Dell dissed, Apple applauded

On July 14 I wrote about Dell closing down its customer care boards. The company's strategic "wisdom" is clearly paying off. In this years American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Dell scored a lowly 74, down from last years 79.

According to this story from Bloomberg "Dell is dropping in large part because of call-center problems, including long-wait times and difficulty with consumers getting their questions answered".

And what did the customer care boards do before Dell burried them? They were a (very good) resource where people could get their questions answered!

Apple retain their #1 spot with a score of 81.

Claes Fornell, marketing professor and head of the University of Michigan's National Quality Research Center:

"The satisfaction of customers is pretty much a leading indicator as to whether customers will come back and buy more", "Apple looks good. Dell is facing challenges. If I were a Dell shareholder, I'd look at the results.''