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With my own experiences with both companies + what I read here, it came down to a coin toss.
So congratulations, Citibank, for getting my vote!
With my own experiences with both companies + what I read here, it came down to a coin toss.
So congratulations, Citibank, for getting my vote!
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I'm torn because I wanted to vote for CitiBank, but the complaints about them are poorly written and confusing.
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ahhh, I've been waiting for this one. My vote= walmart will never set foot in one again and it hasn't been that difficult for us, I would rather pay a bit more (not always the case) for a product that won't hurt us or the little Chinese kids who make the crap they sell.
Nice use of checkboxes instead of radio buttons to vote with one this one..what is the use case for checking both and submitting....
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I love it when there's a second round matchup that might as well be the championship. I thought it would take an act of God to knock Walmart out, but it's a great year for subprime mortgages, so go Citibank!
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I voted both!
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@rmz: So did I, to see if it would work ... you need a radio button, not checkboxes. One vote should be stricken from Citibank, when the final results are tallied.
I voted both, as well. Is the Consumerist looking to hire coders?
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I won't vote because I'm not American, but in some twisted way it's nice to see that you have as many issues with your banks south of the border as we do here in Canada...
I just blogged about the spate of horrible customer service in oligarchic niches like big banking today actually. You can read it here if you like.
Daniel
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@smithereensblog: IIRC, isn't Canada restricted to a certain number of nationally-chartered banks (6-10 of them?). There are so many thousands of them in the US, it always pains me to see so many people blindly following the largest ones, as if they have no choice.
Of course, these days, your local bank from 5 years ago very well could be one of the big boys now...
Ever since Wal-Mart decided to drag its feet with repaying Debbie Shank, I have not stepped foot in one.
There are areas where Wal-Mart helps with its presence. In 90% of the rest of the country, they feed off of low-income families and run trusted Mom & Pop stores out of business.
Citibank is just another fish in the pond scum of Big Banks.
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I'm going with Wal-mart for the scope of the devastation it wreaked across the commercial landscape.
Years down the road: \"Hey kids, back until the mid-90s we used to have a thing called regional discount department stores.\"
Of the half-dozen or so department store chains I used to have in my area a decade ago, the only one that's still around is K-Mart. The Target stores in my area feel like bigger versions of some of the stores I used to like, but all of the East Coast-based chains are gone. Bye-bye Clover, Jamesway, Caldor, Bradlees, Ames...
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\"OK, then it's it's [x] with an Z at the end.\"
I just SAID it's not one of those. Look, if it's not [x] it's [x] with an Z at the end. I already said that.\"
She asked my word, and I said, \"It's either [x] or [x] with an O at the end.\"
......
no comment
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Interesting comment about Wal-Mart forcing people out of town for shopping. How much gas does that waste?
I needed a new toaster a few months ago. First stop was Wal-Mart, and all their toasters - ALL of them - were flimsy pieces of crap. Who buys that shit? Ended up at Target, where they had a reasonably robust (but still made in China) model for a few dollars more.
@Ash78: I'm not sure there is a legally mandated number of chartered banks, although that may be true. Regardless, our choices are limited to the Big 5 (Scotia, Royal, Montreal, CIBC, TD) and a scattering of smaller regional credit unions.
It's interesting that even in your highly decentralized banking industry, you have many of the same problems we do because people willfully choose to use the big guns (we don't really have a choice!)
Daniel
@Ash78: [For some reason my last comment seems to have gotten lost between writing and posting... here goes again]
I am not sure if there is a legally mandated number of charter banks, but we are pretty much limited to the Big 5 (Scotia, Montreal, Royal, TD, CIBC) plus a smattering of regional credit unions.
It's interesting that even with your highly decentralized banking industry in the US, you still have many of the same problems we have because, as you say, people willfully choose to use the big guns (we don't really have a choice here!)
Daniel
Of course that would happen. Appologies for the double post.
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Oh, I love how you can actually pick both companies on this one!
Wal-Mart is far worse!
It's caused the destruction of the American industrial base, which has caused millions to lose their jobs as their jobs are moved to China.
An excellent example is Rubbermaid.
They were told by Wal-Mart to cut the price they charged for their products. They wasn't any way to do so except to close up in Ohio & move the production to China.
If they hadn't done so, Wal-Mart would have cut off Rubbermaid & illegally copied Rubbermaid's designs for their stores & had it made for them in China, of course.
Multiply that by hundreds of companies & you have why this country has been fucked over by Wal-Mart.
So Wal-Mart is responsible for the industrial decline of the United States, which causes our imports to go up, which causes our debt to China to go up, which causes millions of jobs to disappear, which causes people to have less money, so then they have to shop at shitty Wal-Mart which caused their pain in the first place!
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Wal-Mart, for hollowing out our national manufacturing base, destroying local businesses, empowering the monk-killing Chinese, sucking billions of Corporate Welfare and for trying to trademark the Smily Face and suing anyone that uses it.
Especially the latter because - trying to imprison Mr. Smily Face?! Transcendent Evil!
@Greasy Thumb Guzik: We have a winnah! Total destruction of American economy vs. exploitation of a few suckers who don't know how to manage money. No brainer.
Oh, Ben: the results display screwy in Safari (text not lining up with bar graphs correctly). Just a head's up.
Wal-Mart is the poster child for corporate evil.
Walmart for destroying the economy, one state at a time.
Walmart plows profits back into the company, cuts costs wherever they can, buys bulk from manufacturers so they can lower their own prices, and sells countless household items cheaply to customers who don't have six-figure incomes. Well if that's not the very essence of evil, I don't know what is!
I voted Citibank.
@WhirlyBird: @WhirlyBird:
Then you need to hire me...because its the software quality engineer that found the defect.
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I bet you a dollar that the majority of people who voted for Wal*Mart can't tell you _specifically_ why Wal*Mart sucks.
Wow, another decision that I didn't want to make this early in the game. Tough call.
@Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler: Banque Nationale and Desjardins are credit unions with bases primarily in Quebec and other french-speaking areas (and would thus fall under the \"smattering of regional credit unions\" I mentioned before.)
HSBC is an American bank that recently came into Canada, but I believe they only have a few physical branches in Toronto and offer primarily credit products, IIRC. When it comes to main chartered banks, there are still few alternatives to the Big 5 I mentioned.
@MyCokesBiggerThanYours: Bet ya in a NY second.
To those who are unsure, or like having your notions challenged if you're a Wal-Mart fan, I recommend Wal-mart: The High Cost of Low Price.
Or visit: www.walmartmovie.com
Wal-Mart FTW
As it stands, Wal-Mart has 66% of the vote. PLEASE tell me it's 66.6%. That'd be so appropriate...
@smithereensblog: Actually, HSBC is a London-based company with affiliates all over the world. This link: [en.wikipedia.org] explains its pedigree.
My vote goes to Wal-Mart. I banked with Citi for a few years, nothing serious, just checking and savings. I have some stories I could share, but, along with most of the other complaints I've seen here, Citi could easily be replaced by B of A or WaMu even - every big bank does things like this.
I went into a Wal-Mart once in my life. I saw a young child peeing on the floor (yes, actually peeing on the floor - in front of me) while his parents laughed and giggled, and the cashier told me she hated her life. I don't need to save money THAT bad.
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Easy. For all of its evils, Walmart provides a very valuable service to much of the nation's consumer base. If you haven't spent much time in rural areas, this is not immediately obvious.
Citibank can be easily replaced by any number of competitors, both in person and online, all of which can do a better job at everything Citibank does.