I can think of no appropriate reply that is remotely polite so I shall just roll my eyes at you and move on.
]]>As for Halliburton, this site is the Consumerist and though Halliburton is a pretty bad company their interactions with consumers is zero.
]]>@RAREBREED: Definately the AAA. They are the backup for nearly every company listed.
]]>Which BlueCross BlueShield is that? Each state's BCBS is a different company. Some plans are merged, but BCBS of Michigan is a different company than BCBS of New Mexico...
]]>I know its going against the grain, but I <3 best buy, sprint and walmart. BB sold me a 42" LCD and PS3 for 500 bux and walmart gave me 20 free blu ray movies. All is forgiven. Oh and Sprint gives me tons of minutes, unlimited texts, and unlimited tetherable internet for like 40 bux a months so i love them too.
Regardless, ifn I were a bettin man, I would pick -
Comcast vs BestBuy
WalMart vs Gamestop (ooh i fucking hate Gamestop...)
as my Final Four
Comcast vs Walmart
Winner/Loser is ... Comcast! So evil.
This is bullshit. Who determines the initial rankings? And each side of the chart?
]]>Please, please people..........CHASE is the hands down winner. Those slime buckets would run over their grandmothers for a penny!
]]>MTV vs. TransUnion? There's a 1st round heavyweight right there.
]]>You need to implement a wild card for this tournament.
Even if you've seeded this in a non-random fashion so that those companies that received the most nominations are pitted against those that had the fewest for the early rounds of the tournament, there should be a way for low seeds who give top seeds a run for their money to make it to the next round.
As an example:
Menu Foods doesn't have a hope in hell of beating Comcast even though Menu Foods is probably more despised in its narrower market than Comcast is given Comcast's ungodly market foot print. Crocs also doesn't have a hope in hell of beating Exxon. Menu Foods versus Crocs - that one could go either way.
]]>Menu Foodsd FTW!!!
Killers should burn in HELL!!
Exxon, too.
]]>Pfizer vs. Diebold
Who can keep it running longest? (or not)
]]>BEST BUY SUCKETH...........
]]>IMHO, Stank of America (Bank of America) and Walk-all-over-ya (Wachovia) should reach the finals against each other. But which could possibly be worse? They have both ripped me off. And I'm sure many, many others.
First Onion (First Union), now a part of Walk-all-over-ya, stole money out of my checking account when a lone teller, handling four drive-thru lanes came up short one day. The teller was missing $100 dollars. Somebody got an extra Benjamin. I didn't get it. I checked my ATM balance one day and was $100 short. Their explanation: "We don't know who received the missing money, but to make sure it is returned, each customer would pay for the mistake." WTF? Every person that went through the drive-thru had $100 stolen from them by the bank. Let's see, if 50 people (very conservative at this busy branch, 6101 South Blvd) went to the drive-thru, that's an extra $4,900 for the bank (50 X 100 - 100). Think this money propably went to an branch manager to have a track day at Lowes Motor Speedway? Kid's braces? Who knows?
Stank of America (before that Nations Stank, before that North Carolina National Stank - NCNB), has jacked my interest rates all over the place. And the customer service is the worst I have ever used. DO NOT allow an automatic checking account withdrawl with, say, your insurance company. Stank of America will allow them to withdrawl at any time they like, even twice a month is not uncommon. And, they let them withdrawl whatever they like. It is never the same from month to month. Talk about messing up my monthly budget. One would think that a bank would make it harder for an automatic bill pay, so the bank would hold on to the money longer. This way, they make more interest on my money, while I make nothing. Instead, they let the money fly out of my account like I was the Treasury.
Charlotte really is the bottom of the barrel as far as banks are concerned.
]]>Even better, maybe The Consumerist could award an MVP (to the one person in the worst company that truly made it all possible) this year. I know that the DOOFS won't win, but they probably killed more family members this past year than any other company. That should at least get them an honorable mention.
]]>I really dont think CompUSA should be on the list since they dont exisit anymore really. I know they are still around but not as the original company so it shouldnt count.
]]>Glad to get that off my chest. Not as bad as UHC, and I'll probably feel better if they ever actually ever ship me my phones or refund my money but why should people have to contact customer support ten times to get them to honor a contract or simply refund money?
Thought after leaving AT&T half a decade ago they might have improved. Nothing's changed.
]]>@RandoX: Bush and Cheney made you say that.
George W.? Maybe. But Cheney??? Don't be so hard on Dick.
]]>I'm kind of disappointed that Comcast is going against the American Arbitration Association in round 2.
Very disappointed.
]]>How can you put DeBeers against 1800Flowers?
One is directly responsible for slave labor and price fixing on a global scale, the other delivers crappy flowers.
???
]]>@humphrmi: What if I've hired an extensive mercenary army from Blackwater?
]]>TICKETMASTER FT"W"
]]>man, i wish there was a facebook app for this thing. that way i can get my friends in on this, and keep the bracket up to date.
]]>Menu Foods almost killed my cat, but what was worse is all of the "premium" cat food companies hawking the same crap at high prices.
]]>That's why Duke plays some no-name school in Montana in the first round.
]]>@yesteryear: I am in agreement that Crocs deserves to be there purely on being both hideous and pervasive. But I was sure there had to be something else to it ;) Thanks for all the explanations.
]]>it could be 2009 before this bracket is over, how fast are we going to be doing these?
]]>P.S. United Airlines is evil; how could they ever lose?
]]>-Comcast will advance
-Facebook did some bad things but they have nothing versus Arbitration who will inevitably advance
-Bank vs Ticket Agency: Wachovia advances
-Google vs SONY: On the sister site of fanboy nation? -Sony advances.
-Exxon. Period.
-I hate United Airlines. Advancement.
-1800Flowers
-Insurance company vs Telco/Wireless Carrier/TV? That's a tough call... Insurance company.
-Best Buy. Period.
-CompSUA. Period.
-Transunion.
-Diebold.
-Bad Customer Service vs Loan company: Sallie Mae.
-Cox vs eBay/PayPal? Holy smokes... PayPal.
-Capital One. Hands down.
-AT&T.
-Wal-Mart
-Sears
-Dell
-Charter Cable
-Time Warner Cable
-American Airlines
-Washington Mutual
-Microsoft
-Bank of America
-Gamestop is bad... Monster Cable extorts. Monster Cable.
-Blue Cross Blue Shield
-Hewlett Packard
-Countrywide Home Loans
-Clear Channel
-United Health Care
-Hallmark/Westland Meat Pack
I'll make my next round of predictions once the next brackets have been created. Or who knows... I might create my own bracket and release it.
]]>@rdldr1:
Watch what you say, CITIZEN.
]]>Exciting!
On one hand, you have annoying, but relatively harmless companies like Comcast, Sears, best Buy, etc. who have the pleasure of annoying vast numbers of people. Then you have Bank of America, United Health care, Trans Union, etc. that don't have the sheer numbers of people to piss off, but really harm all of us indirectly by their tenacious and destructive policies. This is going to be a tough battle.
]]>C'mon people! Countrywide has been WAY worse than Best Buy this year...just think about how emblamatic they are of the past year of economic crapitude we have experienced.
Not just for you or me, but for the people that have no voice - vote Countrywide!
I also predict Sprint over Bank of America in the third round.
Where can I get in on this pool? Finally a bracket I know something about...
]]>Or did you just rely on the inaccuracies of the AP report? Yes, the KBR plants had problems, but so did the military water plants. Here's a paragraph from the report that obviously did not make the AP article:
"Because of corrective actions taken, contractor processes for providing potable and nonpotable water were adequate as of November 2006 when internal quality control procedures and DoD oversight were in place to provide quality assurance for the processes of water production, production site storage, distribution, and storage at point-of-use facilities. However, military water purification units at LSA Anaconda and Camp Ali did not perform required quality control tests and did not maintain appropriate records of water produced, stored, and issued during the period reviewed. Therefore, water suppliers exposed U.S. forces to unmonitored and potentially unsafe water. Although there was no way to determine whether water provided by the contractors and military water purification units caused disease, contractors and military units responsible for water operations must always ensure that water provided to the forces meets all established standards and is safe to use."
Note the last sentence about there being no way to determine if ANY disease was caused by the water from the military or the contractor.
]]>Why isn't Fedex Kinkos on this list???
]]>anyway, they are nominated because peoples toes were being mangled by them. and because no one, not even mario batali, should be wearing these outside of their backyard.
]]>@CPC24: Because they were in business in 2007.
]]>Sears vs. Countrywide
WINNER:
CountryWide
or at least CountryWide SHOULD win. They've definitely ruined more lives than Comcast or Sears has in the last couple years.
]]>Title match:
Comcast vs. Sears
Sears wins! Go fighting Installed 3 Months After Scheduled Delivery Stovetops!
]]>@trujunglist: Next year they'll have to stop with the voting and have an RPI like system along with a selection commitee.
]]>There are some seriously good first round match ups. I'd order the pay-per view.
I'd be great to have PR people debating each round.
Oh and comcast got screwed (in a good way). No way they make it out of that bracket, no way they get passed the ticketmaster/wachovia winner.
And Verizon vs. All-State as a 2 vs 15 matchup, that seems like an upset waiting to happen.
]]>Charter did that one year. The CEO at the time laid off over a thousand people. By video tape. At Christmas time. In it he had the unmitigated gall to lamented how 'We all have to tighten our belts in this regrettable time. I had to disappoint my lovely daughters this year and send them to a *public* college!'
If there was ever a time I wanted to see someone fry in hell, that was it.
]]>Surprisingly, Menu Foods is gonna get my vote.
Gonna be hard not to vote for Comcast though :(
]]>@Canerican: Didn't you hear they went out of business? Consumerist has only had a few dozen stories on it. Why are they still on the list if they're out of business, anyway? Well, I guess the handful of stores in Florida that Tiger Direct bought still counts.
]]>Since every intelligent businessperson in the world would say that a companies #1 priority is to enhance shareholder wealth, Crocs definitely deserves a spot in the round of 16 as their stock has been decimated. (75.21 52 wk high, currently 19.40). Piece o' sheet.
]]>Comcast vs Country Wide
Comcast
Home Depot, Delta, United, and Ebay look like they will put up some good fights...
]]>That is, companies that are Worst because they're evil/sinister/irresponsible (subprimes, DeBeers, etc) and those that are Worst because they just are not very good at actually serving customers (Sears, Best Buy, etc).
Evil vs Inept! Will the winner slink of in shame or cackle maniacally?
My Final Four: Verizon, Best Buy, Sears, and CountryWide.
]]>some tough calls here from the get-go, but my final 4 prediction:
comcast
best buy
wamu (<-- that's my cinderella)
sprint
best buy ftw.
have to admit...that last bracket's a tough one. boa or countrywide could easily bump sprint right out of the mix.
]]>I'm confused as to why we are starting the voting with Comcast vs. Menu Foods. Shouldn't the first order of business be the play-in game between Hallmark and Westland?
]]>oh come on! Countrywide against DirectTV?? that's like an elite 8 match not a first rounder.
]]>Haliburton is no longer an American company. Does it even do business outside the Middle East anymore?
Ben - Next year you need to get someone to create bracket software for the members similar to espn/yahoo with March Madness. Maybe give a prize (some sort of coupon or something) to the member with the most accurate brackets. Also, incumbants need to be eligible for repeats/threepeats. I probably wouldn't have voted for the RIAA again but it still deserves to be listed.
]]>Anyways, who are your dark horses? I think WaMu can have a pretty strong showing, based on all their incompetence that has shown up here.
]]>Voting for the MAFIAA would be nice though too.
]]>Walmart is only on there once? They deserve a couple places at least.
]]>@Eli Reusch: As @Rectilinear Propagation pointed out,
New rule this year: we will only accept nominations for companies that makes or sells products or services that consumers actually buy.Blackwater doesn't qualify.
Crocs? Why?
]]>Comcast vs Menu Foods? Isn't that a little one sided? Who the hell are menu foods anyway?
Can we just skip to the end, Comcast vs Best Buy?
@GirlCat: According to the poll, no one voted for Disney.
]]>I was rooting for American Airlines, but killing America's pets? More evil.
*Why no Disney??
]]>I think that the Face Book American Arbitration Assoc. smackdown looks interesting. As well as Video Professor vs. Capitol One.
]]>WTF is this BS? Fox News was 8% or so and you put up some companies that had 1%
The voting didn't even matter did it?!
]]>@Corydon: Agreed. Many pets died because Menu Foods wanted to save a few bucks importing from China.
]]>Um, where is Sprint? Or Verizon? I don't see it.....am I just not looking hard enough?
]]>The voting didn't even matter did it?!
]]>@stpauliegirl: @Corydon: Yes, thank you, I had forgotten who Menu Foods was. Changed my vote! Kind of similar to the AT&T/Mattel bout coming later.
I'm most interested in these two match-ups above, and especially Chase v United Health Care. That one is sure to be gruesome.
The whole upper right bracket is tough! Who ever makes the final 4 from that one is truly the great Satan.
]]>They might win but it's hardly a lock. There are a few companies whose actions or lack of action led to illness or death and then there are companies, like Countrywide, whose actions affected everybody not just their customers.
]]>New rule this year: we will only accept nominations for companies that makes or sells products or services that consumers actually buy.
They are not eligible.
Man, some of these are going to be blood baths: MTV vs TransUnion? BCBS vs CNN? The TV channels don't stand a chance.
]]>Why is everyone putting money on Comcast? Out of the entire bracket, only one company has it's fingers in destroying the nation's economy, and that's countrywide.
]]>They could go all the way, but they don't have the name recognition of a comcast or a subprime mess company.
]]>Comcast -vs- Facebook
BestBuy -vs- CompUSA
AT&T -vs- CapitalOne
Wal-Mart -vs- Sears
Bank of America -vs- Monster Cable
This is gonna be more fun than the Presidential primaries :)
]]>My money is on Comcast.
]]>The tournament WOULD have been broadcast in HD but Comcast messed up the installation order.
]]>I'm rooting for Best Buy. There's like always a Best Buy / Geek Squad story of the week.
]]>Gus Johnson is EXCITED! "THE BEST BUY CSR FOR THREEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! OAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHH!!!!!"
]]>Does the winner have a basket of fruit delivered to it's corporate offices, Letterman-style?
]]>The toughest call is HallMark v Countrywide to get into the sweet 16. That's a true evil matchup.
]]>that wouldn't be a good contest, nobody would be voting for either of them, they both suck@RAREBREED:
]]>@RAREBREED It's not physically possible for it to come down to Comcast vs. Best Buy, they are in the same division? conference? how are we classifying?
]]>Final 4:
Comcast vs AT&T
CitiBank vs Countywide
'Winner' Comcast
]]>ebay/paypal is the obvious cinderella with their seeding.
]]>I can't fucking wait.
]]>You left of Delta Air Lines who fires its employees on Thanksgiving and X-mas.
]]>That Wal-mart - Sears battle in the 2nd round looks like a fantastic match-up.
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