Consumers Are Most Likely to Forgive USAA and ACE Rent A Car, According to New Temkin Group Ratings

WABAN, Mass., April 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Every organization makes mistakes, so an important area of loyalty is the willingness of customers to forgive them. That's why Temkin Group—a leading customer experience research, consulting, and training company—has been measuring forgiveness for eight years.

Based on a study of 10,000 U.S consumers, USAA (banking) and ACE Rent A Car took the top spots in the 2018 Temkin Forgiveness Ratings, which rates how willing consumers are to forgive 318 companies across 20 industries. Advantage Rent-A-Car, Wawa Food Markets, Navy Federal Credit Union, USAA (credit cards), Buick, H-E-B, Wegmans, ExpressJet, True Value, and Bath & Body Works fill out the rest of the top 12 firms.

At the other end of the Ratings, consumers are least likely to forgive Comcast, Motel 6, Optimum, Charter Spectrum, Cox Communications, Citibank, Cigna, Pacific Gas & Electric, DirecTV, and Anthem.

"Every organization makes mistakes, so forgiveness is a critical element of loyalty. TV & Internet service providers continue to do little to earn consumers' forgiveness," states Bruce Temkin, managing partner of Temkin Group.

Other highlights from the 2018 Temkin Forgiveness Ratings include:

• Supermarkets is by far the highest scoring industry, well above the second-place industry, streaming media. TV & Internet service providers is the lowest scoring industry, more than 10 points lower than the next lowest industry, health plans.
• USAA (banking and credit cards), ACE Rent A Car, Advantage Rent-A-Car, Navy Federal Credit Union, and TriCare earned Ratings that are 20 or more points higher than their industry averages.
• McAfee, United Airlines, Pacific Gas and Electric, Sears, CarMax, Citibank, and Motel 6 earned Ratings that are 15 or more points lower than their industry averages.
• Starz, MetroPCS, Fifth Third, Domino's, Dairy Queen, and Wendy's improved the most between 2017 and 2018.
• Hitachi, Fox Rent A Car, Bosch, Appalachian Power Company, HSBC, AmazonFresh, and Motel 6 declined the most between 2017 and 2018.

In its eight year of publication, the 2018 Temkin Forgiveness Ratings examines the likelihood of consumers to forgive companies after they make a mistake. It evaluates 318 companies across 20 industries: Computers & Tablets, Insurance, Investments, Credit Cards, Health Plans, TV/Internet Service, Streaming Media, Wireless, Airlines, Hotels & Rooms, Retailers, Fast Food, Rental Cars & Transport, Supermarkets, Parcel Delivery, TVs & Appliances, Auto Dealers, Software Firms, and Utilities.

The 2018 Temkin Forgiveness Ratings along with other ratings can be accessed at the Temkin Ratings website, www.TemkinRatings.com.

Detailed datasets for the 2018 Temkin Forgiveness Ratings can be downloaded from the Customer Experience Matters^® blog, at ExperienceMatters.wordpress.com as well as from the Temkin Group website, www.TemkinGroup.com.

About Temkin Group: Temkin Group is a leading customer experience research, consulting, and training 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. Temkin Group also runs the CX Institute, which provides online training that instills a customer-centric mindset across all employees across an organization. For more information, contact Bruce Temkin at 617-916-2075 or send an email to [email protected].

About Bruce Temkin: Bruce Temkin is widely recognized as a customer experience visionary, and is Managing Partner of Temkin Group. He is also the co-founder and Emeritus Chair of the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA.org), a global non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of customer experience management. Bruce is also the author of a very popular blog, Customer Experience Matters®. Prior to forming Temkin Group, he was a Vice President at Forrester Research for 12 years where he ran the customer experience, eBusiness, financial services, and B2B sectors and was the most-read analyst for 13 consecutive quarters.

Customer Experience Matters is a registered trademark of Temkin Group.

SOURCE Temkin Group