In several TV commercials, the President of Dish Network touts the company’s low prices and success in becoming number one in customer satisfaction. In fact, he unequivocally proclaims:
“Dish Network is ranked number one in customer satisfaction among ALL [emphasis added] cable and satellite providers.” [Commercial one, and commercial two. ]
Not so fast, Mr. Ergen. There is a nearly unreadable disclaimer on the screen.
*MOUSE PRINT:
“According to the 2010 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) survey results for the US largest cable and satellite TV providers. The claim excludes fiber optics carriers.”
If you look at the actual survey results from the University of Michigan for May 2010, you discover the true ranking of companies:
*MOUSE PRINT:
Funny thing, the real number one-rated company for customer satisfaction is Verizon FiOS and the real number two company is AT&T U-verse. In essence, Dish is saying, if you exclude the number one and number two company, we are number one! That is kind of like Alamo declaring “We are number one (if you don’t count Hertz and Avis)”.
Dish Network was invited twice by Mouse Print* to comment on its advertising practices but did not respond.
Disclosure: MrConsumer is a member of Verizon’s Consumer Advisory Board (but even if he wasn’t, Dish Network’s ads would have been subject of a Mouse Print* commentary).
