SAN DIEGO, Oct. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Chatmeter, the leader in multi-location intelligence, today released its 2024 QSR Reputation Ranking, ranking the 25 largest quick-service restaurants (QSRs) based on customer reviews of food quality, service quality and value.
Chick-fil-A is the most loved by customers, followed by Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s in second place and Arby’s in third place. But even the top-ranked restaurants aren’t immune to widespread criticism around customer service issues that plague the industry, the report found.
As traffic to QSRs continues to decline, Chatmeter’s research reveals that customers have real and valid complaints about their dining experiences. Reviews mentioning customer service increased by 19.1 percent, while those mentioning pricing declined slightly YoY.
“Every brand is at risk of going viral for the wrong reasons, with growing reviews and customer chatter around poor service an obvious warning sign,” said John Mazur, CEO of Chatmeter. “QSRs must listen to their customers’ feedback in real time to make better decisions and ensure the customer experience delivers on what’s promised.”
The report’s key findings include:
- Customer Service Chaos: Reviews mentioning mistakes were up 6.9 percent, while references to staff attitudes were up 21.8 percent. Mentions of managers increased 14.6 percent YoY, leaning negative.
- Customers regularly report inattentive staff, unprofessional communication, incorrect orders and rude managers.
- Wait Time Woes: Wait time-related reviews increased 8.5 percent. Among those reviews, mentions that orders took a “long time” increased 35.7 percent–with many customers reporting it took as long as 30 minutes to an hour to get their food.
- Mobile orders emerge as a potential threat to QSRs, with reviews mentioning mobile orders growing by 52 percent, and skewing negative. Consumers complain that mobile orders are not ready when promised, or deprioritized over walk-in orders.
- Price Sensitivity Persists: While customer service-related issues dominate reviews, pricing remains a problem. The portion of pricing-related reviews describing restaurants as “overpriced” increased by 43.2 percent.
- Customers complain about discrepancies between menu prices and checkout prices, while others compare prices unfavorably to sit-down restaurants.
Chatmeter used its AI-powered sentiment analysis tool, Signals, to analyze Google Reviews from a sample of 100 locations from each restaurant to inform rankings. Download the report, including the full ranking and methodology, here.
ABOUT CHATMETER
Chatmeter is the multi-location intelligence company reimagining customer connections and reputation management through AI-powered deep listening. Chatmeter makes it easy for multi-location brands to drive real-time impact through relevant insights in critical moments that matter. Chatmeter understands the challenges of multi-location, and omnichannel reputation management, and has created a scaled platform that enables end-to-end visibility for everyone, from local owners to executive leadership. With a 93% customer retention rate, Chatmeter is the brand reputation partner of choice across the retail, restaurant, healthcare, and financial services industries, and more. For more information, visit www.chatmeter.com.
