Tech Support Satisfaction Survey Says: Apple Wins!

When it comes to customer service, few companies get it right. For some reason, companies invest little in customer service to reduce pricing of their products, but these companies rarely realize that customer service is part of what we pay for, and some companies do it better than others. But Apple does it best.

Consumer Reports has released the numbers of a survey of over 7,000 computer subscribers that measures customer satisfaction, and the results are not the least bit shocking: Apple trumps all others in tech support satisfaction.

Apple is continuing the trend of solid customer service, and year after year the company scored excellently in providing solutions, quick phone wait times, helpful phone services, and accessible online support. This year is no exception.

Unfortunately, Apple's competition didn't fare as well. Falling behind in the ratings are Lenovo, Toshiba, Dell, HP/Compaq, and Acer/Gateway/eMachines — listed from best to worst in tech support satisfaction (see graph for specifics).

Of course, there might be a slight bit of favoritism by the consumer reports subscribers, but with the one experience I had with Apple support — even out of warranty — they sent me a replacement power brick for my Macbook that was damaged from overheating within two or three days. As a result, I can't doubt the numbers for a minute.

While tech support and customer service isn't the sole determining factor of a company's success, it can't hurt. Companies like Apple, Lenovo, and Toshiba are obviously on the right track, but the rest might want to take a page from the tech support elite. Future sales from consumers of tomorrow might rely on the customer service experiences of today.