AT&T TOPS J.D. POWER SERVICE STUDY.

Byline: Pam Park Staff Writer

AGOURA HILLS - In the long distance telephone service market, customer satisfaction has declined overall, but among high-volume residential users, AT&T leads the pack in giving customers what they want, according to a just-released study by J.D. Power and Associates.

The study, which surveyed 12,000 households across the nation during April, ranked Sprint second for customer satisfaction among those who spend $50 per month or more on long distance calls.

Excel, MCI WorldCom and Qwest finished below the industry average in the high-volume customer satisfaction category.

The study reported below-industry averages in alphabetical order rather than by ranking.

AT&T did not fare as well among customers who spend less than $50 per month. In that category, Southern New England Telephone, or SNET, placed first for the fourth year in a row. ALLTEL, CenturyTel, Frontier, GTE, Quest and Sprint followed.

Finishing below the industry average in the lower-volume category were: AT&T, Citizens, Excel, MCI WorldCom and Tel-Save, also in alphabetical order.

Over the past six years, customers who had problems with their long- distance service rose steadily - from 51 percent in 1996 to 59 percent in 2000, said Kirk Parsons, director of telecommunications at Agoura Hills- based J.D. Power and Associates.

Timely resolutions dropped from a high of 92 percent in 1996 to 79 percent in 2000, he said.

Billing issues create the largest number of calls, followed by calls from people shopping for the best rate plan, Parsons said.

The survey said cost was secondary to good customer service in determining customer satisfaction.