The most hated company in the US is...
Americans love to complain about their cable and internet providers (especially when companies like Comcast have customer service workers who rename customers "a**hole" on their billing statement).
The telecommunications industry as a whole continues to perform poorly on the American Customer Satisfaction Index. But there's one telecom company in particular that stands out this year because it not only ranked last in customer satisfaction among other telecom companies, it also ranked dead last among the more than 300 companies across 43 industries included in the ACSI.
The dubious distinction goes to Mediacom, a New York-based cable, Internet and phone company that serves more than 1,500 communities across the United States. Mediacom earned a customer satisfaction score of just 54 out of 100 for its subscription television services. The average score for cable companies was 65.
Ouch.
Subscription TV providers' ACSI scores are based on customers' opinions on factors including the quality of the cable picture, the range of premium channels available and experience with the company's customer service agents, among others. Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications rounded out the bottom three performing subscription TV companies, with both companies earning 59 points.
Verizon's Fios service earned the top spot among subscription TV providers. It also earned the top score for its Internet service.
In an email to Fortune, Thomas Larsen, Mediacom's senior vice president of government and public relations, said he believes his company is "at a distinct disadvantage" when compared to its larger rivals in terms of the sample size of respondents to the ACSI survey.
Larsen told Fortune that Mediacom has made recent investments to improve its customers' experience with Mediacom.
"We have introduced an award winning mobile care app and e-commerce sites for our customers to use," Larsen wrote in the email. "Mediacom was one of the first companies to introduce night and weekend appointments and 30-minute appointment windows, strategies that are now being copied by much larger providers. We recently announced a $1 billion capital investment plan over the next 3-years that will allow us to deploy 1-Gig services across our footprint."
RELATED: The 10 highest paying companies of 2016
Check out some tips on how to "Lower Your Cable Bill With Techniques A Hostage Negotiator Uses."
How do you like your Internet or cable service provider? Share your comments below or on our Facebook page.
More from MoneyTalksNews
Is it okay - or even legal - to fire longtime employees?
Live in this city? You may not have to pay rent
Dangerous new malware targets online bank accounts
