It's #19 US Airways VS #14 Capital One:
This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2009 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers, and seeded according to number of nominations. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america. Download the bracket here.
]]>I'll submit the full story to the consumerist, we'll see if it makes the page.
]]>Still, I hate credit card companies with a fury like no other. Capital One gets my vote.
]]>Had a chat with my local Chevy Chase Bank branch supervisor, expressing my dismay that CCB was sold to CapOne. She assured me she'd heard the credit card horror stories from relatives and so had her own concerns, but was convinced CapOne had learned its lessons and learned from CCB, and Things Would Be Much Better. I don't use CCB cards (except the Visa Debit Card only used for ATM transactions) so I'm more willing to take a wait-and-see attitude than I might be otherwise.
]]>US Airways an "honest" statement: "Yeah, we screwed up and didn't have a contingency for bad weather and we sold more seats then we have. It sucks for you, we're admit we're not really sorry; but here's a free for next time."
Capital One with an "excuses" statement: "So we received $5.billion in TARP stimulus money and we decided that due to a difficult economic environment we had to come up with new ways to serve you. Because we like you and you have never made a late payment anywhere, think it would be beneficial to raise your rate to from a fixed 9% to a variable rate of 30%. We also have a number of fees and fines we want to charge you for anything we can think of in order to make you feel better for being such a good mark for accepting our usurious rates.
]]>For the record I still despise US Airways, but Capital One tales the nickel and diming the consumer to a whole new level.
]]>Same here - they sent the vikings to my house the other day telling me about the lovely interest hike for being a good customer!
]]>@DarqAnshin: I keep expecting to see an increase but all they do is try to convince me to transfer balances to their card.
]]>This is a tough one but I think Sully tips this one toward Capital One.
]]>No problems what so ever.
]]>How the heck does this happen?
USAirways gets my vote.
]]>@Smooooth: And Primatech!
]]>@Smooooth: And InGen!
]]>@Citizen Kang: Oh and I forgot about Veidt Enterprises
]]>They also sell SexPanther!
]]>@Citizen Kang: What about the Dharma Initiative? Or the International Bank of Business and Credit? Or Springfield Nuclear Power? Or Shinra? Or Initech? Or, my personal favorite, Blue Sun Corporation? We could really do a whole separate bracket.
]]>Crazy IDEA for Next year...
I like the seeding but we need to add in "Regions" or "Industries"
It does not make sense to compare a BANK with an AIRLINE. Our expectations of the two differs significantly.
For instance:
When I call a Bank I expect a professional service and immediate assistance
When I call an Airline I expect delays, long wait times, and to be bounced around between several CSRs
This competition should highlight not only "The Worst Company in America".. But also "The Worst company in each industry"
]]>I had it there, but it slipped through some hole on my screen.
]]>@vastrightwing:
Does the fact that Capital One mistakenly issued a guy a credit card with Nick Nolte's hilarious mug shot on it sway you?
That's what put Capital One over the top for me. I'm so superficial like that.
]]>@Citizen Kang:
Krusty Burger wins it all!
Wait a sec., opening a Krusty Burger on an unmanned oil barge isn't necessarily evil...just bad business.
]]>Well, in their defense, it's not like they expected ALL of the passengers to opt for the mid-flight dip in the Hudson.
]]>In fact, in january I flew internationally with them (total of 4 flights) and EVERY flight arrived early.
]]>I will say the capital one seemed to be much more cautious when handing out credit limits than other companies. I got my first card from them when I was 20 with a credit limit of $300. Almost five years later the limit is only $800 without ever missing a payment
]]>No, Weyland-Yutani is trying hard to bring back a xenomorph and end the human race, which they so far have failed to do.
Cyberdyne Systems came much closer to succeeding.
*sticking to film plots, not comics or novels
]]>I'm actually a Cap One fan - they're one of the few banks left that don't charge an extra 2-3% for foreign currency purchases - definitely my preferred int'l travel card.
]]>so i guess I'm lucky.
]]>Vanno says US Airways (#1516) is worse than Capital One (#628).
]]>@packcamera:
I was undecided on this matchup, but you reminded me of my scariest plane experience! I was on a USAirways flight where they decided to clean the bathroom while the plane was loading. The fumes were incredible... I don't know if it was cleaning fluid, the magic air toidy solution, or a combination. Pure, choke-a-licious evil, whatever it was. I don't care for companies that attempt to gas their customers.
How do you choose?
On one hand you have bad customer service, over charging, expensive rates, horrible policies, and the threat of bankruptcy. On the other hand, you have bad customer service, over charging, expensive rates, horrible policies, and the threat of bankruptcy.
What do you do?
Weyland-Yutani FTW! Building Better Worlds, my ass.
]]>Capital One does not put Legionnaire's disease or the NoroVirus in your pocket (unless you use their custom card lab...)
]]>Cyberdyne Systems v. Weyland-Yutani
Brawndo v. OCP (Omni Consumer Products)
Kanemitsu v. Mega Lo Mart
CHOAM v. LexCorp
Umbrella Corporation v. Tyrell Corporation
Krusty Burger v. S-Mart
Now those are some seriously evil corporations.
]]>Capital One actually has some redeeming features, annoying commercials aside. They don't charge a foreign exchange fee, for one thing, which makes their cards quite useful if you travel internationally (or at least, they didn't charge one the last time I did this).
]]>@jerros: I think it's because banks raising rates on existing balances, playing games with billing cycles, etc. I think if US Air sent me a bill for the Coke I drank two months ago on their flight because they had a "we can do whatever we want" contract, I'd vote for them.
]]>It only took me four months to obtain, then cancel, my Capital One card due to complete incompetence in their automatic online payment system. No contest in my book!
]]>@Radi0logy: I don't hate Capital One these days. I actually have a lower APR on my capital one card than I do on any of my other credit cards right now... by about 8 points. It's the only card I'll really use anymore.
]]>Bah, its in my wallet, but it pisses me off!
]]>I think this one is going to be close!
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