Consumers Still Unhappy With Phone Companies

NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- We may use our phones every day, but we’re certainly not happy with their service.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index found a drop in customer satisfaction in the information services, which include fixed-line and mobile telephone operators, computer software, motion pictures, television subscriptions and newspapers, despite increased satisfaction in the other areas surveyed, such as the utility and health care sectors.

The information sector had the second lowest customer satisfaction rating among all the sectors, next to government services, which scored worst across the board. The information sector as a whole dropped 0.7% from the last quarter to 72.3 out of 100 points (100 represents the highest rating in customer satisfaction, while zero signifies the lowest). The analysis looked at the recent fiscal quarter compared to the past two quarters after interviewing household consumers about their customer experiences in different sectors.

Wireless telephone service dropped by 1.4% in the index to 71 from the previous quarter. Interestingly, there was a marked decline in customer satisfaction and customer service from AT&T and T-Mobile, whose merger proposal is still pending government approval. T-Mobile fell 4% to a rating of 70, while its potential buyer AT&T (Stock Quote: T) dropped to its worst score since its pre-iPhone days in 2006, with a score of 66.

“It is common to find a reduction in customer satisfaction after mergers, but it is rare for customer satisfaction to drop ahead of a merger,” said Claes Fornell, the ACSI founder. “Assuming the deal is approved, it remains to be seen if a much larger AT&T can regain the strength of its customer relationships.”