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Customer survey scores reported on our tables are from our surveys of Consumer Reports and CHECKBOOK subscribers, conducted via email and regular mail.
We have included on our ratings tables all of the stores for which we received at least 10 ratings on our customer surveys. If a store is not listed on our ratings tables, it simply means we did not receive at least 10 ratings for it.
Since many stores were rated by rather small numbers of raters, small differences between two stores in the percentage of raters who gave a particular rating (say, "superior") should be ignored. The table below gives a rough guide to minimum differences you should look for in deciding on one store over another.
When using these survey data, remember that the questions are to some degree subjective and that the differences among stores might be explained by differences in the personalities, backgrounds, critical standards, and other characteristics of the raters or by biases these raters might have.
For stores that were evaluated in our last full, published report, our ratings tables show the number of complaints filed against individual companies with the Better Business Bureaus (BBB) serving the Delaware Valley area for a three-year period.
When using the complaint information, keep in mind that complaints are not always justified; sometimes customers are unreasonable. Remember that we didn't have a measure of business volume; large stores are more likely to incur complaints simply because they serve more customers. Also be aware that some stores may be at greater risk of incurring complaints than others because of the specific types of business they do.
We always recommend that you look for substantial differences in complaint counts and rates. We also advise giving little weight to complaint counts if the total count against a store is less than three or four.
Information shown for stores on special services offered, payment policies, and return policies came directly from the stores' websites or representatives. Our researchers obtained the information from stores' websites or called each store to complete a survey over the phone and then followed up with a mailed verification form.
All of the data must be interpreted in view of timeliness. Our customer survey data are from surveys conducted from January 2004 to August 2011. Survey respondents were asked to report on experiences in the preceding year. Our data on complaints for the BBBs are for a three-year period dating back from a date between June 16 and July 21, 2011. The data from our survey of companies were collected from February to July 2011.
For the most part, our tables include companies for which we collected 10 or more ratings on our customer survey during the customer survey period mentioned above, but we do not report data for periods prior to companies' changes of name and ownership. As a result, some large companies are not listed at all. If only name or ownership changed, we do report the data. Changes subsequent to the dates listed above may not be taken into account.
We give checkmarks to stores that score highest on a scoring system that we devise for each service field. Our scoring systems weight the various data in our tables and text based on our subjective judgment of their importance. Since the scores are based entirely on information presented, you can apply your own subjective judgments, and decide whether you prefer stores we have not given checkmarks. Where we do not have important data on a company, we cannot give our checkmark.
We give checkmarks to stores that score highest on a scoring system that we devise for each service field. Our scoring systems weight the various data in our tables and text based on our subjective judgment of their importance. Since the scores are based entirely on information presented, you can apply your own subjective judgments, and decide whether you prefer stores we have not given checkmarks. Where we do not have important data on a company, we cannot give our checkmark.
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