Customer Service "Hall of Shame"

MSN Money asked Zogby to conduct a survey and discover the companies who make up America's Customer Service "Hall of Shame."

Here is the "Hall of Shame" Top Ten:

1. AOL
2. Comcast
3. Sprint/Nextel
4. Abercombie & Fitch
5. Qwest
6. Capital One
7. Bank of America
8. Time Warner Cable
9. HSBC Finance
10. Cox Communications

Several on this list have been highlighted on this blog from time to time, so I wasn't too surprised by the list. What did strike me was the fact that five of the 10 rated lowest in customer service are phone companies who should be on the forefront of communication and QA technology. If there's one business who provides great service over the phone it should be the phone company!

Two other items from the MSN article to note:

Companies at the other end of the survey, with few marks for poor service, also came as little surprise to experts. In particular, Nordstrom, American Express and Marriott were cited as three that routinely earn high marks.Companies such as these try to weather the tough times by continuing to invest in customer service, Hanks said. In the end, they earn lifelong, loyal customers who tend to cost less and pay more.

And as research has shown, satisfied customers equate to happy shareholders. Conversely, unhappy customers may lead to unhappy shareholders. Just ask Time Warner (the parent company), Comcast and Sprint: Their stocks are down 26%, 18% and 55%, respectively, over the past year, compared with an 8% drop for the S&P 500 Index.

Do your customers put you in the Customer Service "Hall of Fame"? Are you reaping the rewards of that kind of satisfaction and loyalty?

How do you fare in your customers' minds? Have you asked? What are you doing about it?

Comments

[Dave]

I am not shocked by this at all...surveys of this sort should be done more often! Showcased on the news even! Love it!

[Tom Vander Well]

I wasn't shocked either. Conversation in the blogosphere is a pretty good barometer of where companies stand and many of these companies have been discussed right here! I agree, Dave. We need more of these kinds of surveys to keep companies honest!

[Gary Jensen]

Some of the companies on this list have had a bad reputation for service for years and it appears little progress is being made as evidenced by the fact that their names continue to show up on these kinds of lists. If they are taking steps to improve service it is going to be a long road to recovery. Thanks for sharing.