I understand that surveys can be biased, I just have never heard that JD
Powers is considered a bias survey. Your comment is not consistent with
what I have read other places. Since companies not only want to know when
they are doing good, but what they need to do to improve, they would still
buy the survey to see the consumers perception of their product. While my
"black helicopter" comment was smart ass, it does seem to be an accurate of
your perception of JD Powers.


"Gould 0738" wrote in message
...
Are you basing this on actual knowledge of the way J.D.Power opertes or
are
you basing this on what could happen? In the automotive industry all
manufacturers buy them, but only a few get the top rating.

Aren't you the same guy that just made the wise ass personal remark?

See that black helicopter outside? It's got a rotor on top. Go sit on it.
And
spin. :-)

Then when you're done getting even dizzier, I'll suggest an exercise for
you
that will allow you, or any other thinking person, to draw a personal
conclusion. Wouldn't expect you to take the word of a black helicopterist.

Is that JD Power "survey" that supposedly proves Cobalt boats are the be
all
and end all of everything afloat still around? If so, take a look at the
rankings list. As I recall,
there's a big, gold colored #1, or a blue ribbon, or some other
abso-friggin
lutely non-objective bit of colorful artwork tagged to the Cobalt name. Is
this
the way a scientific and objective study reports findings? Why is it that
JD
Powers wants to be *absolutely certain* nobody misses Cobalt at the top of
the
heap?

Then look at the other boats that didn't fare so well. Notice that the
survey
doesn't use any real statistics, just a group of choices from "really
good" to
"POS" How many points separate really good from POS. Is the scale
standardized
between one question and the next, or one brand and the next? There is no
way
to know.

For a good many people, this kind of presentation is completely
believable. As
long as that remains the case, there is a bright future for the private
survey
companies.

As far as the automotive industry goes, I worked in autos for about 20
years. I
was a partner in a new car dealership for a while, and I've served on
marketing
committees for Chrysler and Subaru. I am very well acquainted with JD
Powers
and how the whole survey business is operated.