Customer Satisfaction

What do you think of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and its parent, Exelon Corp.? Some companies survey customers to find out. Results are mixed. J.D. Power and Associates' most recent survey -- for 2012 -- shows BGE with a roughly average score for large utilities in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, but substantially below average overall. BGE's 598 score for customer satisfaction among electric residential customers, on a 1,000-point scale, ranked it below 109 of the 126 utilities the marketing-information firm surveyed.

What do you think of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and its parent, Exelon Corp.? Some companies survey customers to find out. Results are mixed. J.D. Power and Associates' most recent survey -- for 2012 -- shows BGE with a roughly average score for large utilities in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, but substantially below average overall. BGE's 598 score for customer satisfaction among electric residential customers, on a 1,000-point scale, ranked it below 109 of the 126 utilities the marketing-information firm surveyed.

NV Homes ranks highest in customer satisfaction in the Baltimore market, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2005 New-Home Builder Customer Satisfaction Study. This is the first year Baltimore has been included in the study, which measures satisfaction with new-home builders in 30 of the largest U.S. homebuilding markets, based on 10 factors that drive overall satisfaction. NV Homes outperformed other builders in warranty/customer service, home readiness, construction manager, quality of workmanship/materials, physical design elements and location.

Joseph Vecchiolla of Forest Hill has been promoted from vice president of U.S. field operations to president at Williams Scotsman, a leading provider of modular space and storage solutions in North America. In this new role, Vecchiolla is responsible for all financial, strategic and operational aspects of Williams Scotsman's U.S. business. He is also part of the Algeco Scotsman leadership team, collaborating with global colleagues to further establish the company's leadership position.

Buick Motor Division has presented Harford County car dealer Boyle Buick with the Buick "Best in Class" trophy for 1990 in honor of the dealership's outstanding achievements in customer satisfaction and overall operating professionalism.In the six years of the "Best in Class" program fewer than 150 of the 3,030 Buick dealerships nationwide have ever been awarded Buick's highest honor. This marks the third time that Boyle Buick has been named "Best in Class." Boyle Buick remains the only dealer in Maryland ever named "Best in Class."

As the housing market cools, a home builder's reputation for customer satisfaction can win over buyers, representatives of J.D. Power and Associates said yesterday in releasing its 10th annual new-home builder customer satisfaction study. "For the past several years, builders have been in an order-taking mode, rather than a sales mode," said Paula Sorkin, executive director of the real estate industries practice at J.D. Power. "Builders that can provide a high level of customer satisfaction can differentiate themselves from the competition."

NEW YORK -- Customer service at U.S. airlines during the first quarter was the worst it has been in five years, according to a University of Michigan index that ranks customer satisfaction. Only cable television, satellite services and newspapers ranked lower than airlines in the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which also examined industries such as utilities, health care, telecommunications and food service. Among the U.S. airlines, Northwest ranked lowest, its rating falling 4.7 percent from the first quarter of last year.

Online shoppers prefer Walmart to Target. That's one of the findings of an index released today that scores the top 100 online retailers on customer satisfaction. ForeSee's Top 100 E-Retail Satisfaction Index based its analysis on nearly 21,000 surveys of online shoppers in the first quarter of 2012. The scores, calculated on a 100-point scale, range from a high of 89 for Amazon to a low of 69 for Ancestry.com and efollett.com. The top six, all with scores of 83 or higher, were Amazon, Apple, QVC, Keurig, Avon and L.L. Bean.

Customers of U.S. homebuilders were more satisfied with their houses in 2004 than a year earlier as the residential-construction industry continues to make strides in customer service, J.D. Power and Associates reported Wednesday. Overall customer satisfaction increased to 112 on the J.D. Power index from 109 in 2003. The company said satisfaction scores increased in 18 of the 20 metropolitan markets included in both the 2003 and 2004 studies, with the most notable increases seen in Minneapolis; Raleigh/Durham, N.C.; Las Vegas; Austin, Texas; and Denver/Colorado Springs.

WASHINGTON -- For the first time, one of the Big Three automakers has sued a dealer to end a franchise because of poor customer service.In the past, automakers have often sent representatives to urge improvements in service and, if necessary, to help negotiate the sale of a franchise.But in this case, Chrysler Corp. filed suit earlier this year in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to end the franchise of Lowe Jeep Eagle, of Upper Marlboro, a Washington suburb.In the suit, the automaker said that five years of corporate warnings of very low customer satisfaction had gone unheeded and that the dealer had refused to voluntarily give up the franchise.

As a proud employee of Southwest Airlines, I read your article ("Is Southwest Airlines losing the luv?" Feb. 9) with dismay. Within the article you acknowledge the fact that Southwest is still the only airline allowing two bags to fly free while simultaneously berating the company for "swelling its bottom line. " While most of the reporting in this piece is technically accurate, the omission of information is unfortunate at best and could easily lead readers to believe that the opinions reflected by the few customers quoted here represent a majority.

Online shoppers prefer Walmart to Target. That's one of the findings of an index released today that scores the top 100 online retailers on customer satisfaction. ForeSee's Top 100 E-Retail Satisfaction Index based its analysis on nearly 21,000 surveys of online shoppers in the first quarter of 2012. The scores, calculated on a 100-point scale, range from a high of 89 for Amazon to a low of 69 for Ancestry.com and efollett.com. The top six, all with scores of 83 or higher, were Amazon, Apple, QVC, Keurig, Avon and L.L. Bean.

Marylanders live with an unnecessary burden of being among the lowest in electric customer satisfaction nationwide. A 2010 J.D. Power satisfaction study puts Pepco and Baltimore Gas & Electric tied for 104 out of 121 utilities nationwide in customer satisfaction. Fortunately, the state finally has a chance to lead the effort in creating a more reliable electricity system. The spring season makes it all too easy to forget the winter snowstorm that left more than 400,000 Maryland residents without power just a few short weeks ago. While Pepco took much of the heat, 237,000 of those who lost power during January's storm were BG&E customers, according to The Baltimore Sun. The good news: Outage outrage has oversight officials scrambling to expedite emergency legislative action that would hold the utilities accountable for enhanced reliability standards.

Is there hope for my shares of Amazon.com Inc.? I wonder about that company. -- L.R., via the Internet As it accepts a flood of preorders for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final installment of the famous series due out at midnight July 21, the aggressive Internet retailer itself could benefit from a little magic. It offers an innovative array of new merchandise that has expanded far beyond books, music and videos. Yet there's no crystal-ball answer as to whether that can be transformed into long-term growth and profitability, or whether cut-rate shipping and hefty technology expenditures will be too costly to maintain.

There's a major disconnect between consumers and the businesses that compete for our hard-earned dollars. We consumers are better prepared, more resourceful and more capable than ever of making smart spending decisions. With the World Wide Web at our fingertips, hundreds of consumer groups eager to inform us and tens of thousands of companies offering us choice, we can easily take our money and walk. We were crucial drivers of the economy through recent tough times, including the Sept.

As the housing market cools, a home builder's reputation for customer satisfaction can win over buyers, representatives of J.D. Power and Associates said yesterday in releasing its 10th annual new-home builder customer satisfaction study. "For the past several years, builders have been in an order-taking mode, rather than a sales mode," said Paula Sorkin, executive director of the real estate industries practice at J.D. Power. "Builders that can provide a high level of customer satisfaction can differentiate themselves from the competition."

In its first customer satisfaction survey, the Wilde Lake Village Center Merchants' Association is seeking customers' opinions to find ways to bolster the shopping center.The survey, to be distributed beginning this week in the center's stores, will ask such questions as: Do you feel safe at the village center? Is the parking area well-lighted? What do you like about the center?The effort comes with merchants' revenues shrinking and 20 percent of the center's storefronts vacant, vacancies that will grow after the planned closure of a NationsBank branch at the end of October.

The catalog industry, which snared a record 98.6 million shoppers last year, is sure to beat that number by the time the 1991 holiday season ends.There's a big emphasis this year on items for the home, with some companies better known for other merchandise, among them Eddie Bauer, Lands' End and Lillian Vernon, producing specialty catalogs."

NEW YORK -- Customer service at U.S. airlines during the first quarter was the worst it has been in five years, according to a University of Michigan index that ranks customer satisfaction. Only cable television, satellite services and newspapers ranked lower than airlines in the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which also examined industries such as utilities, health care, telecommunications and food service. Among the U.S. airlines, Northwest ranked lowest, its rating falling 4.7 percent from the first quarter of last year.

Too often when consumers have a gripe about a business or the service they received, they don't tell the company because they figure it won't do much good. Instead, they tell friends, maybe switch to a competing company or just lower their expectations. They ought to give complaining a try. "It's not useless at all. The problem is that people don't know how to complain effectively," said Karen Leland, co-author of Customer Service for Dummies. Making an effective complaint takes some of the traits you learned as a child from a parent or kindergarten teacher.