America's most hated companies

[zedd]

"Corporate America as a whole is blamed for all sorts of societal ills, from greed on Wall Street to shafting the little guy. But people's scorn can intensify when it comes to individual companies and other organizations, especially after inadvertent missteps or, worse, outright misconduct."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/americas-most-hated-companies/

Gotta agree with:

#13. Sears Holdings. The retailer, described in 24/7's ranking as plagued by unhappy customers and employees, plans to shutter more than 100 additional stores through the spring of 2018, with the count of Sears and Kmart stores already down to under 1,300 from 3,467 in 2007.

I'm still waiting for Sears to make good on the replacement of a broken Craftsmen tool -- fifteen years later! I refuse to shop there. Crash and burn baby burn.

Not seeing the basis for the gripe:

#4. University of Phoenix. Possibly the country's best-known for-profit college, its parent company, the Apollo Group, has been the focus of federal and state probes alleging it used deceptive practices to recruit students.

The linked article fails to cite the allegations.

Well that's "Duh. Really"

#2. Fox Entertainment Group. The parent company of Fox News Channel, the network has a strong right-wing slant. And, while one of the most popular cable channels in the country, it's also one of the most divisive. Fox has also settled multiple sexual harassment claims regarding one of its anchors and the late Fox News CEO and founder Roger Ailes

A writer for CBS doesn't like Fox? Whoda thought.

And number one:

1. Equifax. The consumer credit reporting was hit by a massive hack last year, exposing the personal data of more than 145 million Americans and putting them at risk of identity theft. Arguably worse, the company sat on the information for a month before letting the public know.

I think I hate Experian even more for unlocking my credit report after I discovered and disputed their recurring $19.99 "credit monitoring" charge on my credit card.

 

[JoeWras]

They forgot:

Megacorp: crushing the souls of OMYers from ER.org for the last decade.

 

[Mdlerth]

Editing fail

The article says NFL players were kneeling to "protect" racial inequality.

William Paley would have torn that editor a new one.

Come on, CBS. It's not a trivial spelling error when it completely changes the meaning! Just another example of falling standards in modern journalism, and why fewer people pay it any mind.

 

[JoeWras]

If it passes a spoil chick, its the rite thing.

 

[Jerry1]

1. Equifax. The consumer credit reporting was hit by a massive hack last year, exposing the personal data of more than 145 million Americans and putting them at risk of identity theft. Arguably worse, the company sat on the information for a month before letting the public know.(

Gotta agree with this one. Let's also not forget the other two credit agencies. How they can take our credit information and then charge us for things like credit reports (in the past), subscriptions for monitoring our credit and to me, worst of all, charging to freeze/lock my credit report. Wow, just wow.

 

[SheitlQueen]

I'm surprised WalMart wasn't on the list.

 

[ERD50]

The article says NFL players were kneeling to "protect" racial inequality.

William Paley would have torn that editor a new one.

Come on, CBS. It's not a trivial spelling error when it completely changes the meaning! Just another example of falling standards in modern journalism, and why fewer people pay it any mind.

Reminiscent of "Da Mayor" in Chicago in 1968:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_J._Daley#Speaking_style

"Gentlemen, get the thing straight once and for all — the policeman isn't there to create disorder, the policeman is there to preserve disorder."

-ERD50

 

[Just_Steve]

How could Microsoft not make the list?

 

[bUU]

Because the list is a reflection of the generally arbitrary nature of American public opinion. It changes with the Wind and has the memory of a pea.

 

[grasshopper]

I would have thought that Wells Fargo would be on that list.

Wells Fargo Hit With Unusual Ban on Growth in Yellen's Final Act

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-from-growing-in-fed-crackdown-after-scandals

 

[CaptTom]

You could come up with vastly different lists just by changing the selection criteria.

Everybody loves to hate somebody. Sometimes mass hatred for a company is earned, sometimes it's just media hype.

We all have our own list. The latest addition to mine was eBay (and PayPal,) for failure to resolve an issue THEY created. Others have nothing but praise for them. That's fine.

 

[JoeWras]

I'm surprised WalMart wasn't on the list.

I'm not.

 

[CardsFan]

I would have thought that Wells Fargo would be on that list.

Wells Fargo Hit With Unusual Ban on Growth in Yellen's Final Act

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-from-growing-in-fed-crackdown-after-scandals

They are. See #11.

11. Wells Fargo. The bank's ongoing public relations nightmare began in 2016 with the disclosure that its employees created millions of phony accounts on behalf of unknowing customers, and continued with news last year that Wells Fargo charged late fees on mortgage payments when the bank was to blame, not its customers.

 

[Car-Guy]

Consider the source, CBS. Of course they would name FOX near the top. Even without that consideration, the list has low credibility to me. Only one insurance company was named and there should have been 5 or 6 (especially medical) in the top ten.

 

[John Galt III]

Countrywide Mortgage and their sleazy ceo (president?) for their gleeful participation in the fraud that caused or contributed to the 2008 meltdown. Plus of course many others, like Goldman Sachs. Pure *c*mbags IMHO.

 

[MichaelB]

Just to clarify for those posting without actually reading the OP link, the list was compiled by a web site called 247WallSt. CBS is only reporting. At least one of the businesses posted here that "should be" on the list actually is.

 

[Car-Guy]

CBS is only reporting.

, they should have been in the top 5.

 

[John Galt III]

I believe the negative hype on Monsanto and am voting for them. Don't own stock in them. Maybe I should, ha ha! Sorry but I choose not to list the negatives, since I'm not fully versed in them. Google will provide a big list. Yes, I'm guilty of not providing evidence!

 

[athena53]

This list isn't surprising- they almost always include all the major cable/telecom providers as well as an airline or two, plus whatever companies have had recent scandals.

As for Wal-Mart not being on the list- I personally go out of my way to avoid shopping there but I think that a huge segment of the population likes their low prices and variety and will put up with poor service and shoddy products in return.

 

[Ginny]

BANK OF AMERICA I never had a positive experience with them. All included poor customer service.

 

[IMATERP]

Lehman Brothers...

 

[Car-Guy]

As for Wal-Mart not being on the list- I personally go out of my way to avoid shopping there but I think that a huge segment of the population likes their low prices and variety and will put up with poor service and shoddy products in return.

Poor service yes, but shoddy products? Most of what they sell is the same brand name stuff as everyone else sells. (e.g. Groceries, electronics, office supplies, sporting goods, auto supplies, pharmacy, etc, they are all the same) Maybe you mean some of their clothing or something specific or maybe I'm just missing your point.

 

[athena53]

Poor service yes, but shoddy products? Most of what they sell is the same brand name stuff as everyone else sells. (e.g. Groceries, electronics, auto supplies, pharmacy, etc) Maybe I'm missing your point.

Brand names- possibly, although I've read that some brands have specific versions they make for Wal-Mart at a lower price. I'm thinking clothing, shoes, toys. I also trust a place such as Costco more for quality control and supply chain management of non-processed food products such as meat and produce.

 

[W2R]

This list isn't surprising- they almost always include all the major cable/telecom providers as well as [...]

I think that in New Orleans those would be right at the top of the list. There are many NSFW nicknames for Cox Cable, our cable internet provider. They charge a fortune and have a lot of outages, but if you want truly high speed internet there isn't any other choice.

 

[bUU]

They charge a fortune and have a lot of outages, but if you want truly high speed internet there isn't any other choice.

And that's the problem I see with this list and in a lot of these concerns expressed in the list: "They're horrible they're horrible they're horrible except they're the best." It smacks of a general lack of perspective with regard to options available, what it really takes to offer those options, and what's offered by the target of the ire. None of the companies on the list offer an especially rich opportunity for windfall profits. They're offering generally what they promise to offer, including full disclosure in the fine print of all of the things that people complain about, and they're doing it at a price that provides a return on investment that is no larger than standard in today's investing marketplace.

The cable companies I think are the best example of this. I challenge anyone to find a cable company that has uptime substantially lower than what the terms and conditions and disclosures regarding the service state will be their up time. That simply doesn't happen. They offer a consumer-level service with consumer-level standards of quality. Meanwhile consumers petulantly demand a high-reliability, mission-critical level of service quality but don't want to pay the price that the service provider charges their business customers for that level of service quality.

We've crafted in the United States a cultural motif of grumbling and dissatisfaction-by-default. It surely isn't good for the consumers who put themselves through the ringer. And I've got to believe it has a negative impact on the economy as a whole.

Meanwhile there are numerous companies that actually provide substantially less than they promised, that actually engage in reckless casual disregard for safety and quality, etc. However, because they're smaller, and generally unknown, they get no attention. If bashing them doesn't attract ratings or click-throughs then they get a pass.