Consumer Satisfaction Hits Three Year Low

According to this report from the American Customer Satisfaction Index, customer satisfaction in this country is at its lowest level since 2011.

“The US economy needs more consumer demand to shake off these seemingly persistent doldrums,” says Claes Fornell, ACSI Chairman and founder. “Low interest rates, some inflation and wage growth would all help, but consumers also need a reason to buy. Their satisfaction matters not only to them as individuals, but for the economy as a whole.”

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Crappy products plus crappy, don't-give-a-shit service (especially) is what creates low customer satisfaction.

The problem is there are so many damn people on the planet now that losing a few thousand customers doesn't mean shit to many companies. They are easily replaced.

And those that should be complaining don't and yet continue to support the companies providing crappy service.

We reap what we sow.

Yep. Give me quality products that aren't unreliable made-in-China garbage and I might buy some stuff.

Just gimme a product that can be serviced or better yet, one that I can repair myself. I'm tired of disposable electronic crap with all components sealed or glued in place.

I blame DRM, planned obsolescence, proprietary anything, and similar weasel tactics. Companies go out of their way to screw consumers by designing and producing products that are broken by design.

BryanSTG said:

I blame DRM, planned obsolescence, proprietary anything, and similar weasel tactics. Companies go out of their way to screw consumers by designing and producing products that are broken by design.

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They do that, but your blame is mostly misplaced. You should be blaming the people that accept these things and even fight for them, coming up with stupid arguments to support companies doing these things. I'm sure at least one of these people is preparing such a response right now.

dandragonrage said:

They do that, but your blame is mostly misplaced. You should be blaming the people that accept these things and even fight for them, coming up with stupid arguments to support companies doing these things. I'm sure at least one of these people is preparing such a response right now.

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I'll save them time: Blah blah blah blah entitled blah blah blah blah vote with your wallet blah blah blah this is pirates fault blah blah blah.

I want to see this supposed wage growth. I'm not seeing it here as a middle class cog in the machine.

lilbabycat said:

I want to see this supposed wage growth. I'm not seeing it here as a middle class cog in the machine.

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yup, so ridiculous. And somehow inflation will help? gd Keynesian idiots... "Making things harder to afford is good for the consumer!" Riiight...

I haven't had as much as a COLA increase since 2007.

The problem is the consumer. Most of them are cheap pieces of shit who won't buy anything unless it's on sale for 5% of the original retail price. Then they'll complain that it doesn't do more than it was advertised.

Megalith said:

The problem is the consumer. Most of them are cheap pieces of shit who won't buy anything unless it's on sale for 5% of the original retail price. Then they'll complain that it doesn't do more than it was advertised.

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Fuck that noise. You want to know something? "sale price" is the fair price. The normal price is a ripoff.

Clothing Stores - When is there not a sale? How could these stores possibly turn a profit if every one is getting 50-75% off all time?
Video games - There is basically a one month window where you pay $60 for a game nowadays, outside of that, you have to put in effort not to get it for $45. Why? Because the actual "fair" "full" price is actually $45, not $60.

And "complain that it doesn't do more than advertised"? Puhhhlease. Empty promises and misleading advertisements are the backbone of consumer products.

The middle class is the "consumer" class. The middle class has been getting financially wrecked for 30 years, so they have no money. Retailers, and by extension the factories that supply them, are countering this by outsourcing and neutering departments to lower their costs to bring a cheaper item to market to fit it in the budget of the consumer class. Cuts are made in both materials and QC and the product suffers because of it.

Megalith said:

The problem is the consumer. Most of them are cheap pieces of shit who won't buy anything unless it's on sale for 5% of the original retail price. Then they'll complain that it doesn't do more than it was advertised.

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Exactly. The problem is the consumer. If you give them the choice between a $25 item that will last 1 year and break vs a $50 item that will last a lifetime they will go after the cheaper item. They buy cheap, demand cheaper, then bitch and moan because what they get is cheap crap. Same reason people use the cheap shit cell services or other services. They are wanting to save money vs quality of service and then just cry that they get shit service without being willing to spend the money to actually get the better services. Why else is black Friday so successful, you get rush out and buy cheap shit. Doesn't matter that you are buying some cheap no name tv that they don't sell any other time of the year, it is cheaper than the best tv on the market so you are going to go with that.

So what happens? People want everything cheap, so companies make cheap products to make people happy and to fill the desire of the customer. At the same time due to lower cost of the items they can't afford to pay support people as much so they have to try to save cost when it comes to doing support. So you get shit support on a shit item.

Gweenz said:

The middle class is the "consumer" class. The middle class has been getting financially wrecked for 30 years, so they have no money. Retailers, and by extension the factories that supply them, are countering this by outsourcing and neutering departments to lower their costs to bring a cheaper item to market to fit it in the budget of the consumer class. Cuts are made in both materials and QC and the product suffers because of it.

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The middle class has no money because of all the shit they spend it on. You need to understand a need vs a want. Somebody making $8/hour thinks they should be able to live in a nice house with everyone having top of the line smart phones, tablets, laptops, top of the line internet service, 55in tv.. Learn how to live within your budget.

Exavior said:

Exactly. The problem is the consumer. If you give them the choice between a $25 item that will last 1 year and break vs a $50 item that will last a lifetime they will go after the cheaper item. They buy cheap, demand cheaper, then bitch and moan because what they get is cheap crap. Same reason people use the cheap shit cell services or other services. They are wanting to save money vs quality of service and then just cry that they get shit service without being willing to spend the money to actually get the better services.

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I'll agree that much of the problem is the consumer, but not because they want cheap stuff that will break in a year. The problem is that too many don't know any better. They have never been taught how to determine what really is the best item for them and fall for the marketing hype or buy what's currently trendy.

As for the $25 item that will break in a year for $50 item that will last forever, its never that simple. Sometimes it's a $.99 cable vs. a $40 cable, and the $.99 cable is almost as good or even better than the $40 one.

Also, just because something is the best choice for one person, doesn't mean it's the best choice for someone else. Cell service is a prime example. I know people at work that pay over twice as much as I do, but that's either due to coverage where they live, or because they travel a lot. Coverage on my much cheaper service has been great for me, even on the occasion vacation. The savings are worth more than slight difference in coverage I've experienced.

Same goes with tools. If used a tool every day, I'd buy an expensive one that lasts. But if it's a tool I might only use only once or twice, I'll go as cheap as possible as long as it can get the job done. No use spending $200 on something you will use once, when you can get the job done with something costing $30.

Exavior said:

The middle class has no money because of all the shit they spend it on. You need to understand a need vs a want. Somebody making $8/hour thinks they should be able to live in a nice house with everyone having top of the line smart phones, tablets, laptops, top of the line internet service, 55in tv.. Learn how to live within your budget.

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This is also a large part of the problem. I work with people who always complain that they have no money and can't afford anything. Yet they are driving a leased BMW, and have the latest iPhone.

Even though I earn more than test people, I own a Toyota that I will be driving for at least 10 years, and have a 2+ year old Android phone. Due to my frugal (or cheap) ways, we own a home in a nice upper middle class neighborhood, that we should not be able to afford on my paycheck. We have neighbors that earn almost twice what I do, yet they always seem to be one paycheck away from loosing their home.

As a wise man once said: It's not how much you earn, it's how much you keep.