uTime Warner Cable Has Lowest Customer Satisfaction Score Of All U.S. Companies, Not Just Cable Providersr

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  (Lyman Green)

  In news that backs up the results of a recent Consumer Reports survey, Time Warner Cable’s pay-TV service is not just dead last on the American Customer Satisfaction Index’s rankings of cable companies, but of all companies in the entire Index.

  TWC managed to score a ridiculously bad 51 out of 100 on the ACSI for its pay-TV service (the Index scores cable companies’ pay-TV, broadband, and phone services separately), tying it with survey newcomer Mediacom for the worst rating thus far in 2015. Mediacom was also a bottom-of-the-barrel performer in the CR survey.

  This is a repeat of sorts for TWC, which saw its Internet service receive the worst overall ACSI score (54) in 2014, while its pay-TV score of 56 was the second-lowest.

  While TWC’s broadband score improved slightly to a subpar 58, the score for Comcast’s Xfinity service slipped a point to 56, putting it at the back of the pack for all ISPs this year.

  TWC’s latest merger partner, Charter, also failed to fare well, scoring a miserable 57 for broadband and just meeting the industry average of 63 for its pay-TV service.

  On the plus side of things, both AT&T and Verizon FiOS received above average scores for pay-TV and Internet access. AT&T topped the broadband ratings with a score of 69, while FiOS dropped three points to 68, falling out of the leadership spot it held for the previous two years.

  As a whole, this sector continues to bring up the rear of all industries on the ACSI. In 2014, its average score of 71 only beat out Public Administration/Government, and it looks like we might be in for a repeat of that ranking this year with the overall sector average dropping to 69.

  “There was a time when pay TV could get away with discontented users without being penalized by revenue losses from defecting customers, but those days are over,” says Claes Fornell, ACSI Chairman and founder. “Today people have more alternatives than ever before. Consumer abandonment of pay TV is shaking up the industry and lower satisfaction could mean even more cord cutting by subscribers ahead.”

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uHomeland Security Secretary Reassigns TSA Head, Tells Agency To Revise Airport Security Proceduresr

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  (frankieleon)

  After yesterday’s report that undercover government agents were able to sneak mock explosives and weapons past Transportation Security Administration checkpoints at airports in 95% of tests, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is making some changes: He’s reassigned the acting administrator for the TSA and says he’s directed the agency to revise screening procedures “to address specific vulnerabilities identified” in the undercover operation.

  Johnson said in a statement that acting administrator Melvin Carraway has been moved to the Office of State and Local Law Enforcement at Department of Homeland Security headquarters, reports Reuters, with TSA Acting Deputy Director Mark Hatfield moving into his spot to lead the agency until a new acting administrator is appointed.

  Although Johnson noted Monday that the results of the security checks included in the report from Homeland Security’s inspector general were classified, he’s directed the TSA to tweak things to address the results of those tests, as well as ordering training for all TSA officers and supervisors across the country and testing of airports’ screening equipment. There will also be more random covert testing at checkpoints, Johnson said.

  “The numbers in these reports never look good out of context but they are a critical element in the continual evolution of our aviation security,” Johnson said. “We take these findings very seriously in our continued effort to test, measure and enhance our capabilities and techniques as threats evolve.”

  Homeland security chief reassigns top TSA official [Reuters]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uApple Knows You Hate iTunes And Love Spotify, So They’re Launching A Streaming Music Service Toor

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  (Emily)

  Apple’s iTunes digital storefront for music was a pretty big deal when it launched over a decade ago. But time, and data plans, march on. Where once being able to buy a cheap single was the new hotness, these days consumers are more likely to want to stream their music, through a service like Spotify or Pandora. And so, Apple being Apple, they’re about to launch a new streaming service too.

  The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is expected to unveil its new streaming music service next week, at the company’s developer conference. The service is expected to cost subscribers $10 per month and, unlike Spotify or Pandora, will not have an expansive ad-supported free tier and instead will make “only a handful of songs” available for free streaming.

  If it seems like the streaming scene is crowded with players, well, it is. But Apple has an advantage, and that advantage is iTunes. You might hate it, but millions upon millions of us already have and use it. At a minimum, every iPod, iPhone, and iPad owner already has an iTunes account, and Apple is counting on being able to push their streaming service through iTunes, too.

  The changeover to mostly-streaming is one of the few music marketplace shifts Apple has missed, since launching the first iPod in 2003. Apple still sells between 80% and 85% of all downloaded music worldwide, the WSJ reports, but is barely a fraction of the streaming business.

  Spotify, meanwhile, is by far the most popular streaming music service in the U.S., hanging on to about 86% of that market. And while sales of downloads are starting to shrink as CDs, cassettes, and records did before them, the number of streaming service users is on the rise.

  Apple, Feeling Heat From Spotify, to Offer Streaming Music Service [Wall Street Journal]

  
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by Kate Cox via Consumerist

uDelta, Southwest Revamping Boarding Processes To Keep Flights On Time This Summerr

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  (Atwater Village Newbie)

  When heading out for a long-awaited summer vacation, most people don’t want to waste valuable time waiting in an airplane’s aisle while other people jam their bags in the crowded overhead bins, or playing a round of musical chairs so a family can sit together on the upcoming flight. In an effort to ensure travelers don’t miss time sunning themselves on the beach, two airlines are revamping their boarding processes. 

  The Associated Press reports that Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines are taking two entirely different approaches to expediting the boarding in an effort to reduce delays, customer complaints and extra costs.

  For Delta, the company is looking to streamline the way passengers stuff their bags in overhead bins. On Monday the airline rolled out its Early Valet service, which tasks airline employees with preloading carry-on bags, on nearly two dozen flights.

  Through the service, travelers will be given the option to have their bags specially tagged, taken from the gate by airline employees and placed in the gate above their assigned seat before the boarding process officially begins.

  A spokesperson for Delta says that the service is currently available on flights that have a high number of vacationers departing from Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City and Seattle, with more airports expected to be added later this month.

  Tests of the service were conducted last summer in Atlanta and Los Angeles resulting in some boarding time reductions, the spokesperson tells the AP.

  On the other side of the spectrum, Southwest – which doesn’t offer assigned seats – is aiming to cut back on the time passengers spend moving back and forth between seats to accommodate traveling families on crowded flights.

  Southwest’s current process allow families to board together after the “A” group as long as the children in their party are four years old or younger. Additionally, families can pay extra to board earlier.

  However, neither of those systems are full proof, and flight attendants often have to ask other passengers to move in order to accommodate older children or families that don’t get to the gate on time, the AP reports.

  While many travelers are happy to oblige the requests to move seats, the airline is aiming to alleviate that hassle through a recent test that expanded those covered in family boarding to include children up to 6, 8 or 11 years of age.

  “We’ve always tried to finesse it,” Teresa Laraba, a senior vice president overseeing customer service at Southwest, says of the tests that were designed to see “if there is a tweak that would improve the overall experience for everyone.”

  The airline is currently surveying passengers and expects to make a decision on whether or not a new system is needed later this month.

  Airlines try to save time with speedier boarding process [The Associated Press]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uReader Notices Target Math, Gets $4.99 Off Price Of Lampr

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• Target is a discount store, but also a strange and mystical place where Doritos are refrigerated, sale items are simultaneously 50% off and free, and customers are notified when something isn’t on sale. As a Consumerist reader, Erin knew to look out for Target’s strange version of reality, and was able to get an item for the lower shelf tag price rather than the higher “sale” price.

  

  This is the most important reason to snap a picture of weird pricing discrepancies when you see them: in case your purchase scans at the wrong price, and you need to quickly illustrate the problem. (Also, then you can send the photo to us, but that’s secondary.) While your camera phone picture isn’t the definitive word on an item’s price, it helps your case and proves that you were paying attention and aren’t just making up different prices to be difficult.

  In this case, Erin saw the two different prices and brought her picture to the checkout. “I asked the CSR very politely if I could have it at the $14 price, and showed him the photo, and he said, ‘Hrm, yep. Our bad.'”

  The interesting question would be whether anyone has fixed this pricing discrepancy. Maybe they just slid the sale sign back over the original shelf tag instead of removing it.

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uNew Plenti Rewards Card Not As Rewarding As It Looksr

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• I carry a lot of store loyalty cards around. I have a separate wallet for them. I have five different cards just for different pet stores. “Another loyalty card” is not something that America seems to need. Yet last month, American Express introduced a loyalty program called Plenti, which promises to let you accumulate points on purchases at different retailers and other businesses. The problem is that the rewards aren’t as flexible as the card’s ad campaigns imply.

  AmEx announced that Plenti was coming earlier this year. Right now, there’s a small selection of companies that let you accumulate points for the Plenti program. In theory, they could cover a lot of an average family’s spending. There’s Exxon/Mobil gas stations, AT&T, Macy’s, Nationwide Insurance, Rite Aid, Direct Energy, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and Hulu. The program launched at the beginning of May, and launched ad campaigns full of singing groceries in the last few weeks.

  The idea behind the program is to earn points at one place that you can spent at another: cool! Except, as Mouse Print’s Edwin Dworsky points out, it’s not as simple as that, because not all of the merchants in the program let you use points as currency or for discounts.

  Specifically, you can use the points at some Exxon and Mobil stations, but you’ll have to check for a Plenti logo on the door. You can also use them at Macy’s, and Rite Aid has replaced their Wellness+ program with Plenti, and you can cash in points earned elsewhere. That’s it.

  Maybe this will change if more retailers sign on. Before signing up for programs like this, though, make sure that the points would actually be useful to you.

  Get Rewards with Plenti (of Strings Attached) [Mouse Print]

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uNetflix Testing Teasers For Its Original Shows, No Plans To Introduce Third-Party Adsr

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  (cookedphotos)

  After some Netflix subscribers started seeing teaser ads playing either before or after the company’s original programming, the streaming video service has confirmed that yes, it’s testing teasers –only featuring its own shows, before or after its own shows — but no, it won’t be introducing any third-party ads.

  Cord Cutters News first reported that users were seeing teaser trailers running before and/or after Netflix TV shows in browser viewing, with TechCrunch adding that it’s recently started running pre-roll teaser ads on some devices as well.

  “We’ve had originals teasers at the end of shows for a while. Some members [are] seeing tests at the beginning of shows. As you know, we test many things over the year, many of which are never universally deployed,” a Netflix spokesperson told TechCrunch.

  This isn’t unlike what you get on say, HBO Go or HBO Now, where subscribers often see spots for upcoming shows or new seasons before the original content starts playing. Showtime

  If you’re worried about those teaser ads turning into fully-realized commercials from corporate sponsors, rest easy — Netflix says it’s not going to bring in ads from third-party providers.

  “Our policy around ads is unchanged. We have no plans to support third-party ad units,” the spokesperson told TechCrunch.

  Netflix Starts Testing Pre-Roll Ads [Cord Cutters News]
  Netflix Tests Teasers For Original Programming, But Has No Plans To Run Third-Party Ads [TechCrunch]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist