Americans Are Less Pleased With U.S. Services

Shoes off at airport security checkpoints. Forms that are hard to understand. Complaints that go unheeded.

Perhaps it's no surprise that a new survey shows Americans are less satisfied with government services than those provided by the private sector.

The survey, scheduled for release today, measures an array of federal programs and services for the American Customer Satisfaction Index, produced by the University of Michigan and other groups.

The government scored 67.8 on the index's 100-point scale. The score was lower than the overall score for all industries and economic sectors, by 7.4 points, and below the index's rating for "private-sector services," by 6.2 points.

Comparing satisfaction with government services to private-sector services is difficult, largely because many Americans have no choice when it comes to some government services, which are sometimes unique and sometimes controlled by law and regulation.

Still, "citizens expect more from the government," said Claes Fornell, who heads the index at the University of Michigan. "The federal government should be concerned when satisfaction is on par with airlines and cable TV."

Commercial airline pilots, for instance, signaled their displeasure with Federal Aviation Administration policies, particularly the degree to which the policies are clear and understandable, the report said. The pilots' satisfaction rate dropped to 64, down from 70, and reversed from an upward trend since 2000, the report said.

The government's overall score had been edging upward since 2000, to 72.3 last year. But the 2007 index was expanded and includes first-time scores for several agencies, making it difficult to compare this year's ratings with previous years, Fornell said.

But Fornell said it is possible that the overall federal score has dropped because agencies are operating with smaller staffs and tighter budgets. "By exactly how much, we can't say. We're not comparing exactly apples to apples," he said.

As an example, he pointed to the Social Security Administration, which is struggling to process a backlog of disability claims and keep up with rising retirement claims. The agency won an 84 score from retirees in 2000 but has dropped each year since, to 72 this year.

Some federal agencies, though, are doing well.

The National Cemetery Administration, a part of the Veterans Affairs Department, received a score of 95 from relatives of deceased veterans. The Defense Department's Tricare medical centers, in the index for the first time, were given a score of 89 by hospital patients. The U.S. Mint garnered an 86 rating from coin buyers.