No one likes to make a mistake …

… but it happens to the best of us. The question is: how do you make it right again?

Temkin Group, a customer service research and consulting firm, just released its Forgiveness Ratings for 2012. The company surveyed 10,000 U.S. consumers, asking them how likely they would be to forgive a company that delivered a bad experience. According to Temkin, willingness to forgive is an important element of customer loyalty and a measure of how consistently the company meets the needs of its customers

Among the 206 companies across 18 industries rated in this year’s survey, Hy-Vee finished tied for fourth. Grocery chains and retailers in general tend to dominate the rankings, while health plans, credit card companies and internet service providers lag toward the bottom of the list.

You can read more about the Forgiveness Ratings here.