NEW YORK, April 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- When there's a problem with your smartphone or a question about your wireless service, you want answers fast. And after going undercover to test nine carriers, Tom's Guide found that Verizon provides the best customer service to wireless customers.

Verizon came out on top thanks to its detailed support website that includes mobile device simulators to help answer questions about your phone. The Tom's Guide staff got fast, accurate answers when contacting Verizon, whether it was via online chat, over the phone or through the carrier's Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Verizon unseated previous customer service champ AT&T, which tumbled to third after an unhelpful automated operator marred otherwise top-notch support. T-Mobile finished in second, thanks to friendly and enthusiastic support reps, particularly over the phone.

"While speed and coverage are very important from a carrier, you should also expect helpful service when something goes wrong with your phone," said Mark Spoonauer, editor-in-chief of Tom's Guide. "Verizon emerged as the winner because of all of the different ways you can get your problems solved."

Straight Talk landed on the bottom of the Tom's Guide ranking because its Twitter account was unresponsive, and support phone calls ended in frustration.

This is Verizon's second win in Tom's Guide's carrier testing. Last month, Verizon won top honors as the fastest mobile network in a testing of six U.S. cities.

To test customer service, the Tom's Guide staff goes undercover, posting questions to carriers' social media accounts, making multiple calls to phone support lines and testing online chat features when they're available. The staff grades carriers on their responsiveness, friendliness and accuracy. Tom's Guide also looks at the support section of each carrier's website, evaluating the sites based on how much information they provide and how easy it is to find.

To see how all of the carriers fared in Tom's Guide's undercover testing, go to the full report on the Best and Worst Phone Carrier Customer Support.

About Tom's Guide

Tom's Guide helps consumers make buying decisions on everything from smartphones to cellular service, testing hundreds of products and evaluating the brands that make them. We also provide helpful tips and advice so that you can get the most out of your products and accomplish your goals.

About Purch

Purch is a digital publishing and marketplace platform uniquely positioned at the intersection of content, commerce and customer.                                                                                  

By combining in-depth product reviews, comparisons, and services with industry leading publisher tech, Purch creates a seamless connection between intent-based buyers and sellers.

The company generates more than $1 billion annually in facilitated commerce through its tech, shopping, lifestyle and SMB brands, including Tom's Guide, Top Ten Reviews, ShopSavvy and Business.com. With more than 1,200 product categories, Purch is #1 for buying advice for more than 100 million people each month.

Follow Purch on Twitter and LinkedIn.

SOURCE Purch