The companies were nominated by you, the readers, and we did our best to seed them according to the number of nominations.
[PDF]
]]>The companies were nominated by you, the readers, and we did our best to seed them according to the number of nominations.
[PDF]
]]>Also - Ticketmaster vs. Time Warner in round 1 was brutal. Real shame to eliminate one of those powerhouses so early.
]]>If you want to talk disappointment, I'd like to hear what your HS civics teacher has to say on the matter.
]]>@SpruceStreetPhil: Which one?
Monster Cables?
Monster.com?
Monster MiniGolf?
Monsters, Inc.?
The Green Monster seats at Fenway Park?
Maybe it's something about the district manager here or something, but every T-Mobile kiosk in the malls around here seem to have a policy of screaming at everyone who goes by and not taking no for an answer unless you actually jog away from them.
]]>I'm just sad that AIG is facing off with Peanut Corp so early.
]]>We can set up a sweet meeting facility at the nearest HoJos.
]]>They shouldn't get a pass just because they'd rather put thousands of people out of work rather than fix their problems.
]]>Come on. Comcast is not worse than Peanut Corp of America. I'm calling AIG vs Peanut Corp of America in a bare knuckle brawl for the title.
Then again...Apple is on the tree...and I know a lot of people that would irony vote for it...
]]>Why are we even bothering with the brackets and voting bullshit? AIG versus the rest of the list is like pitting the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers against Special Olympics football teams.
Next year, my vote is to change the Golden Poo award to an Oscars-style competition: Worst Retailer. Worst Communications Company. Worst Financial Company. Worst Corporate Scandal. One winner from each catagory will then advance to the ultimate Worst Company in America.
]]>Shush. The memo is already circulating through WallyWorld headquarters as we speak.
]]>I have suggest Gordon Brothers takes the CC slot. It is only appropriate.
]]>I nominated them. I do every year. The air pollution (smells) generated by that company are just horrible.
Burnt Dog Hair is what I call it.
]]>Circuit City can be eliminated.
Substitute Gordon Brothers into the CC slot.
]]>I'm pretty satisfied with my bracket, but pissed that the PCA will obviously get eliminated in the second round.
]]>I want the Golden Turd to go to a company still in business, not awarded to a defunct entity. Seems like wasting the message of the Golden Turd, you know?
]]>I think AIG wins by default, no? We should just hold a runner-up contest this year.
]]>The pitchforks and rakes say AIG. But the Peanut People deserve some serious consideration just on style points.
Warning - shameless plug to follow:
You don't have to wait! You can vote right away on all these companies at [www.vanno.com] And your votes get turned into more real-time rankings that you can argue about and comment on right away. The fun happens every day at Vanno...
]]>I would say AIG but GM is tempting with the same attitude - we're too big to fail so give us millions more than we said 2 months ago. And you think that number won't keep rising like a nasty drug habit.
]]>Eh, they're both a market for corrupt resellers.
]]>Fair to say more than a billion people, many of whom haven't even been born yet, will be stuck paying for AIG's idiocy. (Debt from the bailout won't go away quickly, and we're already paying interest on more than $10 trillion.) PCA killed a very small number of people. With all due sympathy for the dead and their loved ones, it's several orders of magnitude from the scale of AIG.
]]>This is like... having the Oscars when you know Batman Should get Movie of the year.
Oh wait...
]]>They're both responsible for killing people. I'd be willing to bet the number of suicides in relation to the financial disaster far outweighs the people killed by the tainted peanut butter!
]]>how and when do we vote? The public is dying to know and place their votes!
Personally I'm of the AIG Vs. Comcast camp.
AIG has been a financial nightmare and comcast is a customer service nightmare, so it balances out alright.
I'm sad to see that Microsoft is not on the list, as well as the US government.
And Starbucks? Really? Unless this has anything to do with the article about the preditory towing and the guy that was AT starbucks, I don't see how they got on the list.
]]>Agreed.
]]>So am I. It got quite a few nominations. I'd be curious to hear the rationale for excluding it.
]]>BOOK IT!
]]>For those mentioning other things like the "Federal Reserve". That isn't a company. If we were going with the worst part of the US federal government of 2009, then yeah...
With the heated emotions of late, we all know AIG is going to be the head of the pack. Even though some of the companies listed there actually were involved with endangering lives or killing people.
]]>"Not sponsored by:" - classic.
]]>For the first round I pick:
AIG
Peanut Corp
Walmart
Best Buy
Ticketmaster
United Health Care
Citibank
General Motors
GE
Chrysler
AT&T
Starbucks
I think AIG will be going all the way (and then some) on this contest.
]]>AIG! AIG! AIG!
]]>(not available in all areas, some restrictions apply, thunderdome does not contain thunder)
]]>3rd party for sure. T.Mo has AWESOME customer service...been with them/Voicestream for 10+ years and we've always been treated great.
Not sure why they're on the list either...
]]>And how come Bernie Madoff isn't in the running?
He had a company, a completely fraudulent one, but still a company.
AIG!
]]>Why doesn't anyone blame the federal government and B Obama?
]]>I am disappointed by the lack of Monsanto.
]]>I hope this makes the cause of the problem clear.
]]>@ConroyCotta: Pfft. They (pine trees) are a cash crop. People don't make paper out of mighty Amazon Rain Forest hardwoods. You might have a valid argument if you said "for the sake of chemical dyes being released into the environment".
]]>What about all of the companies that went under? Bear Stearns anyone? I personally nominated WaMu.
]]>Least with at&t you will hit a human to talk to eventually. Ebay/paypal, you are not even guaranteed that.
]]>AIG takes it, hands down... BUT, there are a few dark horses that may give them a run for their money. PayPal, Ticketmaster, Walmart have all done some amazingly boneheaded things in the past. There's still time for another monumental screw up from them.
]]>I do agree about Peanut Corp. It should be in an easier bracket in order to go further. Those crooks knew their product was contaminated and sold it anyway.
]]>I'm not even sure how T-Mobile ended up on the list, have there been that many stories about them that made Consumerist?
]]>Not that that can't change, however.
]]>Spring and Verizon on the first tier against eachother in the first round? That is going to be close.
]]>@supercereal: Yup, that's the way I'm betting.
I take issue with AIG. They aren't the problem, sure, they are horrible, but they could not have caused the total mess we're in without the duplicitous B.S. of the U.S. Government. If they had simply let AIG fail, we would all say what a shame and we'd still be in this mess, except now we've thrown away billions of dollars on top of it.
I stand by my previous post, the U.S. Government deserves to win this title and there isn't even a close second!
]]>Is it me or does Time Warner Cable has a similar symbol of Ra...(Stargate)?
]]>Disappointed not to see Aetna on the list - they are always at the top of my most-hated list. Along with Comcast - who I expect to make it to the Final Four - they still have the worst pricing and customer service.
But Peanut Co. for the win - because people died from eating food they liked - and Peanut Co. didn't care that people could get sick.
]]>More importantly, thank fucking God Diebold isn't on the list this year
]]>Why in the world is GE in there? If it is for GE Money then I kindda understand.
]]>I want to say AIG, but I think more people are affected on a day to day basis by Comcast's greediness than were by AIG. I'm used to my tax dollars being wasted, so what's a few dollars more to some old rich white dudes?
]]>I predict a second round upset of Peanut corporation over, AIG. As bas as AIG has been, they have not been outright responsible for killing anyone. Walmart may be in the running for the whole trampled to death employee thing over Christmas.
Killing people is still worse then bankrupting people in my book.
]]>*protesting for edit button*
]]>How did avoid Microsoft not make it on this list? They have a shot at making it into the sweet 16
]]>*chanting* AIG! AIG! AIG! AIG!
]]>I would have liked to the Peanut Corp of America on the opposite side of the bracket from AIG. I think those two are the only real contenders.
]]>But no Countrywide?
]]>Peanut Corporation killed people. It has not YET been proven that AIG did. Yet.
]]>I think there should be a reshuffling of companies... too many of who I percieve are top contenders ended up on the left side: AIG, Peanut Corp, Best Buy, TicketMaster, etc
But I suppose every team has to lose eventually other than the best of the worst.
I don't understand this one?
they have made some mistakes, yes. But, to even be in the running for worst company?
I would like to know what the criterion for this decision was??
]]>I'd like to see an AIG, Sprint, Comcast, Bank of America final four
]]>Lucky Target, they got paired with AIG in the opening round
]]>*weeps quietly*
]]>AIG
Citibank
GM
BofA
AIG vs. GM in the finals. Beyond that, flip a coin, but I lean AIG.
]]>Although it would still be close...
]]>The bracket in the bottom right doesn't have a clear #1, for instance, while AIG's bracket has the Peanut Corporation, which obviously would be a #1 seed in any other bracket.
]]>GM is a close 2nd IMO
]]>Nonetheless it's hard for me not to bet on Peanut Corp., since they knowingly distributed a product that could kill people directly and quickly. Of course we don't really know if Peanut Corp. killed more people directly than Citi or AIG did indirectly.
On the other hand, if you want to look at it in terms of death caused, you have to consider United Healthcare a favorite.
If arrogance, pettiness, and generally having contempt for your customers turns out to be a major factor, then TicketMaster is going to the Final Four.
So that's my Final Four, I suppose: Citibank, AIG, United Healthcare, and Ticketmaster.
]]>I just hope AIG doesn't completely steamroll this thing. I want competition!
]]>@spoco: Agreed. But I wish Ticketmaster and AIG were not on the same end.
]]>If it's by sheer story volume on Consumerist, it's gotta be Worst Buy.
]]>@dako81: Seconded. I'll bet 20 shares of Citi Bank on that one.
]]>Once again Consumerist has failed to include THE WORST Corporation in America "the Federal Reserve". Who gave the money to AIG? The Fed. Who is giving away billions of taxpayers money? The Fed. Who refuses to tell anyone where the money went to and what it was spent on? The Fed.
]]>How does Starbucks get on this list? Maybe a bit of justification for that? They're relatively innocuous.
]]>AIG has an easy first round matchup, but watch out for Peanut Corp of America in the Sweet 16 - that could be an upset.
Walmart is a trendy pick to matchup with AIG in the elite 8, but could get some competition from Best Buy.
Ticketmaster has a cakewalk to the Final Four.
Comcast gets Directv in an ironic first round matchup, and should make the elite eight with ease.
General Motors could provide Comcast competition in the quarterfinal, however.
eBay Paypal should be in everyone's Elite 8, and I don't think Cicuit Shitty should be eligible - they're not a company anymore.
My Final Four: AIG, Ticketmaster, General Motors and eBay/Paypal.
Championship Game: "The Bailout Bowl" AIG vs. GM
]]>On that note, which is worse--knowingly killing a bunch of people or devastating the world economy?
]]>Peanut Company of America KILLED people...
]]>We'll see. This should be interesting =)
]]>@dmolavi: Seconded
]]>Circuit City isn't a company anymore!
]]>