For the second year in a row, cable telecommunications providers dominated the annual customer satisfaction survey of residential telephone customers conducted by J.D. Power & Associates.
The top providers, by region, are Cablevision Systems Corp. in the east; Bright House Networks in the south; WideOpenWest in the north and Cox Communications Inc. in the west.
But the survey also showed that those consumers would rather use online self-help than dial into call centers. The research company said satisfaction is 12 points higher among consumers who can use the Web to get questions answered or order services than those who have to reach a call center.
J.D. Power ranks providers on a 1,000-point scale, based on consumer impressions on five factors: customer service, performance and reliability, cost of service, billing; and offerings and promotions. Of the regional winners, Bright House Networks and WOW tied with the highest score, 707.
Of interest is the fact that three of the regional winners, Cablevision, BHN and WOW, won their region without having the highest score for service reliability. Only Cox ranked highest for its region in all five factors, according to the research firm. Cox also scored second-place finishes in the southern and northern regions.
J.D. Power developed the rankings with the scores provided by 13,600 consumers polled in July.
