This is round 6 in our Worst Company in America 2008 contest, Starbucks vs United Airlines.
Starbucks: Blankets the landscape in coffee shops and gets accused of putting small coffee shops out of business (However, if you open a java joint next door, you’ll profit from their spillover traffic). They also sue the beejeezus out of you if you have a vaguely similar logo. As in, you also have a green circle in your logo. They’ve been accused of union-busting, and filthy stores. Oh, and crappy coffee. At least they’re no longer using milk spiked with Bovine Growth Hormone.
United Airlines: Is one of the top most-complained about airlines, according to Department of Transportation statistics. Like most legacy carriers, they’ve been finding ways to make your frequent flier miles expire and hard-to-use. Sometimes their flights are strewn with garbage, other times, mice wantonly frolic, or they lose your cat in the cargo hold for 3 weeks (unfortunately the last two can never seem to coincide).
This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america/
STILL OPEN FOR VOTING: Exxon vs Crocs, Google Vs Sony, Ticketmaster vs Wachovia, Facebook vs The American Arbitration Association, Comcast vs Menu Foods
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This should be a blowout like yesterday. You think their coffee is burnt? That’s nothing compared to united’s customer service.
I’ve got to go with Starbucks on this one since it’s they’re just so intrusive to American life, much like McDonalds is as well. If an airline becomes crappy like United and does nothing about it, it’ll just fade away.
This is pretty weak. If you don’t like Starbucks, don’t go there. If you don’t like United, you’re still stuck doing business with them if you want to fly to a place where only United flights go.
United Airlines definitely. I’ve never been more frustrated while traveling than when I’ve flown United Airlines or one of their carriers. Rude flight attendants, crappy service, lost luggage and just a horrible experience.
I’ll take “burnt” coffee and cookie-cutter chain stores over a horrible airline any day of the week
As someone who doesn’t drink coffee, Starbucks has never intruded on my life at all. I just don’t get all the hate. Viewing numerous locations of a store in a particular town doesn’t inconvienence me in the least.
These two don’t even compare…UA for the obvious win.
I still think Crocs needs to go into another poll. We can’t help but hate Exxon, but I still want an opportunity to hate on Crocs.
I love Starbucks.
“Sometimes their flights are strewn with garbage, other times, mice wantonly frolic, or they lose your cat in the cargo hold for 3 weeks (unfortunately the last two can never seem to coincide.”
Actually laughed out loud at that – isn’t there some way to turn this into a lolcat?
No contest on this one. I fly but I don’t drink coffee. I do like bothering my girlfriend when she orders her mocha-latte-capu-expresso juice by correcting her to the sales clerk by saying that she really wants a “large”.
United by a landslide.
@arras: Don’t forget you can “upgrade” to premium economy for a couple of inches of extra leg room for ~$50 per segment. The back of economy gives you so little leg room it’s absurd.
And the premium economy upgrade gives you nothing but the extra leg room… no extra snack-mix, crackers or whatevers.
I guess I’m just in a bad mood or something, but I’m thinking these match ups should be a little more equal. Just saying is all. Maybe have a eeevilll bracket and an annoying bracket.
What’s next? Who’s the worse person?
*Johnny’s granny, who feeds him cookies with trans fats with whole milk
-or-
* That creepy guy down the street who always has candy and smells like cheese?
I think ben’s just getting the clear losers out of the way so future brackets are more interesting.
You forgot about how United airlines served spoiled turkey to their employees to say Happy Thanksgiving…
[www.enews20.com]
@Peeved Guy: It’s called seeding. Think NCAA.
Wait, Starbucks is merely accused to union busting – YET they offer health benefits to even part time employees? Crappy coffee? Im not surprised, Consumerist, that you have no link for that since its all a matter of opinion. Also, newsflash: most milk on the market has bovine growth hormone unless its advertised to not have it. Also, lots of my friends who worked at starbucks actually enjoyed the experience.
United Airlines all the way.
@homerjay:
@arch05:
Fair enough. Like I said, I must be grumpier than I thought.
@bigdirty: Really? Then the “legacy carriers” should be dead and buried, yet they aren’t.
United never did gave back that money they stole from that old couple.
Starbucks does a lot of public service projects in coffee growing regions, like building bridges and constructing water treatment facilities.
They do a lot of good stuff on the people side of it. The business side is just backwards.
@Buran: Thank government bailouts for that.
Shouldn’t this really be the airline industry as a whole? Is there any airline that doesn’t suck these days? They’ve got us over a barrel thanks to George F’ing Idiot Bush and his domestic security policies and they know it.
.
I’m still hating on United Airlines for stiffing their employees by yanking their pension benefits and, instead, relying on the federal pension insurance fund.
As a result, my tax dollars are now funding the pensions of bitter surly United flight attendants and other employees. Great. My ticket money pays their salary and my income taxes pay their pensions. And still they treat passengers like dogs.
Thanks United!
Can we up the ante to two matchups a day? It is going to be June by the time we have a winner.
p.s. – - I voted Starbucks. UAL doesn’t make me jittery and have to pee.
even though I hate starbucks united sucks major balls
Stores don’t put other stores out of business, customers do.
@rdldr1: Calm down, Consumerist didn’t add Starbuck’s to the running, a reader submitted it.
I don’t drink coffee, but I’d like to think that if I did, I wouldn’t be an idiot paying $4 a cup for it.
UA for the win.
@Buran:
Eastern, TWA, PanAm mean anything?
You actually want me to vote AGAINST my caffeine addiction? How DARE you!!!
Seriously though – United all the way – nothing but bad experiences with them.
These polls are getting more retarded by the day. You could at least put some perspective into these polls and match the companies a bit more evenly.
I just love United (NOT!). I travel on business a fair amount, and even when paying horrible high fares ($800+), I get stuck on flights when “no reserved seating available. Two weeks in advance. Then get jammed on a middle seat in an aging aircraft, with marginal service, sticky seats, etc. And the plane is 99% full. There is no way they can’t afford to clean the planes or reinstate some of the “frills” that they used to have. I’ve started traveling Contintental or Frontier, both of which offer exponentially better service for less.
The baristas in this neck of the woods have gotten markedly uglier
in recent years. Perhaps coincidentally, I have visited Starbucks less
of late.
@alexander: Why, so the final round can be the evenly matched Wendy’s vs HSBC? Don’t be a dork. Knock out the obviously weak competition early.
Well, Starbucks sells overpriced, burnt pretension in a paper cup…
but it’s never left me stranded in an airport after lying about weather in the destination city, so…
I’m going with United.
insert “I voted” sticker here.
This is one where I really can’t get all that worked up about either candidate. I don’t fly that often, and I rarely drink coffee.
But my last experience with United was pretty good…got the seats I wanted, no hassles at the airport or with luggage, everything was on time, staff were pleasant.
I haven’t set foot in a Starbucks in years, but I do find the latte sipping crowd to be mildly annoying, so I guess I’ll vote for them.
@dinger_82: I’m in UR Plain, huntin for mice.
@AaronZ: I don’t know if anybody has ever mentioned this here, and I’m not trying to defend Starbucks by any means, but it’s annoying when people say that starbucks charges you four or five bucks or whatever it is for coffee. They don’t; coffee is two dollars, which is what it costs at most other coffee shops too (not counting gas stations). The lattes and mochas and whatever else are the things that are five dollars. They might be responsible for driving up the cost of coffee, I don’t know, but coffee isn’t four bucks.
Could you imagine Starbucks baristas being unionized. It will be like getting your coffee at the DMV. Starbucks is supposed to be a part-time gig (for they are offered health insurance) and not meant to be a job where you long for the day you can retire and recieve a gold watch. These kids make some decent cash on the side as well as a decent salary for a kid in college. I had to vote for United today I’ve never been a fan and are definately worse than Starbucks by a double shot.
It’s possible I’m the only flyer who has had decent experiences with United.
@Bmaz23: “I voted Starbucks. UAL doesn’t make me jittery and have to pee.”
Try flying one of their little commuter jets during a storm…
UAL turned my miles in to magazines. They are my airline of last resort.
I’m voting for Starbucks because… well I just hate Starbucks.
Yeah, that’s right, I’m making an emotionally motivated vote for once. Like none of ‘yall haven’t!
Well, while I do get annoyed by the Starbucks atmosphere, I don’t like coffee – so I can easily avoid that.
United Air has a great chance of getting my business if I ever have to fly. This means I have an equally high chance of having to deal with them. EVIL!
I hate the starbucks on every corner thing. They are more prevalant than McDonalds fast food places in this country, but UA definately beats starbucks in this poll.
I HATE starbucks (& their pretentiousness)& wish it went up against a lesser evil in this poll just so I could vote for them. Starbuck’s “baristas” (*rollseyes*) are in a miserable class all their own.
@AceKicker:
I dont blame you…. I almost went the same way in this poll.
I still can not believe Monsanto is not included in this contest. I hate UA and I really hate Starbucks, but Monsanto is 100 times worse than either of them.
That said, I hate Starbucks because they are part of the homogenization of America. Destroying the notion of the great American road trip. What is the point of seeing this great nation if every town is exactly the same as the next.
“How was your trip?”
“It was great! The Starbucks I went to had 18 tables inside! Ours only has 16 tables inside. And then we saw a Wal-Mart that was even bigger than our Wal-Mart! And then we had dinner at the Olive Garden….It felt just like home.”
Annoyed at the borglike nature of Starbucks, mightily impressed that they’re the only company of this size that offers affordable health care, even to their part-time employees. On this one alone, I’d tend to vote them one of the best companies.
@JustEaton: Maybe we should have an, er, winner’s bracket?
@Corydon: So you’re saying that if something literally doesn’t happen in front of your face, it doesn’t exist? Or is that if it doesn’t directly, immediately impact your life, then you’re unable to make an ethical judgement?
Wow, that’s a small way to live a life.
Let’s not forget that United Airlines also hates nursing babies. “K.K. Tetrault says she was asked by a flight attendent to stop breastfeeding her 7-month-old, because the attendent was ‘concerned’ for the other passengers on the flight.
The flight attendent encouraged her to wait to feed her child until they arrived at their destination but offered a blanket to cover herself and the baby.
The company has since apologized to Tetrault, saying the company policy is actually that breastfeeding should only be stopped if it poses a safety hazard to the mother or other passengers.” via: [thelactivist.blogspot.com]
Since when does letting your screaming baby eat the best possible food available pose a “safety hazard?”