10228: Not Lovin’ Mickey D’s.

From The Chicago Sun-Times…

McDonald’s rates worst in customer satisfaction

By Matt McKinney, Staff Reporter

Not all McDonald’s customers are “lovin’ it,” according to the American Consumer Satisfaction Index released on Tuesday.

The Oak Brook-based company earned the worst customer satisfaction rating — 73 percent — for a fast-food chain in the survey. That rating was up 1 percentage point from last year. McDonald’s earned the worst ranking last year and in 2010.

But the company still serves 68 million people daily.

“For a company that’s so large and so dominant within its industry and space, satisfaction doesn’t necessarily have to matter quite as much — especially if value is a bigger lever than quality,” said David VanAmburg, managing director of the ACSI, a private research firm based in Ann Arbor, Mich.

It’s worth noting that the company has made significant improvements since 2004, which VanAmburg attributed to its improved coffee sales.

“They’ve made a pretty big dent in that business. They’ve been doing a lot of things right,” he said.

McDonald’s issued a statement in response: “At McDonald’s, customer satisfaction has, and continues to be, a top priority. We take all customer feedback seriously. Through restaurant evaluations and customer and employee feedback, we are continually evaluating our performance. Our internal and third-party research shows that we continue to make progress in satisfying our customers. Business results also reinforce this. In fact, the producers of the American Customer Satisfaction index said that McDonald’s customer satisfaction is at an all-time high. Still, we know we can do more by continuing to offer our customers great value, menu variety and a positive service experience every time they visit our restaurants.”

Papa John’s earned the highest customer satisfaction rating — 80 percent — followed by Subway; Little Caesar; Dunkin’ Donuts; Wendy’s; Pizza Hut; Domino’s Pizza; Taco Bell; Starbucks; KFC, and Burger King.

Starbucks suffered the biggest drop in customer satisfaction since 2011: 5 percent.