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posted by janrinok on Friday June 05 2015, @03:08AM   Printer-friendly
from the don't-watch-the-box dept.

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."


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  • (Score: 2) by TheRaven on Friday June 05 2015, @11:04AM

    by TheRaven (270) on Friday June 05 2015, @11:04AM (#192449) Journal
    Data is also lower margin. The reason that cable companies offer Internet + basic TV bundles for almost the same price as just Internet is that the premium TV is where they make the biggest profits, and that's something you can't easily up-sell to people who aren't watching cable TV.
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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by frojack on Friday June 05 2015, @10:08PM

    by frojack (1554) on Friday June 05 2015, @10:08PM (#192695) Journal

    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.

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