GNG News Guy
05-21-2008, 10:26 AM
http://i.dslr.net/urls/90/13090.gif (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Comcast-Customer-Satisfaction-At-All-Time-Low-94611)
For years, the cable TV industry has been at the bottom of the barrel across industries when it comes to consumer satisfaction rankings. Comcast and Charter have been particular offenders, so both companies have made plenty of noise this year about how improving customer service is their priority. Yet according to the latest American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), customer service from both companies is actually getting worse.
The ACSI is created by the University of Michigan, and uses random phone interviews to determine consumer satisfaction across sectors on a scale of 0 to 100. According to the latest numbers (http://www.theacsi.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=180&Itemid=186), Comcast hit a record low of 54. Charter also comes it at 54, but for them it isn't a record -- they bottomed out at 53 back in 2002.
"Rapid growth may have contributed to difficulties in operations as Comcast continues to add cable subscribers, often through acquisitions of companies in smaller markets," proclaims ACSI analyst Claes Fornell. I believe 9 out of 10 hammer wielding grandmothers (http://www.thegng.org/shownews/88272) agree.
Comcast says they've hired some 15,000 new support workers in the last 18 months to handle the strain, but either it's not helping, or they haven't been given enough time to make a difference. I'm thinking the Twitter band-aids (http://www.thegng.org/shownews/93749) aren't cutting it. ACSI says size does matter, and smaller providers improved overall TV ratings:The reason for the industry's uptick is the large improvement among smaller cable TV providers such as Cablevision and RCN. The category of "all other" cable TV companies is up 5% to lead the industry with an all-time high of 69, well ahead of the large competitors. As is often the case, small is often better in terms of being able to provide good customer service. Cablevision, for example, with some 3 million subscribers, is barely 1/8th the size of Comcast.
The survey also ranks wireless phone service, and indicates that while AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile saw consumer satisfaction gains, Sprint dropped to a record -low rating of 56. Looking at all ranked industries, the airline industry managed the worst average score at 62 (the cable & satellite TV industry came in at 64). I remember that when the ACSI used to rank the IRS, it scored around 60 -- so Charter, Comcast and Sprint clearly have some work to do.
read comment(s) (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Comcast-Customer-Satisfaction-At-All-Time-Low-94611)
For years, the cable TV industry has been at the bottom of the barrel across industries when it comes to consumer satisfaction rankings. Comcast and Charter have been particular offenders, so both companies have made plenty of noise this year about how improving customer service is their priority. Yet according to the latest American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), customer service from both companies is actually getting worse.
The ACSI is created by the University of Michigan, and uses random phone interviews to determine consumer satisfaction across sectors on a scale of 0 to 100. According to the latest numbers (http://www.theacsi.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=180&Itemid=186), Comcast hit a record low of 54. Charter also comes it at 54, but for them it isn't a record -- they bottomed out at 53 back in 2002.
"Rapid growth may have contributed to difficulties in operations as Comcast continues to add cable subscribers, often through acquisitions of companies in smaller markets," proclaims ACSI analyst Claes Fornell. I believe 9 out of 10 hammer wielding grandmothers (http://www.thegng.org/shownews/88272) agree.
Comcast says they've hired some 15,000 new support workers in the last 18 months to handle the strain, but either it's not helping, or they haven't been given enough time to make a difference. I'm thinking the Twitter band-aids (http://www.thegng.org/shownews/93749) aren't cutting it. ACSI says size does matter, and smaller providers improved overall TV ratings:The reason for the industry's uptick is the large improvement among smaller cable TV providers such as Cablevision and RCN. The category of "all other" cable TV companies is up 5% to lead the industry with an all-time high of 69, well ahead of the large competitors. As is often the case, small is often better in terms of being able to provide good customer service. Cablevision, for example, with some 3 million subscribers, is barely 1/8th the size of Comcast.
The survey also ranks wireless phone service, and indicates that while AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile saw consumer satisfaction gains, Sprint dropped to a record -low rating of 56. Looking at all ranked industries, the airline industry managed the worst average score at 62 (the cable & satellite TV industry came in at 64). I remember that when the ACSI used to rank the IRS, it scored around 60 -- so Charter, Comcast and Sprint clearly have some work to do.
read comment(s) (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Comcast-Customer-Satisfaction-At-All-Time-Low-94611)