In big turnaround, Sprint matches Verizon for customer satisfaction as AT&T, T-Mobile drop

Sprint Nextel, once dead last in customer satisfaction among the Big 4 national wireless carriers, now has the happiest subscribers, along with long-time leader Verizon Wireless, according to a survey.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index also shows tentative declines in customer satisfaction at the other two big carriers, AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile USA. That comes as AT&T has agreed to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion in a deal that could close next year. The acquisition could make AT&T and T-Mobile customers even less happy. Claes Fornell, professor of Business Administration at the University of Michigan and the designer of the ACSI survey, said it is common to find that customer satisfaction drops after a merger. Cellphone-company mergers bring struggles to combine billing systems, customer support and other functions. Snags can frustrate consumers. One reason Sprint had the worst score in the industry for many years was its disastrous merger with Nextel in 2005. Sprint and Verizon Wireless both rate a 72 for customer satisfaction in the ACSI survey, which polled 8,000 households in the first quarter. For Sprint, that’s a big jump from a score of 56 three years ago, while Verizon’s score has been steady. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse has made improvements in customer service a centerpiece of his turnaround plan for the troubled company.