Graham says:

Our mortgage is with Countrywide. They keep sending us notices with bold type that say:
"YOUR MORTGAGE IS NEARING ITS NEXT ADJUSTMENT!"

Of course ... we have always had a fixed rate and they know that. There isn't anything that could possibly adjust.

They know we don’t have a variable rate. It has always been a fixed rate and never been refinanced. It strikes me as fear based tactics to get you to shoulder an expensive refi.

The text reads:
"As a valued Countrywide customer, you shouldn't have to worry about rising monthly payments."

Except ... It would never have crossed my mind to worry about my Fixed Rate Mortgage payments rising if I hadn't received this mailer from them.

Oh, but Graham, didn't you realize that "If you have available home equity, you may be able to access it to pay off bills or take care of unexpected expenses." Don't you know that your house isn't really a house? It's an ATM! Isn't that nifty? It must be true, too, because it says "official" up there at the top.

We thought Bank of America was going to try to clean up Countrywide's image, but apparently not.

A Modern Monopoly

Did you know you aren't Ticketmaster's primary customer? Sure, you and your friends bought 141 million tickets last year, but Ticketmaster's loyalty belongs to their true customers: venues and promoters. Ticketmaster secures its monopoly by goading them into multi-year agreements that empower Ticketmaster to act as their exclusive vendor. In exchange, Ticketmaster gives them money. Lots and lots of money. Several million dollars upfront, sometimes.

Ticketmaster doesn't earn a cent from a ticket's face value. It all goes straight back to the venue, promoter, and talent. To sweeten the deal, Ticketmaster also shares a slice of its exorbitant fees, giving venues and promoters an incentive to support Ticketmaster's outrageous markups. "It's not us!," they can whimper. "It's that damn TicketBastard!"

Ticketmaster's 9,000+ exclusive agreements makes them the gatekeeper to 90% of the nation's arenas and amphitheaters, 70% of our clubs and small theaters, and most of our basketball, hockey, and football games.

So What Am I Paying For?

• The Service Charge

  This is Ticketmaster's cash cow. The majority of their $1.2 billion in revenue comes from this all-encompassing charge. It appears on all tickets, and cannot be escaped.

• The Facility Charge

  This is the venue's cash cow. Sure, they also take a slice from the ticket's face value, but they want more, dammit, and they get it here.

• The Processing Charge

  Wait a minute... didn't you pay a service charge? What's the difference between processing and service? Right, there is none. Well, technically that's not true. The service charge is refundable and the processing charge is not. Ticketmaster claims that the processing charge covers their expenses for taking your order and finding you seats. Sounds like service to us.

• The Convenience Charge

  By far, the most annoying name for a fee. It's the price you pay for printing out the tickets you bought, even after paying a service and processing fee.

It's supposedly an accomplishment that Ticketmaster is even willing to disclose its fees, but knowledge in this case leads to anger, not power. In any other instance, pricing transparency by itself is a good thing because it empowers consumers to compare prices and shop around. Ticketmaster's exclusive agreements, however, undercut any potential price shopping.

Why Hasn't Anyone Destroyed Ticketmaster?

Pearl Jam tried and failed. The band landed before Congress to publicly brand Ticketmaster as an evil monopoly.

The heart of their issue was ticket pricing, but Ticketmaster had a history of screwing Pearl Jam:

• For a Seattle concert, Ticketmaster agreed to donate $1 of their $3.25 service charge to charity. Right before the tickets were set to go on sale, Ticketmaster reneged and threatened not to sell the tickets unless they could boost the service fee by $1 to cover the cost of their "charitable" contribution. Ticketmaster ended up stiffing the charity.
• Ticketmaster then wanted to charge a $3.75 service fee on an $18 ticket. Pearl Jam forced them to list the charge separately, and it wasn't until the band threatened to go to another venue that Ticketmaster acquiesced.
• When Pearl Jam tried to bypass Ticketmaster in Detroit by selling tickets through their fan club, the ticket giant threatened to sue the concert promoter for violating their exclusive agreement. Ticketmaster ended up disabling the promoter's ticket machine.
• In New York, Ticketmaster threatened the Paramount Theater for violating their exclusive agreement after Pearl Jam told fans over the radio to visit the theater to buy tickets at the box office.

For the band's 1994 tour at the height of their popularity, they tried to cap prices at $18 and limit surcharges to 10%. Ticketmaster refused and the tour was canceled.

How The !@#$ Is This Not A Monopoly?

We dunno, but President Clinton's Justice Department thought Ticketmaster's arrangements were a-ok. Pearl Jam retained the über-corporate lawyers at Sullivan and Cromwell to needle the Justice Department into investigating Ticketmaster for antitrust violations. After a brief investigation, the Justice Department ruled that people were only indirect buyers, and that Ticketmaster's true customers were venues, since they were the ones consuming Ticketmaster's services. The venues weighed in on Ticketmaster's side and seemed to voluntarily hand over their business, so there was apparently no monopoly.

If Only They Weren't So Evil

Ticketmaster might be less reviled if it wasn't so frustratingly difficult for consumers to beat out resellers and other middlemen to buy tickets for themselves to popular events. Chicagoist's failed attempt to get tickets to the American League Championship Series is all-too familiar:

A refresh of the page gives us a new scrambled word to fill in and then we're thrown into a que. Wait time estimated at 15 minutes or more! WTF? We watch in anticipation for the number to get smaller and after a few minutes, it does. Now it says 11 minutes. A few minutes more, and it's down to 7 minutes.

But wait! Now it says 14 minutes! What's going on here? We think something fishy's going on, so we open another browser window to see what those wait times do. It remains at 15 minutes. The first one keeps jumping from a short as 6 minutes all the way back to 15 minutes again. Not good

Finally, we seem to be getting close. Now this is about 25 minutes after Noon, but it's finally at 4 minutes. Then 2 minutes, back to 4, then 2, now 1 and then...

We get some sort of warning because another Ticketmaster window is open! We close that window, but in the meantime the first window sends us back to the original event page to select quantity and level again. We're shit out of luck! There will be no ALCS tickets for Chicagoist, all because Ticketmaster's computer system isn't built to handle exactly the type of transactions that are most critical to their business.

The same thing happened to us last year when we tried to buy playoff tickets for the Rangers. We were working computers, phones, anything with a hook into Ticketmaster, but we couldn't connect to anyone. Within 10 minutes, all the available tickets were gone. Real fair.

Are There Any Viable Alternatives?

Cracks are finally starting to form in Ticketmaster's money-encrusted shell, but the competition doesn't inspire confidence. Everyone looks at Ticketmaster's 30% surcharge and thinks how good all that undeserved cash would look in their pocket.

Live Nation, the largest U.S. promoter, is in the process of ditching Ticketmaster to build their own ticketing system, but only because they want to upsell junk and expensive packages while keeping the lucre for themselves.

Major League Baseball bought up a stake in Tickets.com, which will soon become their primary ticketing agent, but Tickets.com also levies a 30% service fee. MLB also ditched Ticketmaster for secondary ticket sales in favor of StubHub, which charges the buyer and seller a combined 25% fee.

TicketWeb was once an alternative for smaller shows, but they were gobbled up by Ticketmaster. Bandsintown is still around as an aggregator for small shows. While they don't sell tickets directly, the site will point you to Ticketmaster alternatives, if any are available.

You can also try using Brown Paper Tickets, which bills itself as "Fair Trade ticketing," but it can be difficult to find a participating venue.

Oh Come On, There Has To Be Some Viable Alternative

For the committed, there is really only one true alternative: abandon hope and the internet and take an urban field trip to the box office.

PREVIOUSLY: Why Do Ticketmaster Events Sell Out Instantly?
Ticketmaster Levies Entirely Believable $327 Per Ticket Convenience Charge
Live Nation To Challenge Ticketmaster, Sell Fans More Junk

From the P-I:

They allege in the complaint that the lender misrepresented the terms of ARMs (adjustable-rate mortgages), marketed risky complex loans by emphasizing low teaser rates while misrepresenting later steep monthly payments and routinely encouraged borrowers to refinance only months after an affiliated broker sold them a loan.

The plaintiffs in this case include June Taylor, a Renton resident, who refinanced a home loan with Countrywide in 2006. She didn't receive a good faith estimate or a truth-in-lending statement before she closed on the loan — both required by law, according to the complaint. In addition, her truth-in-lending statement listed her monthly payments, but failed to note that it represented only the minimum payment that Countrywide was willing to accept rather than the actual amount she owed. Thus, she ended up with a loan that actually grew over time, the suit alleges.

Oh June, who doesn't want a mortgage that grows over time? You're just not looking at the bright side of things. Like... um... never mind. Nobody wants a growing mortgage. Good luck with your lawsuit.

Homeowners sue Countrywide [P-I]
(Photo: So Cal Metro )

Blumenthal, also known as the badass who sued Best Buy over their deceptive secret website, said this about our 2008 "Worst Company in America":

"Countrywide was at their side — as an insolvency enabler. Countrywide inflated homeowner incomes to qualify them for loans they couldn't pay back and misled consumers about loan terms.

"Countrywide stacked the deck and the deal against its customers: Our goal is to un-stack the deck — and undo the deals — restoring fairness and fiscal sense to mortgages. I will fight for restitution — money back to homeowners used and abused by Countrywide — as well as fines and forfeitures to the state. Our lawsuit seeks to invalidate loans that violate state law, allowing consumers to shed illegal, unreasonable fees and conditions that leave them at the precipice of foreclosure. We must vigorously fight predatory lending practices that trap consumers on a debt treadmill," Blumenthal said.

Blumenthal has released a list of ways in which Countrywide allegedly violated Connecticut lending laws. Here it is in all its shady glory:

Blumenthal alleges Countrywide violated state consumer protection and banking laws by:

• Encouraging consumers to take out loans the company knew or should have known they could not afford;
• Improperly inflating consumers' incomes to qualify them for loans they otherwise could not have received;
• Providing loans with different and more expensive terms than consumers were promised;
• Pressuring consumers into mortgages with temporary interest only payment options when the company knew or should have known they could not afford the higher payments that would come due later;
• Providing variable rate loans to consumers with the assurance they could refinance before interest rates reset, only to later refuse to do so;
• Sending at least one consumer rejected for a home equity loan at one Countrywide office to another company branch where the loan request was approved;
• Demanding Connecticut consumers facing foreclosure pay excessive and inaccurate legal fees in order to reinstate their loans;
• Promising to help homeowners "in financial difficulty to establish suitable payment plans," but instead demanding loan modifications and repayment plans that were unsustainable, unaffordable or unsuitable.

If you're interested, you can read the entire complaint here (PDF). Bank of America told the Wall Street Journal that they couldn't comment on pending litigation, which is just as well because we had a "taking it seriously" post yesterday and we wouldn't want to bore you or anything.

State Sues Countrywide For Allegedly Deceptive Loans And Loan Renegotiations, Unjustified Legal Fees [State of Connecticut]

Rebollo would then sell these "leads" to another man,Wahid Siddiqi, for $500 per batch. The FBI says that Mr. Rebollo admitted that he profited approximately $50,000 to $70,000 from selling the data, which included the Social Security numbers of as many as 2 million mortgage applicants.

The LA Times says:

Rebollo would copy information on about 20,000 customers at a time on Sunday nights by using a [Countrywide] computer that did not have the same security features that other machines in the office had, according to the affidavit by FBI Special Agent Richard P. Ryan.

At that rate, the U.S. attorney's office said, Rebollo would have compromised up to 2 million customer profiles for about 2.5 cents each — an astonishingly small amount considering the importance of the material. Mortgage leads are among the most expensive for sale because of the potential payoffs to intermediaries when loans are made.

To top it off, not only was this guy selling his customers SSNs, he wasn't even very good at it, said Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse:

"This guy obviously didn't do his homework. He doesn't know the value of these on the black market," she said.

Countrywide insider stole mortgage applicants' data, FBI says [LA Times](Thanks, Alison!)
(Photo: So Cal Metro )

...6098 to 4826, a solid trouncing of Comcast, which had been favored to win by many commenters. After 67 rounds and five months of fierce battling, Countrywide climbed to the top of the poop pile and affirmed its well-deserved status as the absolute nadir of capitalism. It looks like in the end, we all decided that the destruction of a giant chunk of the American economy by greed and fraud was more reprehensible than an unsatisfactory internet experience.

The Lucky Golden Shit award will get shipped to Angelo "Golden Boy" Mozilo, former Countrywide CEO, who steered the ship of financial doom from its inception to the height of its unfettered raping of the American Dream, just as soon as we find a good mailing address for him. The receipt for the Lucky Golden Ship will get mailed to Bank of America CEO Kenneth D. Lewis, along with a certificate of completion.

Congratulations to our top 10 runners up

Comcast
Walmart
Bank of America
American Airlines
Capital One
Diebold
Exxon
United Health Care
Blue Cross Blue Shield
Microsoft

You're champions, all of you. Better luck next year.

It's been a long, difficult, and sometimes controversial road. In order to get to the final, Comcast defeated Menu Foods, The American Arbitration Association, Ticketmaster, Exxon, and Diebold. Countrywide took down Dish Network, Clear Channel, United Healthcare, Bank of America, and Walmart. Now, the choice is yours: Which company is the Worst Company in America?

Here's what a few of you had to say about these two companies:

Comcast:

"THANK GOD WE'RE A MONOPOLY!"

"Comcast is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad company."

"Comcast deserves not just worst company but most evil."

"Comcast, since I have no choice but to do business with Comcast, if I want cable."

"Considering Comcast actually rigged a public hearing with paid schmo's to prevent their opposition from being heard... COMCAST. "

Countrywide Home Loans:

"The evil they wrought on the economy will be felt for years to come."

"Countrywide aggressively sought to cause evil..."

"Not only did Countrywide wreck the mortgage industry, they wrecked securities and investments market, thereby forcing investors to the commodities market and driving gas up to $4+ a gallon, thereby driving the costs of food and other products through the roof."

"Countrywide has destroyed the housing market...well...country-wide."

"Countrywide lent me 7750K on an undocumented, no income, no asset loan, while WalMart demanded an ID for a credit card purchase of $13.71, then wanted the receipt on the way out."

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america.

Time to get serious, folks. In this round we'll take a look at the 5 most popular Consumerist stories for each company*:

Countrywide

Countrywide Invents Evidence In Foreclosure Hearing 38,583 views

Countrywide CEO Accidentally Emails Homeowner, Calls His Plea For Help "Disgusting" 19,631 views

Congress To Subprime CEOs: How Come You Got Paid Millions To Wreck The Economy? Hm? 9,306 views

Countrywide Home Loans Has Over 15,000 Repossessed Properties For Sale 8,895 views

Countrywide Is About To Foreclose On Ed McMahon 7,542 views

Wal-Mart:

Walmart "Junior" Panties Suggest That Your Genitals Are Better Than Credit Cards134,786 views

Walmart Nazi Tshirt Watch: Week 62 111,664 views

Detained And Harassed At Walmart For Not Showing A Receipt101,075 views

Walmart Tries To Steal Shopper's Baby 91,364 views

Woman Receives Severe Chemical Burns From Flip Flops, Walmart Tells Her To Complain To Manufacturer 80,547 views

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america.

( polls)

Time to get serious, folks. In this round we'll take a look at the 5 most popular Consumerist stories for each company*:

Comcast:
Powerpoint By Pissed Comcast Employee Reveals They Know Exactly How Much They Suck 140,412 views
Sick Of Waiting For An Install, 75-Year-Old Woman Smashes Up Comcast Office With Hammer 89,231 views
Comcast's "We Don't Throttle BitTorrent" Internal Talking Points Memo88,870 views
5 Confessions Of A Comcast Customer Service Rep 78,876 views
Comcast Installs Cable With Extreme Incompetence 67,249 views

Diebold:
Clips: How To Hack A Diebold Machine 772 views
Diebold Voting Machines, Hotel Minibars Equally Secure 81 views

*We've only written about Diebold twice.
This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america.

Here's what a few of you had to say about these two companies:

Bank of America:

"Bank of America tellers gave away $12,000 of my money to a woman with missing teeth and a fake driver's license in my name. On SEVEN occasions. In places I never go."

"My girlfriend had a credit card with a bank that was bought out by BOA. Her monthly payments went from $20 a month to $170 despite the fact that she never missed a payment and always paid more then the minimum."

"BoA is not just "a" bank, they're a bank with some of the least customer-friendly policies in America. Re-opening closed accounts then charging $35 for it? That's not a courtesy, that's fraud."

"Can u say overdraft? Lets take billions from the poor every year and feel good about it!"

Countrywide:

"Countrywide, because before the subprime crisis I could finance my education, and now I'm posting as a dropout."

"Countrywide is ultimately what caused the dollar to be worthless. So them, and people like them, wrecked our economy."

"Countrywide is the subprime mortgage business. Sure, blame is spread widely, but no one company/person/sector so aggressively made it part of their business plan."

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america.

Here's what some of you had to say about these two companies:

Wal-Mart:
"They undercut the bottom lines of companies so much that the company barely gets a profit - but if the company says "No, I can't afford to switch all my manufacturing to 5 gallon jars of pickles", Walmart says they won't carry any of that brand's products.

Period."

"Wal-Mart: Squeeze your vendors, not your customers. "

"The truth was that Wal-Mart paid Logitech to use Logitech's Chinese production centers so that they could make items which looked very similar to the normal product lines, but which had components in them which were solely the responsibility of Wal-Mart (ie, not purchased, inventoried, or in any way guaranteed or the responsibility of Logitech). Wal-Mart just paid a certain amount per unit to put their crap into a shiny Logitech box and have the Logitech logo shown on it."

"I bought a GE Skillet from them a while back and it was a piece of shit. To find out why, I checked the box and it said something like "made for Wal-Mart" and ever since then, when I do venture into Wal-Mart I always check for that label."

American Airlines:
"AA just released a statement saying they will be charging $15 per checked bag and cutting flights."

"I just heard on the radio on the way to work that American Airlines is now going to staff people at TSA checkpoints to police people bringing too many carry-on bags."

"I voted for AA, because at least Microsoft pretends to care about where I want to go today!"

"They stranded me in an airport for 10 hours with no food vouchers, no hotel offer, and no way to escape (I didn't have a license or old enough to rent a car)."

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america.

Here's what some of you had to say about these two companies:

Capital One:
"Cap one is the most evil of all these companies!!Down with cap one!!"

"I'm tired of them wanting to know what's in my wallet."

"About six months ago, C1 gave me an unsolicited increase in my credit limit by $1k. Last month, mid-month and without warning reduced my credit limit by $500. I noticed this when I checked my account online and called them. Someone speaking broken English explained that C1 had "noticed I wasn't using the last $500 of the credit limit they had given me"

"Capital One won't close your account when you ask. I sent certified mail to Capital One, and my credit report shows that it was closed 2 MONTHS AFTER they received my certified letter."

"They nickel-and-dime their account holders with fees and charges, then ruin their credit ratings with their predatory, fraudulent practices."

"I've had CapitalOne for going on 10 years and never had an issue with them. They've always handled all my requests quickly and without an issue."

Diebold:
"Diebold, because they still haven't fixed their voting software, and they hate the idea of paper trails on voting machines. "

"Diebold = threat to the processes of freedom and democracy"

"I voted for Diebold, but it registered my vote for Pat Buchanan."

"...why is Diebold even on this list. I don't know about you, but I haven't bought, had contact with, or used anything Diebold... Ever."

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america.

Here's what a few of you said about these two companies:

Comcast:
"If Comcast does not win then the entire fun of this whole contest has been wiped out for me."

"Comcast is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad company."

"Comcast deserves not just worst company but most evil. Adding more "high def" just by compressing the channels to a signal that my non-technical sister can see is pixelated? "Shaping" bandwidth without notifying customers of that? Their "unlimited" plan that has limits; their faster plan that just lets you hit the limits sooner? None of that enough for you?

Then let me continue: Comcast in my area is the ONLY choice for internet other than dial-up. So I'm screwed."

"Considering Comcast actually rigged a public hearing with paid schmo's to prevent their opposition from being heard... COMCAST. Hands down."

"Has anyone else here seen the look of sheer terror on the face of a Comcast employee when he is about to setup your internet and sees a Mac? It's amazing."

Exxon:

"Exxon-Mobil should get the lifetime achievement award and be permanently dropped from future consideration. They are truly in a league by themselves. That is all."

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america.

Vote!

There are some close fights in here so if you missed a round, your vote could be the one that makes the difference!

Countrywide Vs United Heathcare

Bank of America VS Blue Cross Blue Shield

American Airlines VS Microsoft

Wal-Mart VS WellPoint

eBay/Paypal VS Capital One

Best Buy VS Diebold

Exxon VS DeBeers

Comcast VS Ticketmaster

Here's what some of you had to say about these two companies:

Countrywide:

"What a bunch of scammy scumbags."

"It's it's not Countrywide by a landslide, I'll be shocked."

"Countrywide is officially my pick to win this whole competition. "

United Health Care

"I HATE United Health Care. I took my three children in to have their teeth cleaned. Untied DENIED the clam becasue it had been less than six month since the last cleaning. Turns out it had been five months and 29 days since their last cleaning. Had I waited one more day United would have paid the claim. When I complained I was told by several reps that I was SOL. JERKS!!!"

"Cuomo's investigation also found a clear example of the scheme: United insurers knew most simple doctor visits cost $200, but claimed to their members the typical rate was only $77. The insurers then applied the contractual reimbursement rate of 80%, covering only $62 for a $200 bill, and leaving the patient to cover the $138 balance."

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america.

Here's what some of you had to say about these two companies:

Bank of America:

"BoA is not just "a" bank, they're a bank with some of the least customer-friendly policies in America. Re-opening closed accounts then charging $35 for it? That's not a courtesy, that's fraud."

"Can u say overdraft? Lets take billions from the poor every year and feel good about it!"

Blue Cross Blue Shield:

"Any health company that tries to screw their own customers in a proactive way deserves to burn in hell."

"Blue Cross Blue Shield just dropped my 85 year old grandparents with no warning. Oh yeah, my grandmother just was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Coincidence? What a bag of flaming @*&%#s!"

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america.

Here's your sixth "Sweet 16" match-up: #43 American Airlines VS #6 Microsoft

Here's what some of you had to say about these two companies:

American Airlines:

"AA just released a statement saying they will be charging $15 per checked bag and cutting flights."

"You might as well ask "which business model is more doomed — renting movies from a store, or the hub & spoke airline system?""

Microsoft:

"MS trying to force people into using Vista is really the last straw. If they succeed on pushing XP out of use I will go back to using Mac. "

"Broken XBoxes; prolonging/supporting the HD disc war so they could get more time to let their digital download service mature; releasing Vista prematurely; multiple/confusing and overpriced Vista SKUs; removing XP from the market because people weren't buying Vista; Zune not supporting Microsoft's own Plays for Sure standard; DRM and Activation schemes that treat paying customers like criminals. I could go on, but I think that's enough to make my case."

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america.

• Comcast is beating Ticketmaster
• Exxon is thumping DeBeers
• Diebold is destroying Best Buy

• ...and Capital One is edging out eBay/Paypal.

Will #5 Best Buy really not make the elite 8? Can Capital One hold its lead on eBay? With $4 gas a reality... can Exxon be stopped?

Here's what some of you had to say about these two companies:

Wal-Mart:
"I knew they pushed manufacturers to lesser quality items for their stores, but I was not expecting this to trickle down to frozen pizza. I know they have committed greater evils, but man, screwing with a DiGiorno should be punishable by death."

"I bought a GE Skillet from them a while back and it was a piece of shit. To find out why, I checked the box and it said something like "made for Wal-Mart" and ever since then, when I do venture into Wal-Mart I always check for that label."

Wellpoint:
"Personal information that may have included Social Security numbers and pharmacy or medical data for about 128,000 WellPoint Inc. customers in several states was exposed online over the past year, the health insurer said Tuesday."

"$2600 root canal - they covered about $435. filling? $16. right, like any licensed dentist is going to do a filling for $16."

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america.

Here's what some of you had to say about these two companies:

eBay/Paypal:
"In recent years, eBay has become an overpriced junk warehouse. Thirty sellers will auction the same "one-of-a-kind" item at a starting bid of $.01, with a bargain basement shipping rate of $24.99."

"Paying is no longer your pal. The consumer protection process is so convoluted that by the time eBay gets around to denying your claim, the seller has already begun defrauding other unsuspecting buyers under a new identity anyway."

Capital One:
"I'm tired of them wanting to know what's in my wallet."

"Even though I ALWAYS paid my bill on time every month, for some reason (at least 3-4 times a year) I would incur their $25 late fees. I believe this is because they have a special "processing facility" (in atlanta I think) that's sole purpose is to delay mailed payments before sending them off to the final payment processing place."

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america.

Here's what some of you had to say about these two companies:

Best Buy:
"I haven't shopped at a Best Buy since 2002, and I won't ever shop at a Best Buy again. Period."

"Haven't been to a Best Buy since they sold me a defective LG cell phone that had been recalled prior to my purchase, then wouldn't refund my money because I tried to return it beyond the 14 day window and I hadn't purchased the protection plan.

Me: "Why did you sell me a phone that was recalled? Aren't you supposed to take them off the shelves when you get a recall notice?"

Manager: "That's why we offer everyone the protection plan."

Me: "???"

"If Best Buy doesn't win it all, the system needs to be reviewed."

"The only reason Best Buy is still in business is that people are born faster than the company can create disgruntled ex-customers."

Diebold:
"When the CEO says he is, "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year" during the 2004 election and the senior executives Diebold were active fundraisers for Bush, that's a bad sign. I understand the executives as a person v. as representative of a company distinction. But at a certain point, it raises questions related to impartiality."

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america.

Here's your second "Sweet 16" match-up: #9 Exxon VS #25 DeBeers.

Here's what some of you had to say about these two companies:

DeBeers:
"DeBeers is a racket. But they probably have the world's most successful marketing campaign in convincing women that diamonds are valuable and equal Love."

"No, really honey, here's how this works. I give some crappy monopoly $10,000 and you get this little shiny glittery thing and that proves how much I love you. See, I prove my love for you by giving away all my hard earned cash. Why, you ask? Because the TV said I had to!!"

Exxon:
"Well, I know that I nominated Exxon Mobile, as I'm sure many did, so here was my reason: Record high oil prices (and this was back when the record was $100/barrel), record high gas prices, record high profits. The price of gas and diesel is driving up the cost of consumer goods, most notably groceries, and causing our already strained economy to be even moreso. Plus, they got off pretty easy for the Valdez spill. And I'm surly."

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america.

Here's your first "Sweet 16" match-up: #1 Comcast VS #17 Ticketmaster.

Here's what some of you had to say about these two companies:

Comcast:
"In my experience, Comcast employees don't even TRY to do their jobs. It's like they have no motivation."

If Comcast does not win then the entire fun of this whole contest has been wiped out for me.

Ticketmaster:
"This is a no brainer: Ticketmaster is the worst by far."

"Go Ticketmaster go! You're in my top 5!"

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america.

United Health Care vs Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company 2166 vs 1170
Countrywide vs Clear Channel 2439 vs 1773
Blue Cross Blue Shield vs Sprint 2937 vs 2139
Bank of America vs Monster Cable 3908 vs 3222
US Air vs Microsoft 2787 vs 3087
Time Warner Cable vs American Airlines 2513 vs 2480
Home Depot vs Wellpoint 1607 vs 2358
Wal-Mart vs Citibank 4849 vs 2516
Capital One vs ATT 3590 vs 3109
Sallie Mae vs eBay/Paypal 3623 vs 4288
TransUnion vs Diebold 1858 vs 4323
Best Buy vs CompUSA 7137 vs 3507
DeBeers vs Verizon 4741 vs 2451
Exxon vs United Airlines 6232 vs 1659
Sony vs Ticketmaster 1466 vs 7310
Comcast vs The American Arbitration Association 4133 vs 3455

United Health Care:

"United Health Care failed to notify me that I was no longer eligible for insurance under my father's plan. The assholes told him they were sending out a notification "packet" to me. I'm pretty sure I would have noticed that. Now I have to scramble for the lesser evil of BC/BS from my employer, if I'm eligible for that at all. Their last open enrollment period was in January. My UHC insurance expired in... December. Screw you, UHC!"

"United Health Care is probably the worst of the worst out of the big health insurers (who constitute possibly the worst industry in America). They should easily be in the final four. Their CEO received $1.1 BILLION in stock options as compensation (yes, "billion" with a 'b'). Read about it here. This, while they were claiming they needed to retroactively cancel people's coverage and routinely screw providers on payment. It's clear where the "savings" from those shady practices were going."

"I had to vote for UHG. They are the sort of company that gives capitalism a bad name, and Bill McGuire is the poster boy for it all.

He's actually not worth $1.1billion anymore. He had to give back several hundred million dollars to clear up that little stock option backdating problem he ran into.

UHG's new CEO, Stephen Helmsley, really isn't much different. Just that he's sitting on $600million+ instead of $800million.

The latest UHG scandal involves their Ingenix subsidiary. They compile health care cost information used to determine 'reasonable and customary' charges. It's alleged that Ingenix has manipulated data in order to lower payments to doctors and hospitals which, of course, greatly helps the part of UHG that is paying claims."

"They have been systematically screwing healthcare providers out of reimbursement, while also pulling shady practices on policy-holders. We aren't talking about just stingy stuff, but things that are essentially outright fraud in my opinion. I'm not talking about UHC specifically here, but a lot of problems that are common in the health insurance industry. UHC is just a particularly egregious offender and one whose executives are making a killing, quite literally.

And obviously you aren't familiar with the background on retroactive policy cancellations (something that isn't limited to UHC)...this isn't due to the customer letting their coverage "lapse" or not understanding the terms of the policy. It's things like someone getting cancer and your insurer unilaterally deciding they are going to retroactively cancel ALL your coverage because you failed to disclose that you occasionally suffered from seasonal allergies. It specifically targets people that have expensive covered conditions. That isn't an attempt to prevent fraud by patients...that's an attempt to weasel out of responsibility for paying.

There is a laundry list of nasty practices by health insurers that I could go into. These things are just getting more prevalent because of the rising cost of healthcare. It's becoming pretty much a high-stakes gamble whether or not your insurer will actually pay any given medical bill. They are bordering on massive organized criminal organizations. "

"I HATE United Health Care. I took my three children in to have their teeth cleaned. Untied DENIED the clam becasue it had been less than six month since the last cleaning. Turns out it had been five months and 29 days since their last cleaning. Had I waited one more day United would have paid the claim. When I complained I was told by several reps that I was SOL. JERKS!!!"

"Read this

(The above link is about a case involving WellPoint, where they cancelled a woman's coverage after she got breast cancer because of undisclosed minor preexisting conditions that were totally unrelated to the cancer). I agree that insurers should have some remedy if the pre-existing condition that was not disclosed is directly relevant to a condition for which a claim is being made. But what they are doing is basically auditing accounts of people who get diseases that will cost a lot of money, and trying to find ANY pretext to cancel their policy (by comparing their medical records to what the patient put on the disclosure form). The link above says that during a lawsuit employees testified that it was policy to do this to people who made expensive claims, and that it didn't matter whether it was a willful non-disclosure or not.

If the insurers are so concerned about catching fraud, why don't they just perform the records audit themselves before issuing insurance and collecting any premiums? It seems to me that they want to just collect premiums from people who pay on the grounds that they will be covered, and then not pay out when something actually does happen. I'm glad insurers are getting sued (and laws are being changed) over this practice. "

"For a concrete example of UHG's most recent problems, try this:

Cuomo Announces Industry-Wide Investigation Into Health Ins...

The gist of the complaint:

Under the United insurers' health plans, members pay a higher premium for the right to use out-of-network doctors. In exchange, the insurers promise to cover up to 80% of either the doctor's full bill or of the "reasonable and customary" rate depending upon which is cheaper.

The Attorney General's investigation found that by distorting the "reasonable and customary" rate, the United insurers were able to keep their reimbursements artificially low and force patients to absorb a higher share of the costs.

Cuomo's investigation also found a clear example of the scheme: United insurers knew most simple doctor visits cost $200, but claimed to their members the typical rate was only $77. The insurers then applied the contractual reimbursement rate of 80%, covering only $62 for a $200 bill, and leaving the patient to cover the $138 balance."

"UHC specifically is notorious mainly for their obscene executive compensation and for their practices involving their dealings with healthcare providers (though I wouldn't be surprised at all if they are playing the retroactive cancellation games too)."

"United Healthcare denied my mother breast reduction surgery for the last 5 years because they said it was cosmetic. Did I mention she's 5 feet 3 inches and a 34J? And has 15 years of doctor's records about neck and back troubles including muscles randomly tearing?

My parents (who are not rich by any means) finally had to break down and pay the $8,000 out of pocket as my mother needed the surgery.

UHC deserves nothing less than the 7th circle of hell. "

"they cover men's breast reduction surgery... but not women's!"

Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company:

"a company that abuses animals and messes with the food supply"

"the callous disregard for the animals' well-being is just gross neglect"

"poisoning the food supply"

"poisoning the lunches of unsuspecting children. The kids had no idea what they were getting."

"Here is nothing that enrages me more than cruelty to animals, especially those that are harmelss to begin with and have falled sick through mistreatment and neglect. What those workers did to those creatures is evil personified."

STILL OPEN FOR VOTING: Countrywide vs Clear Channel, Blue Cross Blue Shield vs Sprint, Bank of America vs Monster Cable, US Air vs Microsoft, Time Warner Cable vs American Airlines, Time Warner Cable vs American Airlines, Home Depot vs Wellpoint, Wal-Mart vs Citibank, Capital One vs ATT, Sallie Mae vs eBay/Paypal, TransUnion vs Diebold, Best Buy vs CompUSA, DeBeers vs Verizon, Exxon vs United Airlines, Sony vs Ticketmaster, Comcast vs The American Arbitration Association

Countrywide:

"Countrywide gets my tick for destroying a lot of lives and homes. As far as i'm concerned, they and Citi should burn in a special place in hell made just for them for taking advantage of the deregulation to go hog wild on the mortgage market like that."

"Countrywide's involvement in the mortgage meltdown cannot be overlooked though we have been with them for a while and never had an issue. Guess there is something to be said for not being a sub-prime borrower trying to live beyond their means though. 30-year fixed and not overextended...not that hard."

"What a bunch of scammy scumbags."

"My only complaints with Countrywide are their unavailability on weekend and their lack of detail on their web site. Sure would be nice to find out things about my HELOC — like due dates."

"Countrywide is such a huge lender that it has obtained bad loans from second rate mortgage companies that had no business being in the business to begin with."

Clear Channel:

"wrecked FM radio"

"Homogenizing radio sucks!"

"Clear Channel is so vile. Every radio station that I've enjoyed before it was bought up by them has gone to right to hell — in terms of crappy music and the ads ads ads ads ads. If it weren't for WEQX, I'd suck it up and subscribe to satellite."

"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."

"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."

"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)."

"Clear Channel ruined radio, making portable music players move to the forefront for personal music. They grew too fast and look at them now, barely scraping by in the face of declining ad bucks and booming satellite radio. They so rightly deserve to fry."

"They've changed the formats of 3 radio stations I used to listen to down here in Atlanta in the 7 years I've been here."

"Clear Channel has contributed majorly to the uglification of the landscape with their garish and innumerable billboards. Even worse, they're the ones behind those #$@%ing video billboards. A pox on their thrice-damned house!

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

"I have XM in the Scion, so I never have to listen to Clear Channel's crap any more."

"clearchannel" is a result of media deregulation back in the mid 80's. they own ALOT of stuff.

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"

"Clear Channel 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."

"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."

"Clear Channel destroyed the radio."

"Clear Channel should make a ad channel that's interrupted by actual shows at every 15 and 45 of the hour."

STILL OPEN FOR VOTING: Blue Cross Blue Shield vs Sprint, Bank of America vs Monster Cable, US Air vs Microsoft, Time Warner Cable vs American Airlines, Time Warner Cable vs American Airlines, Home Depot vs Wellpoint, Wal-Mart vs Citibank, Capital One vs ATT, Sallie Mae vs eBay/Paypal, TransUnion vs Diebold, Best Buy vs CompUSA, DeBeers vs Verizon, Exxon vs United Airlines, Sony vs Ticketmaster, Comcast vs The American Arbitration Association

Here's what readers said in previous rounds about why they hate these two companies...

Blue Cross Blue Shield:

"BCBS is just plain evil. They make a profit from deliberately denying service not based on your medical needs but on their bottom line. I personally have had nothing but trouble with them since the very first day I was "covered" by their organization.

BCBS is the best rationale I can think of for government run healthcare, and that's saying a lot. "

"Blue Cross bid our contract for insurance assuring us that they would provide the exact same services, THEN turned around a year into the contract and denied claims we could take with our previous services."

"Big Pharma, shame on you."

"So I was just reading an email that I received from my insurance carrier (Aetna) about their delay in their ending coverage of monitored anesthesia for colonoscopies. They said because of misinformation given to the public from websites (like the consumerist I'd imagine) they delayed pulling the plug on covering anesthesia. They didn't say they were abandoning their plans just yet just delaying them until they can strong arm their members into agreeing to stop using monitored anesthesia in favor of the cheaper sedation methods. I would guess most of the BCBS affiliates will do the same and drop their coverage of monitored anesthesia if they haven't already.

As I get older, insurance companies make me very nervous and anxious. That's a shame."

"Did you know that if you lose your job and are told your coverage is "through the last day of the month," so July 31 or whatever, that only means through midnight ON July 31? So nothing on July 31 is actually covered? Standard procedure for them."

"As I've posted before, health insurance companies take 40-45% of every dollar WE give them and pocket it as pure profit. Consumers have GOT to wise up to what's going on and demand their representatives do something about it NOW. Health insurance is something that should not be allowed to operate in a 'free market' fashion - health care is something that should be inviolate, highly ethically bound. MDs are supposed to abide by high high ethical standards, so should health insurance, pharmaceuticals, biotech, and hospitals. This is a very fixable problem - one that the f$#@ing politician piece of feces are great at pointing OUT to us, but are useless in coming up with a viable solution. (like so many other failed governmental policies such as the 'war on drugs', the penal system, the social welfare system, etc.)"

"Blue Cross Blue Shield hands down. CNN can't hold you hostage when your life hangs in the balance. And BC/BS was in it up to their eyeballs (late 1960s) when health insurers were theorizing how to convert their product from a function of the free market into a commoditized necessity shifting costs from what consumers were willing to pay in a competitive pricing environment to the five stage process of creating socialized healthcare which guarantees their profits. They suck beyond all comprehension. Further I cannot say without risking banishment."

"Health insurance companies are murdering swine whose practice of denying services ultimately kills people."

"Blue Cross Blue Shield just dropped my 85 year old grandparents with no warning. Oh yeah, my grandmother just was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Coincidence? What a bag of flaming @*&%#s!"

"Anthem BCBS turned me down for individual coverage because I had cancer six years ago, and take an anti-cancer med. They told me to feel free to reapply once I've been "sign, symptom and treatment-free" for 15 years. My oncologist says the anti-cancer med I take is considered "treatment." So in order to get Anthem to cover me, I would have to go off the drug that keeps me from getting cancer...for 15 years.

Does that make sense to you?

My consolation in all of this is that I expect Anthem BXBS to be gone in 15 years. And I'll still be here. "

"Any health company that tries to screw their own customers in a proactive way deserves to burn in hell."

Sprint:

"My family has been with them for upwards of 10 years and CSRs treat us like garbage. Granted, we stick with them (it works for us), so some people will inevitably say "stop being part of the problem", but really, they do need to improve customer service. The last few times I've called, I've spoken with people who barely, barely speak English."

"A good friend of mine (a Sprint Customer) is from Kansas City, home of Sprint's corporate headquarters. He tells me that when he drives by the corporate compound, he gets no cell phone reception, making the sprint office an invariable "dead zone" of cell service. What else could you ask for?"

"My friend has had Sprint for years and has gone through three different phones, all of which get poor signal and don't receive some incoming calls."

"Sprint is absolutely abysmal. After my friends dropped them, Sprint said they would be getting a $45 check from Sprint since they were canceling after a month to month. Sprint went ahead and billed them again for the next month and wanted $60. This is two months after he canceled service with them."

"I made the mistake of signing up with Sprint several years ago, and immediately learned that Sprint has the worst customer service I've ever experienced anywhere. My bill was paid via auto debit, so from day one my history of bill payment was flawless. They thanked me by giving me too many bad billing and customer service experiences to describe here, but I can summarize it as a culture of meanness with customer service reps and store salespeople that seemed to be playing a game of "beat the customer.""

"Sprint had found numerous ways to screw me over when I was with them—up until they renewed my contract without my permission (which took away a discount I had with them for being military). Screw you Sprint, AT&T treats me far better than y'all ever did."

"Every encounter I've had with Sprint Customer "Service" has been negative. Used them as a LD provider 20 years ago; gave up after three or four months of having them change access codes without warning. Tried again a few years later when I had a Sprint-USAA co-branded calling card. The one time I tried to get a question answered about a bill resulted in me cutting the card up and mailing it back. About 5 years ago, my kid purchased a Sprint cellphone plan, decided it wasn't working as desired, and returned it within the 14 day grace period. Took two letters and a threat of small claims action to get the deposit refunded.

It'll be a cold day in Hades before any telecomms service labeled "Sprint" is used in this household. "

"Sprint. I've actually been with Sprint for about six years, mainly because I get a discount on my bill as a perk of a job I had, well, about six years ago. The problems I've had with them have been pretty minor in the long run, but a real pain in the ass in the short run. For instance, they have a spending limit on your account; when you've exceeded your minutes and reach your spending limit, your service is disconnected. Without warning. This has happened to me at least twice, when I've been traveling and find myself in roaming areas for extensive periods of time. Even an automated text would be nice, Sprint!"

"Years ago - I think this was in the early 1990s, we had Sprint long distance. I called customer service because there were dozens of little $1 charges on there that I didn't call. Now, some years before that (mid-80s)I and some friends of mine were teenage hackers who "bounced" through legitimate phone numbers, also no doubt leaving a little trail of $1 long distance bills, to eventually get to a point where you could make a long distance call and not pay for it. I doubt this can be done nowadays, but back then it could. So when these little fees to numbers of people I had never heard of showed up on my own bill, I knew exactly what it was. So I called customer service and complained someone was "bouncing" on through my account in this manner and the service rep told me there was no such thing as I was describing, and refused to credit my account - and his manager said the same thing. When this went on for 3 months, we canceled our long distance account with Spring, because every time I called I got the same idiotic answer - even after I explained to one manager, finally, how to do it! Clearly they were idiots then I don't see that they've improved any since."

"Until recently I had no problem with them. I'm in a rural area, and my reception is questionable sometimes, but so are all the other carriers here. Our network is still 1xRTT, but the only carrier who isn't is Verizon, and they're insanely expensive for the same plan. It's irritating, especially since Sprint has promised us EVDO upgrades for two years now and has completely failed to deliver.

The straw, though, was that Sprint has been calling me over and over and over trying to sell me new phone/new contract. The people are nice enough about it, but I've asked them over and over to stop freakin' bugging me to buy a new phone. I've told them I'm not getting a new phone until they go EVDO. They're all very nice, all promise me I'll never get another call, and I usually get another one in a week or two, lather, rinse, repeat. So that's two things now that they've promised me that they can't deliver on. In the grand scheme of things, I suppose they're minor quibbles, but it all adds up to Sprint promises not being worth the time it took to get them. "

"I worked for Sprint, so I know how bad they really are. I quit after a year working for them. I was put on written warning for not hitting my quota of new sales. I guess all the customers that I saved for them that were spending hundreds of dollars a month just didn't matter to them. Or the fact that in every other performance metric I scored in the top percent (customer satisfaction, accessory sales, upgrades, renewals, lowest number of cancellations, etc.). I was often sidled with doing the manager's job because he would hide in the back room from irate customers or would leave early all the time. I'm good at diffusing situations and good at problem solving, so I would end up fixing mistakes made by other reps all the time. When they put me on written warning, I told them that they could put me on written warning all they want because I refuse to do anything that I find morally reprehensible (such as adding 3 lines to an old lady's account when she's on a fixed income, telling people they can't keep their phone numbers when they upgrade so the have to add on another line to get a phone cheaper, etc.). The funniest part of all this is that after I left, they called me to offer me a job training their staff on customer service. Glad they see value in keeping their customers happy now(not!)!"

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america

STILL OPEN FOR VOTING: Bank of America vs Monster Cable, US Air vs Microsoft, Time Warner Cable vs American Airlines, Time Warner Cable vs American Airlines, Home Depot vs Wellpoint, Wal-Mart vs Citibank, Capital One vs ATT, Sallie Mae vs eBay/Paypal, TransUnion vs Diebold, Best Buy vs CompUSA, DeBeers vs Verizon, Exxon vs United Airlines, Sony vs Ticketmaster, Comcast vs The American Arbitration Association

Bank of America:

"Can u say overdraft? Lets take billions from the poor every year and feel good about it!"

"I've been a Bank of America customer for about 3 years now and have not had any major issues with them at this point. But I know sooner or later they'll find their opportunity to screw me, I can't wait."

"Bank of America has be bad since they were founded. They invented the West Coast evil bank. They make Countrywide and WaMu look like amateurs."

"BoA is not just "a" bank, they're a bank with some of the least customer-friendly policies in America. Re-opening closed accounts then charging $35 for it? That's not a courtesy, that's fraud."

"BOA = Satan's Bank."

"To say nothing of BofA buying MBNA, then stealthily sending their credit card customers 8 different letters, all inconspicuous, all 10pp affairs where, buried in the fine print, BofA tries to make the credit card deals even MORE screwed than they were to begin with.
Things like, "If you wouldn't like your APR to go from 9% to 32% next month, send a snailmail letter with the following 4 pieces of information to this special address within the next week." Only buried on page 4 and written in 50 words of well-neigh incomprehensible legalese. And repeated for changing ave daily balance, binding arbitration, etc.

Evil!

On a different note, I have to crack up at the posters that say, "Since nothing personally happened to me, I'm going to ignore reams of factual data and vote for EvilCorp."

Since if nothing directly impacts them while they obliviously trudge thru their pale, sad life, it obviously doesn't exist.

Jeezus - develop you empathy muscles, guys: we're humans, not cockroaches."

"I find it hard to believe anyone still uses Bank of America for anything. I closed my accounts and tore up their visa card right after I heard they were giving mortgages to illegal aliens."

"My vote went to BoA because of the like 5 bucks I pay to them for ATM transactions. I fucking hate that on top of the random ATM fee, I have to pay BoA because they didn't have an ATM within like 20 miles. Fuck you BoA."

"BofA: Cash Deposits Post Immediately! After midnight. After we post debits. And bounce your checks. And take our fees."

"BoA for that stupid "we're gonna make lots of money" video. f them."

"Ugh, BofA is a complete joke. I switched to HSBC a year ago and I am very happy with my decision. BofA charges you death, and their high yield interest rate is a joke.

At least I can that the branch manager at my branch was awesome, and closing the account wasn't a hassle, except they charged me a $2 fee. "

"Band of Assholes is right. We briefly had a BOA credit card, but I quickly sized up this was a stupid move on my part and cancelled it. Got a relative in the business of cyber security at an international level and I asked her afterwards "what's up with BOA?" Without hesitation she said, "Besides PayPal, the least amount of interest and budget spent on securing their platform. Get Away From Them.""

"My BOA troubles started in a little state called Rhode Island. Pre-1984, the largest bank in RI was called Industrial National. In 1984, they change to Fleet. Now anybody in Rhode Island would tell you never bank with Fleet. Awful fees, etc.. etc..

Fleet in the early-mid 90's then buys Bank of Boston become FleetBoston which then buys Shawmut and host of whole other banks. And then finally gets bought out a few years back by BOA. Geez, I thought Fleet was bad after they took over my Bank of Boston (or was it BayBank account).

BOA made them (FleetBoston) seem like my local friendly credit union."

"Take that Band of Assholes! Raising that rate to 20.99% from my nice MBNA 7% - we'll see you in the Final Four of the Worst!! "

"Late to this particular voting party, but of course it's BofA.

Every time I would deposit a check, they would clear it in the branch only to put it back on hold at midnight. I escaped them by moving to a city where they're not around, but even then they held on to my relocation check for EIGHT business days!

PNC Bank has non-local checks cleared in 2... "

Monster Cable:

"Their entire business is based on lies about the superiority of their product and is then sold at very high prices to cement the illusion of higher quality."

"can't top trying to compare your component cables to diamond jewelry"

"Their markup is insane, and their cables aren't anything special above what you can get for a 1/3 of the price."

"My father bought a $200 Monster Cable brand power strip at Magnolia Hi-Fi a few years back. I tried to convince him why it was a bad idea, but the salesman hooked it up to some kind of meter to show the "noise" in the power between a standard power strip and the Monster one, and he was persuaded after being told that standard power would result in a worse picture."

"Monster conspires with every electronics retailer to rip off unsuspecting customers. We can avoid Monster, but that doesn't make what they do to everyone else right."

"They're as bad as the audiophiles for spreading nonsense and hokum about electronics."

"All I need to hate Monster Cable (although all the rest helps) is what I discovered when building a Monster Cable Demo Station when I worked for CC. The station had two speakers hooked up side by side and then to a DVD surround sound system with a switch to choose between the two and demo what the station called "Monster XRS Speaker Wire" or something against "Offbrand speaker wire."

Sure, the Monster sounded better... until you cracked open the back and found that there was about a 1 foot length of the Monster Cable wire running to one speaker and about 100 feet of the thread-thinnest, poorest-quality wire I have ever seen ziptied and sitting in a coil.

I'm not surprised at the misleading way Monster promotes their product because every company does the same thing, but it still amply bolsters what we all already know about this company. "

"Monster Cable's entire business revolves around a lie."

"I bought one of their "wireless" transmitters for my iPod so I can use it in my car, after 3 months the thing just fell apart. Talk about your shoddy merchandise. I will never buy a Monster Cable again."

"Just because someone is rich, doesn't mean they should buy overpriced products. Rich people can stay rich by saving their money, not blowing it."

"I voted Monster Cable, because they sue everybody"