Last week we showed you how T-Mobile gives customers a significantly better bang for their buck than AT&T. But it’s apparently not just pricing at which the smaller cellphone company bests its suitor. According to a recent survey done by our publishing kin at Consumer Reports, T-Mobile customers are not as displeased as AT&T subscribers are with their service provider.

Some points from the survey, which was completed before AT&T announced it intends to purchase T-Mobile USA:
Contract Service: “Though less satisfying than Verizon and Sprint, T-Mobile was still meaningfully better than AT&T at providing service with a contract plan. Indeed, AT&T got lower marks than T-Mobile on almost every attribute we rated. It was comparable with T-Mobile only on texting problems, where both AT&T and T-Mobile rated below average.”

Prepaid Service: “The gap between AT&T and T-Mobile was larger still for service without a contract, via so-called “prepaid” plans. There, T-Mobile was more satisfying overall than Verizon, Virgin, and AT&T (with its Go Phone prepaid brand). Only Tracfone and Consumer Cellular beat it out.”

Customer Service: “The gap between the carriers in satisfaction was highest when it came to customer support, especially for service provided by phone. That’s mostly because of AT&T’s sub-par scores in every aspect of customer service, from support on various modes (phone, e-mail, website) to success in solving problems , and staff knowledge.”

In 20 of the 21 cities where CR could compare the two carriers, T-Mobile was “meaningfully more satisfying” than AT&T. Additionally, a full 10% more AT&T subscribers said they were seriously thinking about switching to another carrier.

“Our survey data finds precious little to cheer T-Mobile customers about the proposed merger,” writes CR’s Paul Reynolds, “or to clearly support the expected pitch from AT&T that the proposed takeover of its smaller competitor will improve service for current customers of both AT&T and T-Mobile.”

T-Mobile beats AT&T in CR satisfaction survey [Consumer Reports]

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