Your cell phone company knows you hate it

[dArKeR]

NEW YORK - 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.

And there’s more: mobile companies were the No. 2 sector in complaints last year to Better Business Bureaus, dropping from first place in 2002. Only auto dealers did worse.

“The industry claims that people love their cell phones and they’re very happy with the service,” said Carl Wood, a commissioner on the California Public Utilities commission who fought the industry for four years to establish state wireless regulatory power. “That’s half right.”

Consumers complain of frequently dropped calls, lousy customer service and exorbitant penalties for exiting a contract. Then there are the fees — Verizon Wireless plans to collectively charge customers more than $173 million a year in fees for number portability alone.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5138678/

[cheezus]

1. there may be a solution in sight

companies like vonage are offering phones that do voice over ip when they find a wifi hotspot. You pay a flat rate for access. This might even help the spread of wifi, which has had a hard time finding a good business model.