Dear Editor -

I worked for Monster Jam in Manchester and Birmingham these past two
weekends, and the experience was memorable for more than just the
trucks and motorcycles. Zach Cooper, the man sent over from America
to produce the show, made the event miserable for more than a few of
the courseworkers. After one team-meeting, he made up his own version
of the English National Anthem, which was about how much he disliked
english people and their "outer space" teeth. Odd, considering
England is a market Zach is very keen to crack.

At the end of the weekend, when I asked to discuss a payment concern,
he took me into an empty room where he chided me for "bitching about
£50 pounds" and began screaming obscenities and clenched his fists as
if he were about to get physical - all in an effort to get me to
settle for less payment than I had expected.

I know that the entertainment business can be stressful at times, but
there is no place for this sort of abuse. Let's hope Monster Jam
cleans up its act before they come back next year.

-Nick

anyway what's the final round to get the "Playoffs"?

Yay for my hometown! Home of Clear Channel AND AT&T!

On the ohter hand, I have a 1980 Toyota 1/2 ton pickup with 487,000 miles, rusted like crazy in the bed and fender flares ... and it runs like a Swiss watch. Nothing even squeaks yet. It is hands down the one truck I am 100% positive that when I go fishing or into the back country I know I'm coming back. Bulletproof was invented as an adjective for this model truck.

Repairs to date - (1) clutch, no kidding. (3) sets of front pads, turned the discs twice. (1) radiator. (1) thermostat. (1) water pump. (2) fan belts. (1) battery. (1) exhaust blowback rubber tube to top end. And other than tires, that's it. Occasional points and plugs. Total cost for parts and occasional professional labor - $1,847. In 28 years and nearly a half million miles. Seat springs are finally going and the dash is cracked but I am NEVER going to sell this truck.

2. Who would vote for them???? What do they want to buy a Ford or something?

That isn't really impressive. I mean you could buy a 2008 Daewoo (AKA Suzuki) and you should expect it to be problem-free thus far.

Clear Channel is the worst thing that can happen to any media outlet. They have ruined so many radio and TV stations. Their lips mutter "in the interest of the community" but we all know that's a big pile of BS.

Though they may have only had 1 out of 10 stations, they still are the biggest radio company in the US. And when you're the biggest, the policies and practices you follow tend to trickle down to the other radio companies who copy them.

Since they own stations in the largest markets, the record industry panders to them to get their music exposed to the most, and usually most desired listeners. This can be to the exclusion of other radio companies.

If I had a nickel for every time one of my managers says "it works for Clear Channel", when introducing another lame policy, I could buy my own station.

Is this still the first tier?

@Catrandom:

How much they own and how much they've sold has, IMO, nothing whatsoever to do with how much they suck.

Clear Channel is easy to vilify, and it's often earned it. But I might point out that Clear Channel at its peak owned about 1,300 U.S. radio stations. Which sounds like a lot, but it's about 10 percent of the total. And yes, that means that nine out of 10 of U.S. radio stations have always been owned by companies that are not Clear Channel.

And CC has been selling stations for the past year and a half, as they try (desperately) to go private, and now they own about 850 stations -- out of just under 13,000 commercial AM and FMs nationwide. They have moved out of a number of small markets entirely, and would like to get out of more.

Clear Channel is a big ol' Texas-sized target, and I won't say that its policies haven't been a big influence on the rest of radio. But CC's influence is just one reason radio sucks -- not the only, and possibly not even the biggest reason.

(No, I don't work for Clear Channel, and never have.)

I've owned three cars in thirteen years. A VW Rabbit that I owned for a month before I had to sell it, an '86 Toyota that I was a second owner of and put 4x the millage on of the previous owner, and my current '95 Toyota that I'm in the process of doing the same with. The '86 died a year and a half ago. Hmmm...

Or Clear Channel, who just DESTROYED the Atlanta radio market by wiping out every single station that had been here for 30+ years and filling the air with generic crap.

Yeah.

"OMG why would you buy a car with the word 'toy' in it?"

@DeanOfAllTrades: As long as we're dreaming: Maybe Toyota could come up with a compact or subcompact hybrid. I admired the Honda Insight, but a two-seater is just too impractical. As for the Prius, it's a great car but I have no need or want for a 4-door sedan. So, if I could have a 2dr hatchback with a back seat that gets 60+ mpg that would be teh awesome.

i love the list of 'objectionable' songs they told their stations to refrain from playing after 9/11

[en.wikipedia.org]

clearchannel killed broadcast radio.. RIP

@TadizzleFizzle: If you can scoop up a pre-2000 Toyota, you'll be in business with a good, reliable vehicle for a hell of a long time.

Definately CC on this one, but one noteworthy item to complain about on Toyota:

Basically it took Toyota 6 months and 8 phone calls to release the lein on two cars that were paid off in the mod 90's. Each time the call ended with "Ok the paperwork is in the mail." They finally sent the paperwork 3 weeks ago.

Ok one more GF was late on one payment on her truck and set up a deferment on that payment. No big deal. A week later Toyota starts blowing up my phone looking for her (5 Calls a day) Apparently Toyota's left hand didn't know what the right was doing. It all got cleared up in a couple of days though.

Traded the Tahoe in for a Scion xB. I have no complaints about Toyota.

Clear Channel? I don't listen to them. I have XM in the Scion, so I never have to listen to Clear Channel's crap any more.

And that's on top of the generic radio they pump out 24/7 across the country. Clear Channel must die!

OK, that is a reason I can understand.

Jeebus, Consumerist, who set up these brackets? Just send Clear Channel and Countrywide straight to the quarterfinals and save us the formality of these early-round blowouts.

On the other side, I'm still driving the wheels off of my 2000 Corolla, 7 years and not a single major repair ($500+) has been necessary. I'm very happy with Toyota thus far.

I think you need to come up with some sort of system for properly seeding these companies. Maybe you could use the articles in your blog software as a means of determining who should be in.

Hypothetically, if you need 128 companies in it, Clear Channel with 150 articles about their bad service and 10 about how they did something good, is probably a shoe-in. Toyota with 75 articles about how great they are, and just two about product recalls, might not make the cut.

Seriously, think about it. Because it's total bullshit that you're even bothering to put decent companies in this tournament with no justification at all.

BOOOO FUEL EFFICIENCY AND CARS THAT RETAIN RESALE VALUE!

...yeah, they just don't add up.

hmm.. Toyota made the cut (a good car company...which you even admit you know "why they are wrath-worthy" ) but "The Fed" didn't, even though they are a corporation and loan money to companies/banks just like BOA and wachovia, etc.. and are ruining the ecomony and US dollar in the process. Makes no sense to me but whatever.

CC obviously. They've wrecked havoc on radio media.

As for Clear Channel, they are in a whole 'nother league of evil. They win this hands down just for turning FM radio into a wasteland of screaming, obnoxious car dealer ads, annoying DJs, and homogenized music. They are pretty much single-handedly responsible for the fact that I no longer listen to any radio except NPR (they bought out and destroyed the decent local radio I listened to before).

Hmm. Toyota makes affordable cars that last 989623982 years while retaining a ridiculously high resale value. They've always been at the forefront of hybrid mass-production and their other cars already get great gas mileage. They provide jobs for thousands, and from what I've heard, treat their employees well. WORST COMPANY EVER.

CC not only wrecked what you hear on the radio, it wrecked it for those of us who work in it. They are the devil. Jocks for that company do a shift live in their home city and then voice track shows that run in smaller markets since CC is to cheap to hire talent. Bastards.

Up until last year, I was driving a 1987 Camry, and it only finally died of excess rust, not engine or drivability troubles. Any company that can make me a quality product like that has no beef with me*.

*reserving the right to change my mind if they are lubricating their engines with puppy guts or something.

@KyleOrton: I don't think I'm misunderstanding anything. I just think this is not a very well though out "contest."

Giggitygoo put it best.

Perhaps next year, set a threshold for number of votes before a company's added to the list? And/or needing rationales why?

I'd like to see a minimum of three votes, where someone has to say why or it's not counted would go a long ways to make these quicker, more accurate and more fun.

:)

I love them, never had mechanical problem and if there was any minor ones they usually fixed them for free, please get toyota out of here......

The reason the truck lines exist is to satisfy the US market, they are adhering to their customers wants and needs and thus you end up with the tundra......... I doubt you can find many tundra's in EU or JP

I believe the idea is that all companies, regardless of industry, have a duty to be...umm...good. So we're trying to find the least good!

i think the winner is clear...

I like the Lexus if only for that fact that it has a "J" in the VIN so I know it was made in Japan and thus has a higher probability of not sucking. But watch out for the RX series which I think is made in Mexico now.

His insurance company covered the repair though.

Cool graphic, consumerist.

If we can just suggest any company and don't have to provide a reason why said company sucks, I will suggest the American Cancer Society.

Parked in my driveway right now is a 1992 Toyota pickup with about 240,000 miles on it. It is literally perforated with rust, but it has never needed a major mechanical repair and it always starts no matter how cold it is.

As for Clear Channel, gosh, there are so many ways you can hate them even aside from what they've done to FM radio. You can hate them for perpetuating the visual blight of billboards across the landscape. You can also hate them for their efforts to dominate the live music venue booking business. They're not quite as unavoidable as Ticketmaster but they're obnoxious enough.

WTF? Why is Toyota in this competition???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

I vote Clear Channel. Homogenizing radio sucks!

(That would be my opinion even if I didn't work for a competitor)

Did the readers who nominated Toyota also nominate Honda and Nissan? Did their email addresses end with "@ford.com" or "@gmc.com"? Just wondering...

FUEL EFFICIENCY REALLY RILES ME UP.

But seriously, why is Toyota even in the contest?

Explain again why you guys pair up companies that have absolutely nothing to do with each other's industries on any level?

CC.