May 15 Report Contained Isolated Database Error; Revised Starwood Score to Be Issued
Company Press Release: American Society for Quality
July 19, 2000
MILWAUKEE, WI -- The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) score for Starwood Hotels and Resorts issued on
May 15 was inaccurate due to a database error. The ACSI has retracted the score and will issue a revised score
for both Starwood and the hotel industry as an addendum/revision to the next ACSI quarterly report.
The erroneous Starwood score was included in the ACSI report for the first quarter of 2000. This was the first
such error in the ACSI's history and no other errors are contained in the May 15 report.
Starwood consists of upscale and luxury brands, including Westin, W Hotels, Sheraton, St. Regis, Luxury Collection,
and Four Points. ACSI researchers erroneously included 159 interviews with customers of Days Inn, a budget brand,
in the sample of 250. Days Inn should not have been included in the Starwood sample.
The ACSI is conducting new customer interviews and will produce a new score for Starwood, which will replace the
score previously reported. This revision may affect the hotel industry score reported in May, in which case a revised
industry score will also be issued. It is not expected that a change of this nature will impact the national ACSI
score issued in May.
The ACSI deeply regrets the error and Index director Claes Fornell extends his apologies to everyone at Starwood
and others affected by the mistake.
The ACSI, which is produced through a partnership among the University of Michigan Business School, the American
Society for Quality, and the CFI Group, is a national, cross-industry measure of customer satisfaction. The ACSI
issues quarterly reports, updating different industries each quarter. The next quarterly report of the ACSI will
be released on August 21, 2000, and will include an addendum correcting the Starwood score.
COMMENT FROM STARWOOD:
Starwood officials were shocked when they saw the ACSI index published in May, and covered by many news outlets,
that ranked Starwood last among major hotel groups. Working closely with ACSI statisticians, they uncovered the
Days Inn issue.
``Our own research told a very different and much more positive story than did the ACSI study, and we were concerned,''
said Rebecca Gillan, vice president of market research. ``We were actually relieved when we discovered this database
error-and we thank the ACSI for their cooperation and quick response.''
SOURCE: American Society for Quality