For whatever reason, suppliers of video services, phone services and even mobile phone services have tended to rank towards the bottom of consumer rankings when it comes to “customer satisfaction.” That was true of the May 2013 edition of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) index, for example.

A separate analysis confirms the basics of the issue. Some firms do better than others, but as a class, video entertainment providers and telcos, and now telco-owned ISPs as well, rank in the bottom 10th percentile, according to an analysis by Temkin Group Research.

In fact, the bottom three industries were the mobile, Internet access and video entertainment categories.

Not much had changed in early 2014. Internet access service was the lowest ranked industry--last out of 43 industries--in the American Customer Satisfaction Index. Just above it- at position 42- is consumer satisfaction with video subscription services.

The old joke about outrunning a bear- you don't have to be faster than the bear, only faster than the other guy being chased- likely applies here, as the rankings show significant differences between contestants in the ISP and video markets.

But the latest J.D. Power round of surveys might suggest ISPs and video service providers are doing better.  

For video service providers, satisfaction with performance and reliability has improved to 743 in 2014, an increase of 17 points from 726 in 2013, according to J.D. Power.
 

DIRECTV and Verizon FiOS (News - Alert) (738) rank highest (in a tie) in TV customer satisfaction in the East region; AT&T U-verse (750) ranks highest in the North Central region; Verizon FiOS (751) ranks highest in the South region; and DISH Network (739) ranks highest in the West region, J.D. Power reports.

Satisfaction with ISP performance and reliability has improved to 700 in 2014, an increase of 37 points from 663 in 2011.

Verizon (News - Alert) ranks highest in ISP customer satisfaction in the East (712) and South (725) regions; WOW! (Wide Open West) scores 728 ranking highest in the North Central region; and AT&T (News - Alert) (704) ranks highest in the West region.