The Worst Company in America
by David Gracey
Every year, Consumer Reports holds a competition to determine the worst company in America. It is based on the NCAA tournament bracket, starting at 32 companies, and is generally based on customer service, product support and industry reputation. Every round features consumers voting for their favorite worst company with the best (worst) advancing to the next round. It comes as no surprise to many that the Final Four includes:
Comcast: Clearly a loser year-after-year among the customer service bottom feeders. They outsource many of their customer facing positions to people/companies that have little accountability throughout their organization. Plus being a near monopoly allows them to charge high prices combined with poor customer service.
BP: Coming out of nowhere to one of the top spots this year is BP, for obvious reasons. They probably wouldn’t be in the final four were it not for one of the worst disasters the oil industry has faced in many years.
Bank of America: You just knew a bank had to be in the list given the financial shape our country is in right now. And, yes, BoA leads the pack when it comes to complaints. Did I mention I have a new $3.00 monthly fee on my checking account that doesn’t even have a description attached to it? Oh, and make sure you thank them for taking the TARP bailout funds. Our company recently changed banks and went with a smaller, local bank (Clark Howard would be so proud of us). We have been very happy with the personalized service we get plus the high-tech tools – like remote deposit – make banking easy.
TicketMaster: They hold the monopoly when it comes to purchasing tickets and all things concert-related. The biggest frustration folks have is the enormous fees that are piled on top of the already high ticket price to see a show. There are congressional investigations into their business practices, so TM may get their due.
And the winner is…BP!!! Congratulations! You get the prize. Here is a link to the site with other interesting “winners”. (I’m still upset AT&T didn’t make it into the Final Four)
