Americans love iPhone, hate land lines

CELL PHONES - Adding iPhone to the American Consumer Service Index is a no-brainer. It rates 83 customer satisfaction out of a possible 100. No other phone has ever cracked the 80 mark. Cell phones as a category get a score of 74, down 1.3% from 2011 but up 7.2% from 2004. The Blackberry is the lowest at 69.
MOTION PICTURES - have improved 4.1% in customer satisfaction from 2011 with a score of 76. But that's down 1.3% from 1995, the first year of the American Customer Satisfaction Index. The survey doesn't break out individual movie studios' scores.
NETWORK CABLE TV NEWS - Americans are less satisfied with their cable TV news services. The American Customer Satisfaction Index score of 74 is down 3.9% from 2011 and the same decline from 1995. That's a little misleading: Cable news scored consistently in the low 60s from 1997 to 2002 and has slowly climbed until this year.
SUBSCRIPTION TELEVISION SERVICES - This industry category encompasses cable and satellite delivery of television progamming. Satisfaction on the American Customer Satisfaction Index stands at 66 out of 100, unchanged from 2011 and 3.1% higher than in 2001. Verizon's FIOS rates highest at 74 and Comcast rates 61. Time Warner at 63 has the largest one-year drop of 6% in customer satisfaction.
NEWSPAPERS - Customer satisfaction with newspapers is at 64 out of 100 on the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which has been fairly consistent over the past 17 years. The index does not give scores for individual newspapers.
COMPUTER SOFTWARE - Customer satisfaction with the broad category of computer software is 77 out of 100 on the American Customer Satisfaction Index. That's down 1.3% from 2011 but 4.1% higher than 2006, the first year Americans were asked about this product category.

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By Jan Norman | Orange County Register

July 8, 2012 at 2:00 p.m.

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Customer satisfaction with the Apple iPhone is much higher than for other cell phones, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index covering eight information products and services.

Among the information industries for which ACSI has updated its customer satisfaction ratings are land line telephone service, motion pictures, network TV news and subscription TV service.

Click on the photo to see American consumers’ satisfaction with these eight industries.

The index is an ongoing, comprehensive survey of thousands of consumers about the products and services provided by more than 225 companies. Its surveyors have been asking consumers to rate their satisfaction with companies, their products and services, on a scale of 0 to 100 since 1995.

This is the first year, ACSI has asked about the iPhone specifically. It debuts at 83 out of a possible 100, by far the highest rated cell phone, followed by Nokia, LG Electronics and HTC, each at 75, Motorola at 73, Samsung Electronics at 71 and Research in Motion (maker of the Blackberry) at 69).

ACSI calls the iPhone a “game changer.” No other cell phone maker has ever reached a score of 80 out of 100.

Overall customer satisfaction with the cell phone industry slipped 1.3% to 74 compared to 2011, but up 7.7% from 2004 when ACSI first asked.

Generally, ACSI suggests comparing company scores with direct competitors because some industries, such as airlines and cable providers, score lower than others, such as manufactured food products.

However, all companies’ scores can be compared because customers are asked the same three basic questions, says ACSI Managing Director David VanAmburg. Those questions are:

• “Were you satisfied,” measuring reaction to the overall experience

• “How well did it meet your expectations,” measuring satisfaction against expectations (a company that isn’t well thought of that delivers better-than-expected service will do better on this question that a popular company that disappoints)

• “Compare your experience with this company with your idea of a perfect company.”

“Stronger customer satisfaction, particularly with domestic goods and services, would help spur economic growth but only if household discretionary income increases, ACSI Founder Claes Fornell says.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7927 or jnorman@ocregister.com