Which company deserves your forgiveness after screwing up and which ones don’t? It depends largely on the industry.
Americans are more willing to forgive supermarkets and retailers than internet service providers and TV providers, according to the Temkin Group, which surveyed more than 10,000 U.S. consumers about their experiences with 294 companies in 20 industries. The company has published the ranking for six years.
"Every organization makes mistakes, so forgiveness is a critical element of loyalty,” said Bruce Temkin, managing partner of Temkin Group, in a statement. “(The) leaders earn consumers' forgiveness by dedicating their efforts to meeting the needs of their customers.”
Related: 23 Companies Americans Hate Dealing With Most in 2016
This year, two companies—ConEdison of New York and RadioShack—moved up in their rankings by more than 20 points versus 2015. Seven others improved by more than 10 points: 21st Century, Coventry Health Care, Hyatt, Mercedes-Benz, Nationwide, US Airways and Holiday Inn Express.
GM had the worst year-over-year showing, dropping 20 points from 2015. Eight other companies had a 15-point decline or more: Home Depot, Mazda, Motel 6, American Family, Sun Trust Bank, TriCare, Scottrade, and Medicaid.
The Temkin Group ranked all companies that received at least 100 consumer responses. Its ranking was calculated by subtracting the percentage of consumers who were unlikely to extremely unlikely to forgive a company from the percentage of consumers who were likely to extremely likely. Several companies appear more than once in the ranking because they span multiple industries.
