Comcast Takes 2014 Prize For Worst Company In America 195
halfEvilTech writes with news that Comcast has emerged victorious from Consumerist's annual Worst Company In America contest. Comcast narrowly edged out Monsanto in the finals with 51.5% of the vote. The reigning champion for the past two years, Electronic Arts, lost in the first round to Time Warner Cable. TWC made the quarterfinals, which is notable because Comcast has proposed a merger with TWC. In fact, Comcast submitted an FCC filing today explaining why they think the deal should be allowed. They say, 'the companies don’t overlap or compete against each other.' Other strong contenders for the Worst Company in America included Chase, SeaWorld, Wal-Mart, Bank of America, and Verizon.
Times have changed (Score:3, Informative)
Quality of internet access is viewed as more important than food quality.
Well Deserved (Score:5, Informative)
My dealings with Comcast have been few but boy have they been terrible. From being accused of stealing their equipment, to getting billed seven times in a single month, I've had a lifetime of customer dissatisfaction in just a few short months of dealing with them. Well deserved honor Comcast.
Re:What a joke (Score:5, Informative)
No, noneeks hate them as well.
Overcharging for Internet and Cable TV, Bad service, bad Customer service, refusal to listen to customers, refusal to fix customer problems if it costs money (Cables are under water and causing major problems...)
Even the employees that work there hate the company.
Re:Seems dubious to me. (Score:5, Informative)
Not sure which 'real world' you live in but nearly 100% of the people in my sphere know who Monsanto is (whether they are casually aware, blindly reactionary or truly informed about what they do aside). I don't know everyone so my own anecdotal statistics are only worth what they are BUT I'm personally aware of entire classes of people who are intimately aware of Monsanto that amount to WAY more than 1% of the U.S. at least. Numerous foreign governments have banned their products so there is a decent amount of international awareness (or at least fear of the concept/unknown).
Roughly 1% of our country work in the Ag business and I guarantee *all of them are intimately aware of Monsanto and their dealings. (numbers not accounted for above... I don't spend much time in the Agricultural community)
Sorry your circles are not in the know but frankly your sample seems to be a bit off from the whole.
Re:What a joke (Score:4, Informative)
Not necessarily the worst PR so much as the worst customer relations. If a bank implemented some of the same business practices that EA was using for its customers then you would see a lot more financial problems and angry people.
It's also highly related to recent well-publicized incidents. You can see that with SeaWorld, for example. In 2012 I think EA won because of Mass Effect 3, and in 2013 it was because of SimCity. They haven't done anything lately to piss off a lot of people even though they're probably still using a lot of the same practices. Most of the banks seem to be keeping their heads down as well. Comcast, however, has been in the news.
Re:What a joke (Score:5, Informative)
Yeah, my hatred for them runs deep, and far beyond my geek wish for internet with no cable.
They raised the rent on my old-ass cable modem. First from $3/month to $7/month, and then this year to $8/month. This for something that has probably been depreciated for years. Can you imagine if you brought home your new car and a year into the lease they doubled the "rent"? What a fucking ballsy move.
Dealing with their contractors is like something out of a movie. They apparently get paid by the service and not by the service call, because they never fail to find something "wrong" - and then proceed to "fix" it in the most ghetto way possible. Sorry I'm two hours late. This brand-new carefully-routed cable line? It's "old" and needs to be replaced. Here, let me drill a hole in your hardwood floor and leave the replacement hanging along the ceiling of your basement. Oh, that line up on the pole where you can see the shielding from the street because squirrels have been chewing on it? I can't fix that - you should really call customer service.
Thanks to Comcast, Verizon is not my most hated company. And that's impressive, because Verizon is basically dedicated to ruining your day. But they are of the bumbling, hilarious variety of evil. Like an evil Shemp from The Three Stooges.