If you’ve ever been surprised to find you’ve been automatically charged for a subscription or a service you don’t remember signing up for, you’re not alone: A new survey says that more than a third of Americans have been enrolled in autopay programs — for anything from a gym membership to a streaming service — without realizing it. [More]
surveys
Survey: Male Republican Baby Boomer Northeasterners Are The Best Tippers
By 7.11.17
Among Americans, who are the most generous tippers? If you believe the results of a recent survey, if you’re in the service industry, you should hope that your next customer is a male Republican from the Northeast who’s a member of the Baby Boomer generation and pays on a credit card. [More]
Dairy Industry Says 48% Of Americans Don’t Know Where Chocolate Milk Comes From
By 6.15.17
Even though the term “chocolate milk” may seem pretty self-explanatory, a large number of people apparently think there is some secret alchemy involved in brewing this mysterious elixir. [More]
Even The Cable Lobby’s Questionable Survey Shows Most Americans Want Net Neutrality
By 5.12.17
It’s no secret that the cable lobby really, really hates the FCC’s net neutrality rule, and is cheering on its potential demise. So the industry’s biggest trade group is trumpeting a survey it commissioned to show that Americans’ support its view… except what the results actually say is that yeah, most Americans think net neutrality is a pretty good idea, actually. [More]
Chipotle Lures Customers Back With Free Burritos That Don’t Make Them Sick
By 4.25.16
What’s the best way to prove to the American public that your food won’t make them sick? Convince them to try your food again, and don’t make them sick. That’s been Chipotle’s recovery plan, and it’s working pretty well. In addition to serving up raincheck burritos (in exchange for capturing your phone number) the company also sent out coupons offering free entrées, free sides, and free beverages to lure customers back. According to one firm’s research, this plan worked. [More]
Survey: Retailers Should Work To Be On Customer Service “Nice List” Year-Round, Or Risk Turning Off Shoppers
By 12.8.15
If retailers think they can be naughty all year when it comes to customer service, only to take their smiles out of storage and dust’em off when the holidays roll around, they’ve got another think coming, according to a recent survey that says customers can be very unforgiving. [More]
Ford Dealership Bans Another Customer For Imperfect Survey Responses
By 9.28.15
Automakers demand nothing but perfection. No, no, not necessarily from their employees or their dealerships. They demand perfection from us consumers when we respond to surveys about the service at the dealership. It turns out that bad scores can cost dealerships and even individual salespeople a lot of money, and dealerships will ban bad survey-takers from doing business with them. [More]
Survey Says: You’d Rather Have Your Nude Pics Leaked Than Your Financial Information
By 7.9.15
MasterCard wants to know how you feel, so they asked a bunch of people: Do you feel safe? Do you feel secure? Do you feel like you need a cookie and a nice cup of cocoa? Wait, scratch that last one. MasterCard’s survey only covered feelings about how safe and secure you feel your financial information is. The answer? Not very secure at all. [More]
Survey Says: Everyone Still Hates Comcast’s, TWC’s Customer Service
By 6.1.15
Comcast keeps promising that this is the year their legendarily bad customer service gets an overhaul, but consumers don’t seem to be buying it. A national survey asking consumers about cable and internet companies has, once again, dropped Comcast and Time Warner Cable right at the very bottom of the heap. [More]
Nearly 35% Of Consumers Have Never Checked Their Credit Reports
By 5.4.15
While consumers are often urged to take advantage of the free once-a-year opportunity to request a credit report and make sure they aren’t riddled with errors, a new survey suggests many Americans simply aren’t heeding the suggestion. [More]
Did Amazon’s Two-Day Shipping Suffer Over The Holidays? Survey Says Yes
By 2.11.15
One of the perks of paying $99/year to be an Amazon Prime member is the free two-day standard shipping on millions of items sold on the e-tailers’ site. But according to a new survey, being a Prime member didn’t always prove to be beneficial when it came to on-time deliveries last holiday season. [More]
Despite Regulations Most Consumers Don’t Understand Overdraft Penalty Plans; More Rules Needed
By 6.26.14
Since 2010, financial institutions have been required to obtain an opt-in confirmation from consumers before enrolling them in overdraft penalty plans, yet a new report found more than 50% of consumers who incurred such penalty fees in the past year don’t believe they opted into any such plans. This revelation, coupled with consumers’ concerns over fees and bank practices, has led to a call for federal regulators to improve rules governing financial institutions’ overdraft policies. [More]
Pretty Much Everyone (Except The FCC) Thinks Internet Fast Lanes Are A Bad Idea
By 6.20.14
This morning the House Judiciary Committee held another hearing about net neutrality. While the members of Congress and expert witnesses are sitting on Capitol Hill arguing with each other over antitrust law, the public is clear on one thing: paid prioritization is a bad, bad idea. [More]
Survey: Over Half The Country Thinks The Comcast-Time Warner Cable Merger Is A Terrible Idea
By 6.19.14
We here at Consumerist are skeptical at best about Comcast’s bid to merge with Time Warner Cable. From where we sit, the deal looks distinctly anticompetitive and likely to harm consumers. Plenty of other folks agree, but not just lawmakers and advocacy organizations. It turns out, over half the country thinks this is a bad idea. [More]
Fill Out This Simple Survey, Get Actual Help From Sears
By 5.19.14
Over the last nine years or so of Consumerist, we’ve chronicled the tragic decline of Sears, an American institution. This has happened under the leadership of manifesto-writing hedge fund manager/CEO/intra-company deathmatch impresario Eddie Lampert. Shoppers’ biggest complaint: profound dysfunction and incompetence in stores. A manager at Sears slipped Consumerist a bit of information that people locked in a customer service battle with Sears might find useful. [More]
It’s Not Just You: Pretty Much Everyone Hates Their TV & Internet Providers, Survey Finds
By 3.25.14
If you’ve got problems with the company providing your TV and broadband service, you are most definitely not alone. Our siblings over at Consumer Reports ran a national survey to find out how satisfied with their cable and internet providers subscribers really are. And the findings won’t surprise most Consumerist readers: when it comes to their telecom providers, most consumers are a lot less than pleased. [More]
Staples Offers $5 Check To Take Stupid Survey, Won’t Give Me $5
By 2.12.14
Guy received an invitation from Staples to take a survey. Surveys can be tedious and not very fun, but five bucks is five bucks. He followed the link and completed what he calls a “long, redundant, poorly designed survey.” He kept going because there was a check for him at the end. Then he reached the end, and learned that there would be no reward for him. [More]
Car Salesperson: Give Me Perfect Survey Score Or I Barely Get Paid
By 9.19.13
As a site advocating from consumers, we’ve frequently posted stories from readers about all kinds of businesses effectively begging for perfect survey scores. The worst offenders are car dealerships, where readers have reported being guilted or harassed when their survey responses are anything other than perfect. Why is that? One salesperson wrote in to explain. [More]
