Mobile Customers with Limited Data are Less Satisfied than Those with Unlimited Data

It may not be shocking to learn that mobile users generally lean toward wanting more data usage, especially considering the growing use of smartphones around the world. But as unlimited data plans are getting harder to come by, users find themselves using more data, as apps incorporate more connected features.

It's hard, as a customer, not to get annoyed at the bigger mobile providers for limiting our use.

Maybe that's why two reports recently released by J.D. Power and Associates suggest wireless customers who subscribe to limited, tiered data plans are considerably less satisfied with their carrier's customer service than users with unlimited data plans. The semi-annual studies, "2012 U.S. Wireless Customer Care Full-Service Performance StudySM – Volume 2" and "2012 U.S. Wireless Customer Care Non-Contract Performance StudySM – Volume 2," are in their 10th year in providing detailed information on how well wireless carriers provide customer service.

The studies measure satisfaction and processing issues in three contact channels — telephone, walk-in and online.

According to the most recent updates of these reports, full-service customers subscribed to tiered data plans with limited data usage gave an average satisfaction score of 748 on a 1,000-point scale.

Meanwhile, those with unlimited data plans averaged a significantly higher 775. This goes to show that while data use isn't everything, it's certainly a significant factor.

Part of the problem is the fact that tiered data plans are more complicated, resulting in more frequent calls by the customer to the provider, longer service calls and a lower incidence of having service calls resolved in a timely manner.

"It's not unexpected that customers who change or upgrade to new service plans would initially be more likely to contact their carrier with questions or problems, particularly with how these service plans may potentially alter usage habits," Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services at J.D. Power and Associates, said in a release. "What is important to understand is that with any major service change, the need for simplicity is paramount."

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