The retailer with the best customer satisfaction survey is …

When it comes to customer satisfaction surveys, a convenience store giant — 7-Eleven — is at the top of the class.



That’s according to a study by Interaction Metrics which finds that retailers are wasting customers’ time — and their own — by conducting critically flawed satisfaction surveys.



The study, which examined the customer satisfaction surveys of 51 top U.S. retailers, found that the root of problem is twofold: Retailers collect inaccurate data, and they fail to show active customer listening.



Based on an objective evaluation of 15 elements, the surveys overall scored an average 43 out of 100 points, an F grade.



Other findings include:



• With 23 questions on average, the surveys were excessively long.



• 32% of all questions lead customers to give answers that companies want to hear.



• 7-Eleven had the best survey — it was 13 questions, none of which were leading or used biased wording.



• Family Dollar had the worst customer survey—it had 69 questions, 29 of which were leading.



• Nordstrom, the retailer most known for customer service, stated its survey would take two minutes — but with 25 questions, it took four-five minutes.



"To get real value from their customer satisfaction surveys, retailers need to strengthen their survey science — and take a creative approach to showing customers they care,” said Martha Brooke, chief analyst and founder of Interaction Metrics.



The retailers selected for the 2016 Customer Listening Study were the National Retail Federation's top retailers, omitting supermarkets and membership stores.