Publix, Hy-Vee, Credit Unions, and Chick-fil-A Earn Top Customer Service Ratings, According to New Temkin Group Research

WABAN, Mass., June 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Temkin Group announces the release of its 2012 Temkin Customer Service Ratings that examines how U.S. consumers rate the customer service of 174 large companies across 18 industries. This is the second year that Temkin Group has published these ratings.

Consumers gave the highest marks for customer service to Publix, Hy-Vee, credit unions, Chick-fil-A, H.E.B., Sam's Club, Winn-Dixie, ShopRite, Aldi, Starbucks, Giant Eagle, and JCPenney. At the other end of the spectrum, consumers gave the lowest ratings to Charter Communications, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Citibank, Qwest, Cigna, and Bank of America.

The 2012 Temkin Customer Service Ratings is based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers in January 2012 that covers the following 18 industries: Airlines, appliance makers, auto dealers, banks, car rental agencies, computer makers, credit card issuers, fast food chains, grocery chains, health plans, hotel chains, insurance carriers, Internet service providers, investment firms, parcel delivery services, retailers, TV service providers, and wireless carriers.

"Customer service is a critical moment of truth for many customers. It's nearly impossible to deliver an overall great customer experience if you don't get customer service right," states Bruce Temkin, author of the research and Managing Partner of Temkin Group. Temkin goes on to say: "It's very encouraging to see that most companies have made improvements between 2011 and 2012."

Temkin Group examined industry averages and found that grocery chains were the only industry to earn a "strong" rating. Retailers, fast food chains, appliance makers, and investment firms round out the top five. But consumers gave very low ratings to TV service providers and Internet service providers.

The research also examines how individual companies are rated relative to their industry peers. Led by credit unions (banks), Kaiser Permanente (health plans), Bright House Networks (TV service), and American Express (credit cards), 15 companies outperformed their industry average Temkin Customer Service Ratings by 10 percentage points or more.

Sixteen firms fell below their industry average by 10 or more percentage points, with Charter Communications (TV service & Internet service), Citibank (banks), Hyundai (auto dealers), Bank of America (banks), and Super 8 (hotels) falling the farthest behind.

Temkin Group also analyzed changes in Temkin Customer Service Ratings between 2011 and 2012. Led by computer makers and health plans, 10 of the 12 industries that were in both the 2011 and 2012 ratings improved since last year.

Seventy-five percent of companies that were in the 2011 and 2012 Temkin Customer Service Ratings showed improvement. Fifteen organizations improved by at least 10 percentage points, with these five firms leading the way with improvements of 20 percentage points or more: PNC, Gateway, Toshiba, Farmers, and HSBC. Only two companies had double-digit declines: Edward Jones and Old Navy.

Analysis of these results can be accessed from the blog, Customer Experience Matters, at http://ExperienceMatters.wordpress.com. The data can be accessed from the Temkin Ratings website, http://www.TemkinRatings.com.

For more information about Temkin Group, visit http://www.TemkinGroup.com.

About the author, Bruce Temkin

Bruce Temkin is widely recognized as a customer experience thought leader and is Customer Experience Transformist and Managing Partner of Temkin Group. He is also the author of a very popular blog, Customer Experience Matters. Prior to forming Temkin Group, he was a VP at Forrester Research for 12 years. Bruce is a highly demanded speaker who consistently receives high marks for his content-rich, entertaining keynote addresses. He is also the co-founder and Chair of the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA.org), a global non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of customer experience management.

About Temkin Group

Temkin Group is a leading customer experience research and consulting firm with one simple goal for its clients: increase customer loyalty by becoming more customer-centric. The company combines customer experience thought leadership with a deep understanding of the dynamics of large organizations to help senior executives accelerate their results. For more information, contact Bruce Temkin at 617-916-2075 or [email protected].

This press release was issued through eReleases® Press Release Distribution. For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE Temkin Group