What do the companies that cool your apartment in 90 degree weather, ensure you don’t miss an episode of HBO’s Girls, transport you to your Caribbean vacation and connect you to your friends online all have in common? We hate them.
According to latest American Customer Satisfaction Index, the list of the 15 most disliked companies in the country (see full list below) is dominated by utility companies, cable provides, airlines, insurance companies, Bank of America and. . . FACEBOOK?
Let us examine the list further and determine the root of the issues. Most utility companies and cable providers operate as regional monopolies. This structure often breeds limited choices, higher prices and lower customer service. No one likes those things.
The other common thread between these companies is that many have served as the poster children for the country’s financial ills. Between the airlines’ bankruptcies (and subsequent acquisitions and luggage fees), Bank of America’s ill-fated decisions, and Facebook’s botched IPO, these companies have been the subject of many Wall Street Journal headlines.
Another interesting commonality between the companies on this list is that many are at the whim of Mother Nature. Nothing makes a customer angrier than power outages and flight delays.
The silver lining? BusinessInsider made an excellent point. These companies have set the bar low for their industry and as a result have made room for competitors (such as Jet Blue) to be successful by breaking the mold.
This is just one interpretation. What do you think? Are any companies missing from this list?
#1 Long Island Power Authority
#2 Northeast Utilities
#3 Charter Communications
#4 Comcast (Television service)
#5 United Airlines
#6 Time Warner
#7 Cox Communications (Television Service)
#8 American Airlines
#9 US Airways
#10 Delta
#11 CenturyLink
#12 Facebook
#13 Aetna
#14 DirectTV
#15 Bank of America 
Great post, Julia – your point about customer service definitely stuck out to me.
I can come to terms with being indentured to the Time Warner’s of the world if I know that when I call their customer service people, I’ll at least be speaking with someone who pretends to care about whatever inconvenience the company’s shoddy services are causing me. This, however, is rarely (if ever!) the case. And while there may not be another option available to me today, you better believe that I am constantly looking into whether new providers are on their way to my area. I would gladly trade in slightly inferior service (after all – anyone who has Time Warner knows that we’re not exactly dealing with a stellar product) for access to a customer service system that lives up to name. Customer. Service. As in, serving the customer. Not berating the customer. But I digress…
Perhaps good customer service is impossible for a large company? Well, anyone who has ever spoken to an Amazon customer service representative knows that’s simply not the case. The team at Amazon is often so helpful and easy to work with that I am sometimes left wondering if I’m on the phone with a for-profit, global behemoth or my therapist. I’ll be an Amazon customer for life because of that.
Here’s to hoping that the 15 companies on here (and the thousands of others who seem to care so little for their customers) start to realize that there is money to be made in treating others well.
07.09.12 at 12:38 pm
Kristina – The masses agree. Amazon topped MSN Money’s Customer Service Hall of Fame for the last two years.
Because I love lists: http://money.msn.com/investing/the-2011-customer-service-hall-of-fame.aspx?cp-documentid=6820771
Interestingly, unlike the most disliked companies, there is no real correlation by industry or sector among the top rated companies on this list. List honorees range from grocery stores to airlines and department stores. Some of the companies rated high for satisfaction are completely online (Netflix and Amazon) while others predominately interact with customers face-to-face (Trader Joe’s and Nordstrom).
07.09.12 at 1:41 pm