Customer satisfaction survey results revealed on clarkhoward.com

The new quarterly results from the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) have been released.

While Clark usually comes out of the gate with news of who's stinking it up, he's decided to begin with one industry that's doing great -- the package delivery business. FedEx earns an 85 this quarter, while UPS is right behind them with an 83. Keep in mind that this is out of a scale of 100. Anything in the 70s is considered a passing grade. USPS scored a major coup, meanwhile, reversing several past failures with a score of 74.

Among the flunkees, we have Sprint in the cell phone business. The carrier earned a 56 while Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile were all in the low 70s.

The cell carriers all fiercely compete with each other. Not so in the monopoly-dominated world of cable and satellite TV. And the numbers don't lie, either; every last cable/satellite provider failed. Direct TV was the least of the worst, while Dish Network had a big decline. The worst score of the entire index was 54, earned by both Comcast and Charter.

In the airline sector, US Air also took home a 54 to make it the worst airline for customer satisfaction in the United States. The full-fares all failed, with American and Continental selected as the "best" because they earned 62 each. Among the discounters, Southwest scored an industry-wide high of 79. In fact, Southwest has been No. 1 for 14 years in a row. Other discounters were too small to note individually, but had a combined blended score of 75.

Is it any wonder that the industries you hear repeated complaints about on the show got the lousiest scores? Clark thinks not.

What others are saying

Dish Network and GoDish
If you order Dish Network make sure you go directly to Dish Network and not to GoDish.com. I found out, after paying a $79.99 processing fee, then not receiving all I had ordered, that GoDish is a third party independent company that places orders for Dish Network for a fee. The explanation was that there is no installation or equipment charge, but there is a processing fee. Keep in mind, the entire time I thought I was talking directly to Dish Network. After installation was done, both remotes failed to work 10 minutes after tech left. I called and the tech said he would be back within two hours, that was two days ago. No tech, no remotes. Dish Network says I'll have to reschedule for another tech to come out next week. If their customer no-service were any better, I'd have to explode!!!
By Keith @ 04/18/09 10:38:29 AMreport abuse
dish network
My sister called dish network to ask about pricing. They asked for a
credit card number before they could tell her the price of installation
. She said no. She told them she would talk it over with her husband
and call them back. The man on the phone said Why you gonna do
that? He wouldn't let her off the phone so she finally said I'll have to
call back and hung up the phone. He immediately called her back
and ranted about her hanging up and he has a family to feed and he
doesn't care if she finds a better deal and many more comments.
That evening her husband called dish network to talk to a different
person. After the conversation he said he would think about it.
The dish network person immediately rang his phone back 4 times.
He rang the phone again at 8 am the next day and again in the
afternoon. My brother in law answered the afternoon call and the
man said Why did you call me and waste my time?
By Diane @ 04/10/09 04:37:24 PMreport abuse
Direct TV
I constantly have to watch my Direct TV bill. They just add charges of things I have no clue of. I signed up for a package deal plus bundled evrything & when I get my first bill I'm paying for a totaly different package. DON"T fall for the $29.99 for 1 year. They send out the customer agreement after you sign with them & it says they can change there prices anytime they want.
By Sunnie Moriarty @ 11/13/08 09:43:25 PMreport abuse
Cellphone carrier ratings
Am not sure why Springt gest the bum rap. Have been a customer for many years and they have always treated me well, even when I've had troubles. I think this is a case where repetition of incidents by well-meaning people like Clark blows the situation out of proportion.
By Paul Pinard @ 05/26/08 08:04:40 PMreport abuse
airlines
they are qwful and screwed me again on the way back from NYC. I am gong to Vermont this summer and an taking the train from Montana.
By paul trombetta @ 05/22/08 11:56:45 AMreport abuse
Annual ACSI
I am totally confused!! I went to the ACSI site out of curiosity and I think the above results for the airlines were misread from the Table for airlines.
This is what I found (table was amended):
Airlines
65 63 62 -1.6 -13.9
Southwest Airlines Co.
74 76 79 3.9 1.3
All Others
74 75 75 0.0 7.1
American Airlines (AMR Corporation)
62 60 62 3.3

The tables were NOT the easiest in the world to read, but I believe the average score was reported in the top row, which gave the overall average for all airlines a "62".
The 2008 score for Southwest is a "79" , which gave them a 3.9 increase from their 2007 score.

Could someone help me figure this out??? Am I misreading these tables??
(I do have a graduate degree in Economics!!)
By Linda Floyd @ 05/22/08 06:52:46 AMreport abuse
USPS
Go ahead and put that letter in that mailbox and raise that red flag, the identity theives are waiting. NEVER mail things from a mailbox.
By Wes @ 05/21/08 06:45:34 PMreport abuse
USPS
I would do ANYTHING possible not to have to enter a US Post Office. They are the most unfriendly, discourteous and "self-entitled" employees on the earth. They fail to remember that we, the consumer/tax payer, are paying their salaries! They have a job - a good job that some people would kill for. What "entitles" them to feel like its ok for them to exhibit the attitude they exhibit? I will happily pay additional to use another carrier that appreciates my money and responds with good customer service!
By Angie Roberts @ 05/21/08 02:11:01 PMreport abuse
USPS
I have seen nothing but poorer and poorer service by the United States Postal Service. Constant price increases and constant decreases in service. Try mailing a letter at the corner mailbox. The post offices in my area have reduced hours.
By Emily @ 05/21/08 12:18:34 PMreport abuse

Dish Network and GoDish

If you order Dish Network make sure you go directly to Dish Network and not to GoDish.com. I found out, after paying a $79.99 processing fee, then not receiving all I had ordered, that GoDish is a third party independent company that places orders for Dish Network for a fee. The explanation was that there is no installation or equipment charge, but there is a processing fee. Keep in mind, the entire time I thought I was talking directly to Dish Network. After installation was done, both remotes failed to work 10 minutes after tech left. I called and the tech said he would be back within two hours, that was two days ago. No tech, no remotes. Dish Network says I'll have to reschedule for another tech to come out next week. If their customer no-service were any better, I'd have to explode!!!

By Keith @ 04/18/09 10:38:29 AMreport abuse

dish network

My sister called dish network to ask about pricing. They asked for a
credit card number before they could tell her the price of installation
. She said no. She told them she would talk it over with her husband
and call them back. The man on the phone said Why you gonna do
that? He wouldn't let her off the phone so she finally said I'll have to
call back and hung up the phone. He immediately called her back
and ranted about her hanging up and he has a family to feed and he
doesn't care if she finds a better deal and many more comments.
That evening her husband called dish network to talk to a different
person. After the conversation he said he would think about it.
The dish network person immediately rang his phone back 4 times.
He rang the phone again at 8 am the next day and again in the
afternoon. My brother in law answered the afternoon call and the
man said Why did you call me and waste my time?

By Diane @ 04/10/09 04:37:24 PMreport abuse

Direct TV

I constantly have to watch my Direct TV bill. They just add charges of things I have no clue of. I signed up for a package deal plus bundled evrything & when I get my first bill I'm paying for a totaly different package. DON"T fall for the $29.99 for 1 year. They send out the customer agreement after you sign with them & it says they can change there prices anytime they want.

By Sunnie Moriarty @ 11/13/08 09:43:25 PMreport abuse

Cellphone carrier ratings

Am not sure why Springt gest the bum rap. Have been a customer for many years and they have always treated me well, even when I've had troubles. I think this is a case where repetition of incidents by well-meaning people like Clark blows the situation out of proportion.

By Paul Pinard @ 05/26/08 08:04:40 PMreport abuse

airlines

they are qwful and screwed me again on the way back from NYC. I am gong to Vermont this summer and an taking the train from Montana.

By paul trombetta @ 05/22/08 11:56:45 AMreport abuse

Annual ACSI

I am totally confused!! I went to the ACSI site out of curiosity and I think the above results for the airlines were misread from the Table for airlines.
This is what I found (table was amended):
Airlines
65 63 62 -1.6 -13.9
Southwest Airlines Co.
74 76 79 3.9 1.3
All Others
74 75 75 0.0 7.1
American Airlines (AMR Corporation)
62 60 62 3.3

The tables were NOT the easiest in the world to read, but I believe the average score was reported in the top row, which gave the overall average for all airlines a "62".
The 2008 score for Southwest is a "79" , which gave them a 3.9 increase from their 2007 score.

Could someone help me figure this out??? Am I misreading these tables??
(I do have a graduate degree in Economics!!)

By Linda Floyd @ 05/22/08 06:52:46 AMreport abuse

USPS

Go ahead and put that letter in that mailbox and raise that red flag, the identity theives are waiting. NEVER mail things from a mailbox.

By Wes @ 05/21/08 06:45:34 PMreport abuse

I would do ANYTHING possible not to have to enter a US Post Office. They are the most unfriendly, discourteous and "self-entitled" employees on the earth. They fail to remember that we, the consumer/tax payer, are paying their salaries! They have a job - a good job that some people would kill for. What "entitles" them to feel like its ok for them to exhibit the attitude they exhibit? I will happily pay additional to use another carrier that appreciates my money and responds with good customer service!

By Angie Roberts @ 05/21/08 02:11:01 PMreport abuse

I have seen nothing but poorer and poorer service by the United States Postal Service. Constant price increases and constant decreases in service. Try mailing a letter at the corner mailbox. The post offices in my area have reduced hours.

By Emily @ 05/21/08 12:18:34 PMreport abuse

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May 20, 2008 -- Customer satisfaction survey results revealed

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