Americans Hate the Government About as Much as They Hate Cable Providers

In the battle for Most Reviled Customer Service, it appears the federal government wants to give your cable company a run for its money.

Citizen satisfaction with the federal government fell for the third year in a row, down 0.8% to 63.9 in 2015, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which uses data from around 70,000 interviews to gauge satisfaction across various public and private sectors. ACSI does try to put a positive spin on the numbers, though, noting that the drop is narrower than in past years. Americans may hate the government more than ever, but at least the pace of their dislike is slowing.

The main culprits of American distaste? Unsurprisingly, the Treasury Department ranks lowest, thanks to the IRS, with an overall satisfaction score of 55. The report notes that not all is lost for the IRS though, as "E-filers have a satisfaction level that is 20 points higher than paper filers (76 and 56, respectively)." The Department of Veteran Affairs and the Justice Department are the other lowest-ranking agencies, with scores of 60 and 59, respectively. For the sake of comparison, Internet and pay TV providers got an average score of 63, according to 2015 ACSI data.

The Department of the Interior comes out as the least-despised agency, with a satisfaction score of 75, followed by the State Department (71,) and the Defense Department (70.)

[ACSI]