Led by a record performance by fast-food restaurants, U.S. customers were more content with a host of purchases during the first quarter of 2008 than they've been for a while.

The big question left unanswered: whether their upbeat mood will deliver those tax-rebate checks to checkout lines.

For the first time in a year, the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index released today went up, rising to 75.2 from 74.9 on a 100-point scale last quarter.

It might not have been much, but Claes Fornell, the University of Michigan business school researcher who created the index in 1994, said the results could portend of a repeat of 2001. That's when an upbeat index paved the way to economic recovery.

Then again, maybe not.

"We have this rise, we've seen it before, and we recovered. But things are different this time," he said, citing high-flying fuel prices, tight credit and a murky job outlook.

What's more, he said, household savings are meager to nonexistent so that customer satisfaction and even IRS tax rebates might not prime the economy.

"You've got to have both the satisfaction and the willingness to buy more, but also the means," Dr. Fornell said. "In this economy, I question whether they have the means."

The silver lining was that the latest index showed that in hard times companies could retrench and make customer satisfaction a higher priority.

"Companies try to make sure that they keep the customers that they have," he said, assuming they have the finances to do so -- which seems to be the case.

The index surveys customers in various industries each quarter on an annual, rotating basis. The first-quarter snapshot includes transportation, information, utilities, health care, accommodation and food services.

Highlights involving companies of regional interest included cellar-dwelling US Airways, which along with Comcast sank to 54 -- not only all-time lows in their respective airline and cable sectors, but apparent all-time lows in any first-quarter report.

Verizon Wireless scored a sector-leading 72, while FedEx Corp., whose ground delivery unit is based in Moon, scored 85 to lead an overall strong express delivery field.

Aside from airlines, the sector that seemed most troublesome to Dr. Fornell was full-service chain restaurants, which included Outback, Olive Garden and Chili's. A razor-thin 2 points separated their score from the 78 earned by the well-performing limited-service/fast-food restaurants.

He called fast-food restaurants a success story. "One of the lowest scoring, now they're coming on strong," Dr. Fornell said. "They really are pushing full service to be full service, not easy to do in a cost-conscious environment."

Of the Big Three burger chains, the home of "The Whopper" was closing fast on free-falling Wendy's while holding its lead over last-place but fast-improving McDonald's.

"Burger King is the most traditional of the burger chains. They don't really hide the fact that they're giving us a lot of calories," Dr. Fornell said, as much as McDonald's or Wendy's do.

And for good or ill, "the segment they appeal to doesn't seem to mind."