The 19 most hated companies on the American market have been revealed. The vast majority includes airlines, telephone service providers and banks.
The Atlantic compiled and published the 19 most hated companies in America, based on the information from the American Customer Satisfaction Index. The Index rates companies based on thousands of surveys.
The results churned up unpleasant reading for airlines, communication service providers and banks. All three of these industries scored low, with the airlines flying the lowest of them all. American Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways seem to have annoyed a fair few members of the American public, yet not as much as Delta Airlines, which ranked the lowest.
Delta was heavily criticized for bombarding people with additional fees for food, baggage and drinks on board. Indeed, the airline managed to make $952 million last year in such fees alone, almost twice as much as any other carrier. Additional fees were a common sore point in banks and communication service providers too, with the latter often being lambasted for sending technicians after long waiting periods. Increasing fees, not just additional ones have incurred the wrath of the public.
The reasons for the results of the surveys do not lie in bias or a modern trend towards disliking airlines; yet reflect the lack of competitiveness in such fields. Whereas food and clothing companies face huge competition from within the industry and need to stay on the right side of the customers, airlines and banks do not need to place such stress on customer satisfaction. Representatives of ACSI have explained the results of their surveys in this manner.