Yeungjin College scored the highest points once again in the annual consumer satisfaction survey by the Korea Productivity Center on 288 companies and institutions last year.

By industry, hotels made notable advances this time, pushing apartment builders to second place.

The two-year technical college in Daegu received 89 points in the National Customer Satisfaction Index survey jointly conducted by the KPC and the University of Michigan, and sponsored by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy each year.

The national average NCSI hit its highest-ever 72.8 points, up from last year’s 72.4 points.

Yeongnam College of Science and Technology, another two-year college in Daegu, came in second with 86 NCSI points. Apartment builder Samsung C&T Corporation came third with 85 points.

Some 77,149 consumers were polled on the companies and schools across the country.

“Despite uncertainties in the domestic economy caused by the eurozone fiscal crisis and the U.S. fiscal cliff that led to a global slowdown, Korean companies’ customer-oriented management stood out, pulling up customer satisfaction,” the KPC said in a press release.

Of the 12 economic sectors, eight saw customer satisfaction levels rise, with hotels in the lead.

Lotte Hotel, Westin Chosun Hotel and Shilla Hotel swept fifth through seventh place, while JW Marriott, Sheraton Walkerhill, Grand Hyatt Seoul, and the Plaza ranked 11th, 13th, 14th and 17th, respectively.

Seven hotels were among the top 20 companies and institutions in the survey.

Two-year technical colleges also continued to do well, with three of them in the top 10.

Apartment builders, which have been among the top scorers in the past, were pushed back in the 2012 survey with Daelim Industrial, No. 4 in 2011, tumbling to 20th place.

Three hospitals made the top 20, with Severance ranking 15th, Samsung Seoul 16th and Catholic Medical Center 19th.

By industry, hotels, which came second with domestic and international airliners in 2011, topped the list this time with 79 points. Hospitals came second; large passenger cars and the postal service ranked a joint third place.

Apartment builders fell from first place to a joint sixth place along with refrigerators, power supply services and large book stores.

Out of the 64 industries surveyed, only 26, or 40.6 percent, saw their average scores surge.

The entire average score rose, nevertheless, as the leading companies in each industry scored higher in the latest survey.

Police administration service climbed the most to 69 points, up 4.4 percent from the previous year.

The average points of IPTV providers, tobacco companies and family restaurants gained 4.3 percent each.

Compared to 2011, 12 industries including railway services (-6.8 percent), international airliners (-3.9 percent), national universities (-2.9 percent), air conditioners, subway services and mobile phone services (-2.7 percent each) saw their average points drop.

The number of companies and institutions that scored 70 points or higher jumped by more than 12-fold from 20 in 1989, when the survey was launched, to 253 last year. The number was 225 in 2011, when a similar number of companies was surveyed.

The share of companies that scored in the 60-point range shrank from 16.4 percent in 2011 to 8.7 percent last year.

“The reason high-scoring companies are increasing is not because more companies were included in the survey, but because their products and service are reaching high levels of customer satisfaction,” the KPC said.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)