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Latoya Gaines sits with Alex Pickett as Gaines awaits treatment at University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor.Consumers grumpy over goods, service
Fewer workers to help, frustration over technology take toll on satisfaction index.
"Airline workers aren't as friendly as they used to be," says Derek Hughes of Ann Arbor, waiting to check luggage last week at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.; Fornell
Can’t get no
The latest American Customer Satisfaction Index showed a sharp decline. With which business sector are you most dissatisfied?
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Life has never been easier for American consumers. We live in a 24/7 world with virtually every convenience imaginable at our fingertips.
Yet there is growing consumer dissatisfaction with many products and services meant to enhance our lives.
The American Customer Satisfaction Index dropped sharply in the first three months of this year -- the second straight quarter of steep decline, according to a University of Michigan study that's scheduled for release today.
The index, released quarterly by U-M, reflects interviews with 20,000 consumers nationwide.
The overall score of 73 for the first quarter of 2005 is a drop of 0.8 percent from the last quarter of 2004. The index's scores for the six-month period represent its biggest drop since 1997.
Researchers say rising fuel prices and a struggling economy have forced many companies to dramatically cut costs, including jobs, hurting service at a time when consumers are more demanding than ever.
The public appears weary of paying more for goods and services, navigating confusing automated phone systems and dealing with rude, stressed customer service employees.
While the financially troubled airline industry's standing didn't fall, its score of 66 remains "lower than low," said Claes Fornell, a U-M business professor and author of the 10-year-old study. Derek Hughes of Ann Arbor, who works for a software company in Southfield, said he thinks he knows the problem with airlines.
"Airline workers aren't as friendly as they used to be," said Hughes, who flies on business at least once a week from Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
"Everyone is being forced to do more with less. There is stress because more work has to be done with fewer employees. It shows in the employees' attitudes toward passengers."
Cost-cutting airlines have also eliminated such amenities as in-flight movies, meals, even pillows.
According to the study, the biggest drops in customer satisfaction are in such sectors as hospitals, which dropped from a score of 76 to 71; wireless telephone service, which fell from 65 to 63 and newspapers, which slipped from 68 to 63.
The gainers include utilities, up from 72 to 73.1; fast food, which climbed to 76 from 74; and hotels, which rose to 73 from 72. A good score is generally 72 and above.
"Businesses are pulling back services," said Fornell, who is also director of the National Quality Research Center. "There is just less value for the money. People just aren't as satisfied as they were six months ago or even a year ago."
Fornell said the decline in consumer satisfaction will have a negative impact on the economy in the months ahead, something Michigan can ill-afford.
"We're seeing a pretty dramatic decline in the level of customer satisfaction that will have negative implementation on consumer spending," he said. "It will slow down economic growth."
One of the biggest declines was for hospitals; overall satisfaction fell 7 percent.
Fornell and others attribute the decline to rising health-care costs and hospitals' cost-cutting moves, including higher doctor-patient ratios and shorter hospital stays.
Some hospitals realize the public isn't happy about the service they've been getting.
The Detroit Medical Center, which includes five hospitals with emergency rooms, has a new program that promises no ER patients will wait more than 29 minutes to see a doctor.
While this has helped, consumers still are dissatisfied with hospitals.
Deborah O'Harris said she's watched the quality of health care decline while prices continually shoot up.
"It used to be you could go to the doctor and have them look at several things during one appointment," said O'Harris, a Wayne resident. "Now you have to make different appointments for every little thing. The health-care industry is taking advantage to make more money off the consumers."
Shanta Irving of Detroit said a caring hospital staff and qualified doctors outweigh cost when it comes to health care.
Irving's son, who celebrated his first birthday on Sunday, has spent most his life at Children's Hospital of Michigan, being treated for a number of health conditions, including congenital heart disease and respiratory problems.
Irving brought him into the ER there earlier this year, where the pair waited fewer than 15 minutes for a doctor.
"They made sure he was comfortable and gave him a birthday party," she said. "That's what's important."
Satisfaction with wireless cell phone companies dropped 3.1 percent for the quarter. Fornell said that with technology improving, consumers expect better service.
Dropped calls and poor signal strength is a sore point with wireless users.
"The users of cell phones are becoming increasingly irritated by the reliability of the phones themselves," Fornell said. "They still don't have the quality of a land line. The other complaint area is the wireless phone contracts and the pricing associated with it. It's difficult to understand."
Don't expect satisfaction rates to increase anytime soon.
"There is a general crankiness with the American consumer," said Michael Bernacchi, professor of marketing at the University of Detroit Mercy. "We are going to see consumer satisfaction plummeting into the future. Maybe there will be a need for a new kind of economic therapist. Maybe it will help people cope with the reality that this isn't the economy of 10, 25 or 50 years ago. For Americans, that isn't good news."
You can reach Joel J. Smith at (313) 222-2556 or jsmith@detnews.com.
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