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Vikas Bajaj writes in The New York Times that the results are in and the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) shows that customer satisfaction with cable TV, Internet and phone service providers have declined to a seven-year low. Of the 43 industries on which the survey solicits opinions, TV and Internet companies tied for last place in customer satisfaction. "Internet and TV have always been among the lowest scoring," says David VanAmburg, director of the Index. "But this year they're at the very bottom."
The study, which is based on more than 14,000 consumer surveys, gives companies a rating from 0 to 100. The ACSI reports huge drops in customer satisfaction for Comcast and Time Warner Cable, following their failed merger. Already one of the lowest-scoring companies in the ACSI, Comcast sheds 10 percent to a customer satisfaction score of 54. Meanwhile, Time Warner Cable earns the distinction as least-satisfying company in the Index after falling 9 percent to 51. Joining Time Warner Cable in the basement is ACSI newcomer Mediacom Communications (51), which serves smaller markets in the Midwest and South. "Customer service in these industries has long been bad," says VanAmburg of Internet and TV providers. "They don't have a good business model for handling inquiries with efficiency and respect. It goes back a decade plus."
Even though those complaints are longstanding, customer frustration has risen along with the ever-rising prices. "You compound all that with the prices customers are paying, and that's the final straw," says VanAmburg. "They're opening bills each month and saying 'I'm paying how much?'" In an age of over-the-top viewing options like Hulu and Netflix, customer dissatisfaction may increasingly translate to companies' bottom lines. "There was a time when pay TV could get away with discontented users without being penalized by revenue losses from defecting customers," says Claes Fornell, chairman and founder of the Index. "But those days are over."
Original Submission
(Score: 2) by frojack on Friday June 05 2015, @04:23AM
It seems to me that cable companies have little to worry about here, because they will simply continue to make money with the same network, selling data only, as people switch to over the top services. We covered this here [soylentnews.org] a few weeks ago.
People will just drop TV, and Phone and start buying only data from these guys. And that is cheaper for them to provide than the programming they have to pay for.
People are getting sick of paying for high priced TV packages only to find more and more ads crammed into the mix.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Friday June 05 2015, @11:04AM
sudo mod me up
(Score: 3, Informative) by frojack on Friday June 05 2015, @10:08PM
premium TV is where they make the biggest profits,
That is not as true today as it was years ago. In fact, it might not be true at all!.
And the trend is reversing [nytimes.com]
Comcast Video revenue was $5.3 billion for the last quarter, compared with $3 billion for high-speed Internet.
But Revenue is not Profit, and they have to pay media companies big royalties on that video. They own NBC, and the accounting gets a little fuzzy there, buy they have to pay a boatload to other media companies.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday June 05 2015, @01:42PM
I'm not buying data from them, but I'm using Comcast's internet service since AT&T jacked up the price for DSL. But I haven't had POTS or cable for well over a decade.
When cable was first available to me, it was a great deal. Analog TV had ghosts, snow, etc, but cable gave you those channels crystal clear, plus half a dozen cable channels, including HBO, that were uncensored and free of commercials. Ten bucks a month.
Now? 500 channels, almost none of which I would want to watch at five times the price. Cable now not only has commercials, ads even pop up covering part of the screen during the program! And they want fifty bucks for that???
Digital TV gives me a half dozen channels with a crystal clear picture with higher definition than cable. There is zero reason for me to pay to watch TV, even if the cable companies weren't run by dysfunctional assholes. Bad service on top of a bad package? WTF??
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(Score: 2) by frojack on Friday June 05 2015, @10:10PM
I'm not buying data from them, but I'm using Comcast's internet service
Typo?
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Thursday June 11 2015, @12:34PM
I'm paying for a service, not buying a product.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Friday June 05 2015, @09:43PM
Funny thing, unless you use HTTPS and/or VPN all the time, you'll soon start seeing ads in your data too... I don't know if being common carriers forbids that or not, but the ISP will try to find a way around it.
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