Cable, telcos hit rock bottom in consumer satisfaction rankings

28 July 2018 by Steve Blum
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The broadband industry is pissing off its customers. According to the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) telecommunications company rankings, the consumer businesses at the very bottom of the list are subscription television service (a rating of 62 out of 100), Internet service (also 62), video-on-demand service (68) and fixed line telephone service (70).

In other words, the misery caused by your local telco is only exceeded by the pain inflicted by your cable company. Both do a worse job of keeping you happy than the U.S. post office, airlines and health insurance companies (but not by much – they’re tied with social media platforms for fifth worst with a score of 73).

Mobile phone service isn’t much better. It rates a 74. Just above it at 75 are video streaming services and both investor-owned and municipal utilities.

Over-the-top (OTT) video providers like Netflix offer consumers better and friendlier service than cable and telcos, with devastating effect according to ACSI…

OTT operators have raised the bar by providing greater personalization, lower prices, more mobility—and much better customer service. As a result, cable and satellite television customers think they are paying higher prices for lesser value and receiving poor service to boot.

The effect is widespread. The entire sector faces repercussions as many of the same large companies offer service for internet, television, and voice via bundling. Subscription television and internet service providers rank last among all industries tracked by the ACSI. The implication is clear: moving in on the video streaming market won’t be enough to keep TV subscribers unless customer satisfaction improves as well.

Consumer electronics companies do the best, topping the list at 85 out of 100. Of course, there’s nothing like a cold drink to go along with a binge watching session, so breweries and soft drink makers are in second place with an 84. Online retailers and credit unions round out the top five with a score of 82.