Analysts: Americans prefer cell phone, PC customer service to cable TV

Twenty percent of cable customers now say phone calls to companies don't solve their problems, according to a new survey. Meanwhile, cell phone providers are coming up with answers faster, and PC users are finding useful info on the Web.

Although not exactly entirely delighted, US cell phone and PC customers are growing happier with the customer service they receive. But consumer satisfaction with cable and satellite providers is taking a further nosedive, say new survey results released this week by industry analyst firm CFI Group.

Ranked on a 100-point scale, cable and satellite service came out at the bottom of the heap -- with 66 points -- against seven other industries for customer satisfaction around the outcome of phone calls placed to service providers.

In ascending order of customer satisfaction, cable and sat providers got topped in this year's study by PC vendors (69 points), government (70 points), banks (71 points), cell phone providers (72 points), insurance firms (75 points), multi-channel retail (76 points), and hotels (78 points), according to survey results made available today to BetaNews.

A CFI spokesperson told BetaNews that the analyst firm does not ask respondents to identify the specific service providers they're ranking.

But the University of Michigan -- developer of the 100-point American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) also used by CFI -- does break out results by specific providers in its own studies.

In results released separately last month, the university pinpointed Sprint Nextel as a customer service laggard on the cell phone side, and Comcast and Charter Communications as particularly unsatisfying among cable providers.

The CFI study results released this week showed that, across all industries, one in five customers end their sessions with company "contact centers" with problems that remain unresolved.

Customer satisfaction across all industries has jumped up three points to 72 points since last year, the first time CFI analysts conducted this survey.

But findings also indicated that, on the whole, more customers are using the call center as the "resource of last resort," making phone calls to customer service only if they can't find the solutions first through a Web site or somewhere else. Consequently, customer service reps (CSRs) are getting a higher proportion of "harder" questions to respond to: for instance, issues surrounding HDTV and video-on-demand services.

Also in 2008, "the percentage of those who think they have contacted an offshore call center rises to 15 percent, (up) from 11 percent in 2007," said CFI Group CEO Sheri Teodoru. "In 2008, offshore contact center problem resolution improves significantly. [But] despite significant improvements in agent performance, offshore CSRs' ability to 'speak in an understandable mannner' continues to lag behind at 57."

As for cable and satellite providers, the industry segment's ranking of 66 points represents a 3-point drop since last year, according to the analyst. About 20 percent of respondents said that customer service reps for cable and satellite companies weren't able to solve their problems.

"Compared to last year, fewer cable and satellite TV customers will recommend the company based on their experience with the contact center," Teodoru said. "A smaller proportion of [cable and satellite] customers are calling contact centers with issues that are effectively handled online, like to place an order or check on an order's status (34 percent, down from 41 percent)."

Conversely, by and large, satisfaction with cell phone customer service has gone up, and service reps for cell phone providers are resolving more issues on the first call.

"The cell phone industry has made impressive improvements in achieving problem resolution. Only 15 percent hand up with their issue unresolved, compared to 20 percent the previous year. Still, satisfaction is 39 points lower for customers who do not get their issue resolved. As a result, 64 percent of these customers are likely to defect."

On a brighter note, customer satisfaction with service from PC vendors shot up a whopping 8 points over the past year. "Call center operations have
improved, and the industry is no longer the worst performer, with a score that bests contact centers in the cable and satellite TV industry," Teoduro said.

"In 2008, 27 percent of [PC] customers are contacting the call center to place an order or check its status, the same percentage as last year. This percentage is the lowest of any measured industry, which reflects the fact that the PC industry has done a good job utilizing websites to allow customers to not only purchase products, but to do so in a way that allows easy consumer-driven customization, something that circumvents the need for additional contact with a CSR."

The University of Michigan's survey results, released last month, broke out categories somewhat differently than CFI's report. The university's "wireless telephone service" category maintained the same overall score of 68 points it got last year,

In the wireless category, Verizon Wireless got the highest ranking with 72 points, followed by AT&T Mobility (formerly Cingular), which rose 4 points to 71. Meanwhile, Sprint Nextel landed way at the bottom, dropping 8 points to a score of 56.

In the broadband communications component of the university's study, Comcast dropped the most, shedding 4 points to end at 54, tying for last with Charter Communications, which lost two points. In contrast, results for a "collection of smaller cable TV providers" gained 3 points, rising to 54.

By and large, satellite providers performed better than cable in the university's study, with DirecTV edging up 2 points to 68. Dish Network slid 3 points to 68, but it still fared better than the cable providers.