Apple, for one, had to deal with its own customer-service crisis in 2003 when brothers Casey and Van Neistat of New York discovered that their iPod batteries were irreplaceable and lasted just 18 months. They made a film called iPod's Dirty Secret and launched a protest Web site that drew millions of hits, after which Apple addressed the problem. And following the success of Super Size Me, in which documentarian Morgan Spurlock chronicled his decline in health while eating meals only at McDonald's for 30 days, the fast-food chain did away with its Super Size meal option. Companies from PepsiCo to Facebook have also discovered the power of consumers in changing everything from products to privacy policies. A 2009 study by Keller Fay Group in New Brunswick, N.J., found that only 22% of conversations about a brand refer to the company's advertising. Says customer service consultant Jeanne Bliss: "The marketing message is no longer under a company's control. We trust other customers first."
The most vulnerable targets are often companies such as AT&T that have an ongoing relationship with their customers. Locked in by long-term service contracts and powerless over everything from network failures to wait times for reaching a human being in customer care, subscribers are easily frustrated. "The telecom industry has been a laggard relative to other industries on the customer-service front," says Macklin Martin, director of consulting at International Customer Management Institute in Colorado Springs. He points to the high costs of maintaining the network and customer support, combined with intense competition, as factors. "It's a difficult business model to maintain," Martin says.
Among the angriest customers is John Rust, a freshman at Patrick Henry College, a Christian school in Purcellville, Va. Rust is one of the Three Musketeers, a splinter group formed from the Operation Chokehold campaign for the purpose of pestering AT&T. Outside class, the soft-spoken, polite 19-year-old—he closes his e-mails with "Blessings"—works as a video editor and Web designer for a local film company. After purchasing an iPhone in September 2008, Rust says, he quickly became frustrated with the numerous dead spots and poor service quality on AT&T's network. "Unlimited should be unlimited," he says. "When I bought my iPhone, I signed a contract with AT&T. They haven't upheld their end of the bargain. Simply put, I want what I'm paying for." AT&T's Stankey says: "I don't think you can have an unlimited model forever with a scarce resource. More people get drunk at an open bar than a cash bar."
When Rust joined Operation Chokehold, he linked up with pals Dylan Pine of Nashville and Peter Serven of St. Louis via social networking. Serven started a Facebook group and reserved Twitter usernames and domain names related to Chokehold. Within a few days, thousands of users had joined. The Musketeers put together a central site, drafted marketing material, and traffic-copped their Facebook and Twitter pages. In the final 24 hours before the planned operation, the Musketeers were featured on CNN. Rust says he isn't finished. He and the Musketeers are working with developers to create an online mapping service (and possible iPhone app companion) that lets users post AT&T dead zones and poor service areas for everyone to see. Also on tap: organizing "flash mobs" to picket AT&T Wireless stores. All three say they're eagerly awaiting a Verizon iPhone.
Musketeers, Chokeholders, and other critics want AT&T to spend to improve its network. Wireless is by far its fastest-growing division, contributing 44% of total revenue in 2009, up from 36% in 2007. But overall capital spending hasn't kept pace, falling from $20.3 billion in 2008 to $17 billion last year. AT&T vowed in January to boost 2010 wireless spending by as much as $2 billion. "We think it's a start, but not much more than that," says TownHall's Hallaren, who contends that AT&T would have to spend $5 billion to $7 billion to bring its network up to Verizon's quality.