METHODOLOGY

The 2023 America’s Best Customer

Service rankings were identified from the results of an independent survey of more than 30,000 U.S. customers who have either made purchases, used services or gathered information about products or services in the past three years. Customers evaluated several brands: in total over 200,000 evaluations were collected. The awarded brands each received on average 100 evaluations from customers.

The survey was conducted on retailers and service providers from 166 categories, providing results for a broad-spectrum of customer experiences in traditional retail, online and service segments. For each category, the most relevant brands were included in the scope of the survey according to reputation, turnover or market share.

In the brick-and-mortar categories, only retailers and service providers present in at least two census regions have been included in the list. In the online categories, only retailers and service providers present mainly online have been included in the list. For retailers and service providers with an online presence and store networks, only the core business was considered.

In total ,the survey took an average of 9-11 minutes to complete. The survey period ran from May to July 2022.

The final assessment and rankings were based on: ▸ Likelihood of recommendation (50% of the final score)

▸ Five weighted evaluation criteria (50% of the final score)

EVALUATION CRITERIA

1 _QUALITY OF COMMUNICATION measures whether the contact (via e-mail, telephone or face to face) was friendly or polite. (20.2 percent of evaluation score) 2 _PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE measures the quality of information received and whether questions were answered correctly and in sufficient detail. (19.7 percent of evaluation score) 3 _RANGE OF SERVICES: measures the variety of solutions available to fulfill one’s personal expectations. (18.9 percent of evaluation score)

4 _CUSTOMER FOCUS: measures whether the customer feels acknowledged and important. (20.4 percent of evaluation score)

5 _ ACCESSIBILITY: measures the availability of customer service in a shop or on a helpline. (20.8 percent of evaluation score) The top 3-5 brands based on category size receiving the highest scores in each category were awarded as America’s Best Customer Service 2023.

The survey was conducted using online access panels, providing a representative sample of more than 30,000 American customers who made a purchase, used a service or gathered information about a product or service in the last three years. Each of them gave an evaluation of several brands: in total 200,000 evaluations have been collected. An online access panel is a sample group set up by a survey company and available for custom-built surveys. People register and agree to take part in online surveys.

The rankings are composed exclusively of brands that are eligible regarding the scope described here. A mention in the ranking is a positive recognition based on peer recommendations and publicly available data sources at the time. The ranking is the result of an elaborate process which, due to the interval of data-collection and analysis, reflects the last three calendar years. Furthermore, events following June 31, 2022, and/or pertaining to individual persons affiliated/associated with the brands were not included in the metrics. The results of this ranking should not be used as the sole source of information for future deliberations. The information provided in this ranking should be considered in conjunction with other available information about the brands. The quality of brands that are not included in the rankings is not disputed.