone in question to prove it's still under warranty. There is no search function—all the bills are in PDF. Never mind that the one helpful person I talked to on the national number told me the activation date put it under six months). Later, after going back twice, we managed to browbeat them into doing the right thing and replacing the defective cell phone. The new cell phone had this crappy imitation of the Mac OS X Dock, which Ask Tog (Bruce Tognazzini, a former Apple employer) has already trashed for its poor usability, that my wife had to turn off before she could stand to use it....

Customer Service: The Hunt for a Human

Customer Service: The Hunt for a Human 12/29/2004 06:19 PM
In the Internet age, making telephone contact with a human for customer service is a daunting task. Some companies no longer disclose phone numbers. But some consumers have found ways around the blockade.

Attention Customer Service Reps

Attention Customer Service Reps 06/07/2004 09:06 AM

If you happen to be a customer service employee for any of the major cellular companies (U.S. or otherwise), give me a quick email. I want to pick your brain about something. Be sure to put [Customer Service] or something like that in the subject line so my spam filter won't chew it up (if you don't use the mailto link below).
Mail - editor@gizmo ;do.com [Gizmodo]

Microsoft beefing up customer service

Microsoft beefing up customer service 07/04/2004 06:56 PM
Boston Globe Jul 4 2004 11:01PM GMT
Grok Description matches for Cell Phone Customer Service Ranked Next to Last
GrokA matches for Cell Phone Customer Service Ranked Next to Last

Cell Phone Customer Service Ranked Next to Last

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