Press Release Headlines

TV and Internet Service Providers Deliver the Worst Customer Experience, According to Temkin Group Research

Sixth Annual Temkin Experience Ratings Evaluates 294 Companies Across 20 Industries

WABAN, Mass., May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — TV service providers and Internet service providers received the lowest overall customer experience scores, according to the 2016 Temkin Experience Ratings, an annual ranking of companies based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers.

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Of the 20 industries covered in the 2016 Temkin Experience Ratings, TV service and Internet service providers tied with healthcare providers for the lowest average ratings. These industries have been at the bottom of the Ratings for the past four years, and their scores hit an all-time low this year.

The poster child for poor customer experience in these industries—Comcast—was not only the lowest-scoring TV service and Internet service provider, but was also one of the lowest-scoring companies in the entire Ratings. It ranked 289th overall out of 294 companies for its TV service and ranked 284th overall for its Internet service.

Of the 10 TV service companies we looked at, six received "very poor" ratings (below 50%): Bright House Networks (49%), Charter Communications (48%), Verizon (47%), Time Warner Cable (46%), AT&T (43%), and Comcast (37%). And of the eight Internet service companies we looked at, four received "very poor" ratings: Time Warner Cable (48%), Charter Communications (48%), Cablevision (47%), and Comcast (40%).

"Internet and TV service providers are awful to consumers. The lack of competition continues to fuel this bad experience epidemic," states Bruce Temkin, managing partner of Temkin Group.

At the other end of the spectrum, DirecTV earned the highest score for the TV service industry with a rating of 57% and an overall rank of 182nd, while AOL earned the highest score for the Internet service industry with a rating of 55% and an overall rank of 199th. No company in either industry received anything higher than a "poor" rating.

Only Dish Network (+2 points) and Cox Communication (+3 points) for their TV service and Time Warner Cable (+1 point) for its Internet service improved their ratings between 2015 and 2016. AT&T (-11 points) and Verizon (-9 points) for their TV service and Cablevision (-9 points) for its Internet service declined the most.

Now in its sixth year of publication, the 2016 Temkin Experience Ratings is the most comprehensive benchmark of customer experience in the industry, evaluating 20 industries: airlines, appliance makers, auto dealers, banks, car rental agencies, computer makers, credit card issuers, fast food chains, health plans, hotel chains, insurance carriers, Internet service providers, investment firms, parcel delivery services, retailers, software firms, supermarket chains, TV service providers, utilities, and wireless carriers.

To generate these ratings, Temkin Group asked 10,000 U.S. consumers to evaluate their recent experiences with a company across three dimensions: success (can you do what you want to do?), effort (how easy is it to work with the company?), and emotion (how do you feel about the interactions?). Temkin Group then averaged these three scores to produce each company's Temkin Experience Rating.

In these ratings, a score of 70% or above is considered "good," and a score of 80% or above is considered "excellent." In this year's Temkin Experience Ratings, 20% of companies earned a "good" or "excellent" score, while 44% received a "poor" or "very poor" score.

The 2016 Temkin Experience Ratings, along with other ratings, can be accessed at the Temkin Ratings website, www.TemkinRatings.com.

The free report, "2016 Temkin Experience Ratings," is available for download at the Customer Experience Matters® blog (ExperienceMatters.wordpress.com) and at the Temkin Group website, www.TemkinGroup.com.

About Temkin Group: Temkin Group is a leading customer experience research and consulting firm. Many of the world's largest brands rely on its insights and advice to steer their transformational journeys, and Temkin Group accelerates their results by combining customer experience thought leadership with a deep understanding of organizational dynamics. Rather than layering on cosmetic changes, Temkin Group helps companies embed practices within their culture by building up four core competencies: Purposeful Leadership, Employee Engagement, Compelling Brand Values, and Customer Connectedness. The firm's ongoing research identifies leading and emerging best practices for engaging the hearts and minds of customers, employees, and partners. For more information, contact Bruce Temkin at 617-916-2075 or send an email to info@temkingroup.com.

*Customer experience matters is a registered trademark of Temkin Group.