Apple turns the most customer service frowns upside down

I couldn't resist the headline, but can you blame me? This tech stuff can be a doozie on consumers, but it seems that Apple just received the highest rankings in a customer support satisfaction survey released by the ACSI (American Customer Satisfaction Index). This 2006 second quarter report found Apple's industry-leading satisfaction rating on the rise to 83%, up 2.5% from last year (funny: in my student adventures, an 83% leading the class is typically considered a bad thing). The industry overall saw a slow increase in satisfaction, with Dell leaping over 5% to their 78% mark, and even HP and (surprisingly) Gateway seeing mild improvements.

Check out the full list of results - which includes plenty of other industries like automotive and even search engines - for more details of which companies are putting smiles on their customer's faces.