Study: H.E.B. ties for top spot in consumer forgiveness

Waban, Mass. – Grocery chain H.E.B. tied with the banking business of financial services provider USAA for the top spot in consumer forgiveness. Based on a study of 10,000 U.S consumers, the two companies both came in first in the 2014 Temkin Forgiveness Ratings, which rates 268 companies across 19 industries.



There is a sizeable nine-point gap between these leaders and the next companies on the list. Other retailers the top 15 companies in the ratings are Amazon.com, Chick-fil-A, Apple (for software and retail), QVC, Costco, Trader Joe's, and Publix. The industries with the highest average ratings are grocery chains, retailers, parcel delivery services, and auto dealers. Apple and Best Buy both improved their ratings by more than 20 percentage points between 2013 and 2014.



"Forgiveness is an asset that companies earn from their customers," said Bruce Temkin, managing partner of Temkin Group. "Every company makes mistakes, but the ones with high forgiveness ratings have customers who will work with them to more quickly and positively resolve the issues."