Wal-Mart FTW
I shop there not by choice but because they're so cheap. I used to be an employee, and I was so cheap to them. So, I have it for them. Thank God (ME!) that Comcast is not here in OKC (YET!) because otherwise this might be a tough choice.
Comcast, I have personal experience with, and they truly are an evil, completely self-serving corporation. They provide as little as possible while charging as much as possible to their subscribers. They're up there with ValuJet, Enron, and Worldcom...
ALSO, FYI on Exxon... they have very little to do with the price of gasoline being so high. Everyone quit your whining and educate yourself about this. The price of oil is so high right now because of the weak dollar, increasing demand from India/China, and a lot of energy speculators buying up oil to profit off of it in the short term. I really wish people would read up about this... Blaming the oil companies is just wrong.
VOTE COMCAST!
]]>The real question for me is what will I do if it's a Walmart/Diebold battle in the end?
]]>How 'bout a tie for first place....Diebold and Countrywide. And for an extra hour of good nights sleep, lets create a second category just for Comcast, with a priority on product & service (versus product/service and outcome/national impact). We can call it, say for instance, "Most diabolically hated and loathed company in America"....or maybe just the "Consumer Noose" award.
Or "Most Likely To Screw You!" Award!
Ahhhhh, daydreams.... ;)
Yummy!
]]>What annoys me about Diebold is the close ties of the company leadership with one political party over the other. There was not even a pretense of avoiding a conflict of interest and saying something like "Diebold executives may not contribute any resources (including their own services or use of their property) to the political campaigns of candidates participating in elections that are performed (all or in part) on Diebold voting machines."
]]>@SayAhh: Good point. If you think the BoA constrictor should've made the final, a vote for Countrywide amounts to the same thing.
My vote: Diebold vs. Countrywide in the final. Walmart has probably done as much damage to the US economy as Countrywide, but you could argue that it was really due to imbalances of labor cost between the US and Asia. Walmart just went looking for the cheapest suppliers and didn't give a damn about macro-economic impacts, they didn't try to scam the consumers on the scale Countrywide did. Comcast is terrible in places where it's the only game in town, but apart from truly horrendous customer service, they don't impact the rest of us. Now if ADELPHIA still was around...
Countrywide FTW, since their economic damage and financial shenanigans are more topical on this site than election rigging and political shenanigans from Diebold. Both companies are deserving to be finalists, since they've impacted millions of people outside their customer base.
]]>Where did AT&T go?
]]>@failurate: If I rolled my eyes any harder they would pop right out of my skull.
]]>I think Diebold should "win." I might be biased since I don't have any mortgages, but even if I didn't I'd still vote for DIEbold.
]]>Like many, I was torn and thought that Diebold vs. Comcast would be a difficult decision. Then the answer struck me.
Because of Diebold, the politicians that allowed Comcast to become so bad are in office.
]]>@RudeandRude: Precisely. Diebold is a good part of the reason why things are so fucked up in general in this country, and lubed up the public to get fucked by most of these other corporations.
]]>I know I'm weighing in rather late in this, but I'm honestly suprised TimeWarner isn't anywhere in that bracket. I have had much worse experience with them than Direct TV.
That said, I think the final four is about right.
]]>Finally, I just let my subscription expire. They called me at work wanting me to make a payment over the phone. I told them that I wanted to cancel. They told me that they can't do that over the phone.
Then they sent a person to my house to get a check. I told them I had Uverse and was cancelling. The person took my STB.
Later I get bill for the month of service that I didn't use because I had U-verse. I pay it rather than fight it.
Not over yet. 2 weeks later I get a bill for $475 for unreturned equipment. I called the number on the invoice and tell the CSR that their person took my STB. They said I needed to find a receipt otherwise they would turn it over to a collection agency unless I paid the $475. Luckily, I found the receipt that the guy left behind when he collected my STB. I call back and give them the receipt number and their employee's ID number on the receipt. They tell me that they cannot verify this on the phone and that I would need to drive to their office and bring the receipt. I did and am finally told everything will be straightened out. Two weeks later, I get a "final notice" to pay $475. I AM SO FRUSTRATED! I am an attorney, and if I get turned into collections, I am going to sue them in court.
]]>I predict a Diebold v. Walmart explosion at the end!
]]>Yes, they're partly to BLAME for our nation's economic downturn, but shouldn't we at least acknowledge that they're also partly to CREDIT for the real estate boon that benefited the entire economy?
I don't like Countrywide, but * I'm just sayin . . . . *
]]>I just moved to a small town that has Comcast and no FIOS, WTF!!
]]>gotcha!
My vote is that Comcast wins because people here seem to not have their priorities strait.
OMG I CAN'T WATCH LOST!!!!! WHATEVER WILL I DO!?!?!?!!
]]>Anyhow, I would have thought it would be:
DeBeers
Exxon
Diebold
Countrywide
Just based on pure malevolence.
]]>I gotta stick with them all the way through the finals.
It will be:
Countrywide
Diebold
Walmart
Comcast
I can't believe that Comcast took it away from my pick, Exxon.
And, let's be honest: none of this kvetching is going to make any of these companies change their own business models. Therefore, I can't advocate going with the "practical" choice, hoping that it will foment change.
I am casting my vote for Countrywide on principle.
]]>Why is it Diebold's fault that the shitty politicians we elect choose to buy their shitty equipment? Wal-Mart has no business being up there as they have a far lower number of horror stories than Sears, for example. Comcast and Countrywide deserve a deathmatch in the final, but I suspect Wal-Mart will land there just because people think it's fun to beat up on them.
]]>EXXON lost to COMCAST? Really? We are talking about the same environment wrecking, price fixing, 3rd world exploiting, robber baron bastards, right? Maybe I am underestimating how bad Comcasts service really is. Or EXXON managed to fix the vote...
]]>And the best we can come up with is Comcast.
I don't think I am going to play this game next year.
Diebold
Walmart
Countrywide
Comcast
A Superfecta, if you will:
Remember, a vote for Countrywide is a vote for Bank of America.
/enter right wing crying over the truth and more stupid remarks about conspiracies and loonyness
]]>How the hell did BOA lose? Did they have their employees cram the ballot box? They're sure as hell not working, well not working correctly.
It's fixed!
]]>I can't believe both Capitalone and Bank of America were both knocked out! Sure Diebold makes crappy voting machines that are susceptible to fraud.... but it's not like Diebold arbitrarily decided to put the Hamburgler in office. People did actually vote for Bush.
On the other hand, Capital One is ruining people's credit and lives every single day. And bad marks on your credit last a lot longer than a presidential term.
]]>@Juice Box Hero:
There doesn't look like there is any explanation on what the trophy is for. And it looks way too fancy for this type of contest. Unless the poo was made out of low-quality brass.
@Skankingmike: I would actually do this too, but like I said above, I don't think the total cost of the trophy should be worth more than $100. I like the idea of a plaque. It looks like something that you would hang in your HQ front doors...until you read the print.
]]>At grocery stores like Kroger we buy dog food from china, bananas from Nicaragua, flowers from Chile and Argentine beef. We buy cars from Japan, Korea, and Germany. Clothes you buy at the mall are made in south america or asia. Computers and electronics and assembled in Korea, the Philippines, or Indonesia.
It's not Wal-Mart, it's the 21st century global economy. They're just a neighborhood store where you see it first hand. I'm not 'going to bat' for Wal-Mart, I'm just saying that it's not limited to one store that happens to be particularly successful in the current economic climate.
As for the low pay, that just sucks. Wal-Mart should do a better job caring for its employees, but to be fair, the employees are just that. They are not slaves nor servants and are free to leave at their choosing.
]]>@Geekybiker: As I stated above, I think some are thinking on a "micro" level and their own personal experience with these companies. Lot's of people have had crappy service from Comcast, so their own personal experience makes them vote for Comcast. The other companies influence our society, economics, politics on a "macro" level. But since some people have never dealt with countrywide or don't care about Wal-Mart's greater influence, then they pick the name they have the most direct experience with.
...Or Comcast is astroturfing and throwing the vote.
]]>But I really think all of the crappy Health Insurance companies should have filled out the final four.
]]>Wal-Mart has destroyed the industrial base of this country, forced the shipping of a couple of million jobs to China which has caused a boom there & increased oil & cement prices worldwide, hires employees at ludicrously low pay & tells them to get Medicaid for health insurance.
Diebold produced the hopelessly flawed voting machines that cause the re-election of Bush. Without a paper trail, a feature of every Diebold ATM, it's impossible to know how many votes were lost or stolen from Kerry.
"Oh no! The company that provides me with a luxury sometimes screws me over!"
]]>Countrywide was a major catalyst in our current recession. They gave oversized loans where no loan should have been given at all. That practice is not only a fundamental reason for our economic trouble as a nation, but also fueling the credit problems of millions of consumers.
Comcast is essentially a utility, and few alternatives exist for most of their customers. Good luck if you live in an apartment. We've heard horror stories on this site as far back as I can remember. Thank god they're not in my area.
And Diebold... well, they're too close to the Bush administration for my taste. I don't approve of the current political situation, but I don't believe Diebold is the root cause. Frankly, I think the lies, deception, and ignorance of many voters is more to blame than a corporation.
Diebold vs. Countrywide in the final, Countrywide wins it.
]]>At least all of the finalists are worthy of becoming the title.
]]>I hate Comcast on a very personal level but I don't know if my personal hatred can overcome the democracy killing mechanizations of Diebold.
]]>Comcast blows, yes...but remember that not everyone in the country lives in Comcast areas. Wal-Mart, Diebold and Countrywide all affect many more Americans lives than a cable company run by monkeys.
]]>Darn, I was hoping for eBay and Starbucks.
]]>The answer is douchebag.
Who is Angelo Mozilo ?
Correct!
]]>Countrywide #1, Best Buy #2, Wal-Mart #3. The End.
]]>I have personally never had an issue with Comcast, but even if I had, I think that annoyance would pale in comparison to fixing elections or destroying the economy. I don't shop at Wal*Mart, so I have no idea how terrible they might be.
]]>I'm going to have to vote for Diebold, since a good president could have stopped Countrywide from killing the economy.
]]>This is crap. There is seriously way too many nerds on this site that voted for Comcast, they're not that bad, do i love them? No.
Have I personally had problems with them. NO.
Countrywide is a large corporation filled with salesman that lend money to people without doing proper checks thus helping fuel the current economic situation we have.
Diebold helps influence our balads.
Wal-mart has cheap foreign made crap, but really that's not why i don't like them i don't' like them because they have unfair labor issues that are illegal at best.
but damn do i really have to choose between walmart and country wide? that's really hard man..
I got wal-mart for the win
]]>Comcast...definately comcast.
Curious: does consumerist send the winning company a letter/trophy that says, "Congratulations! After 1,000,000 votes, you have been crowned the worst company in America!"
If they don't, they really should.
]]>boa is upset and denied from the finals!!! unpossible!
]]>Diebold threatens the legitimacy of our elections.
Countrywide, through deceptive practices born of needless greed, has badly damaged the US economy.
Walmart has driven US manufacturing off-shore and impoverishes their employees.
THREE WAY TIE!
]]>I wonder if the recent news of Exxon being let off the hook for the oil spill would have changed things? Yes, they still pay actual costs of clean-up, but then it simply becomes the cost of doing business.
]]>Walmart and Comcast provide goods/services for which many people don't have any readily available alternatives.
However, Exxon and Countrywide are in very competitive businesses (everywhere) yet STILL manage to screw up royally. Those are my two finalists.
]]>I say we go ahead and award "Semifinalist" awards to the Final Four now.
]]>d@heavylee-again: People are using different criteria to vote. Some are thinking more "macro" and thinking about what impact the company has on the economy, world, politics, etc. Some are thinking about their own experience with that company. For example Diebold and Countrywide are in my Top 2 even though I've never had a Countrywide mortgage and I've had crappy service from Comcast. I just think their larger impact is how I should evaluate these companies.
]]>@timmus: we should start a pool
]]>still country wide has to be the favorite here.
]]>I'm not sure how Comcast made it this far. They are a crappy company for sure, but in the big picture, their crappiness is fairly small.
Although who am I kidding, I would have voted for Ticketmaster all the way.
Diebold gets my votes.
]]>I'm still upset all the health insurance companies got bumped off.
]]>My vote has to be for Countrywide.
]]>My #1 (Exxon) was knocked off by a very shitty Comcast.
It's going to be tough to chose between Diebold and Countrywide.. both have f'd things up amazingly.
]]>