Round 11: MTV Vs TransUnion
MTV .... To be honest, we've never required any "customer service" from MTV, so we're not really sure why they are nominated. It seems some people are still upset that video killed the radio star.
TransUnion is a credit rating service that holds in its hands your financial destiny. Hope that it doesn't misplace it...
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/
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Comments:
I cannot vote for Transunion because none of the other credit bureaus are in the contest.
I think Experian's "Freecreditreport.com" commercials...which basically threaten you with harm that is ONLY POSSIBLE BECAUSE OF THE CREDIT BUREAUS in order to get you to pay money for a service which will only tell you when you're getting fucked over by their system, not prevent it...I think that is tasteless enough that if Transunion is in this game, Experian should be to.
Voted MTV in protest.
TransUnion still has me living in Maryland. It's only been 8 years since I've done so. Nevermind the mortgage for a home in Arizona or anything contextual that'd lead them to believe their data is wrong.
Ironically, they informed me that I indeed still resided in Maryland -- even after I told them I didn't. Wonderful conversation that was, lots of "um, I think I know where I live", countered with "you'd be surprised!"
@Starfury: Agree on all counts. I watch the gloved one do Billie Jean, then deny it all, naturally. I was there to watch Unplugged, Liquid TV, Beavis and Butt-head, and the Headbangers Ball, my introduction to AC/DC. Needless to say, I was Thunderstruck.
Good times!
I cannot vote for Transunion because none of the other credit bureaus are in the contest.
@TechnoDestructo: Were they all nominated? I'd be surprised if they weren't but I don't wanna search a 400+ thread if you remember nominating them yourself.
I'm going to vote for TransUnion suckage. For the past three years I've been unable to get my free credit report online from them because they keep thinking I have an account with them, and the "forgot my password" page tells me it will not send a password because I've had too many login attempts in the past. Assholes. It's not ID theft here, it's just a really awful website that won't let me have what I am legally entitled to.
@katylostherart: You can also not have a credit card. I do not. I know it is more than that but it is also all about saving too.
TU is the most benign of the major CRA's. EQ must employ monkeys because every time I dispute invalid information on my CR, I get a letter back saying "but, but... this bit of information isn't on your credit report!" This has happened three times, with three different errors. Utter morons.
EX? Pure evil. That about sums them up.
@timmus: Huh, it does that to me too. Idiots. I got one of those monitoring services (from my bank... I'm paranoid but better to be overly so than not enough) and all the info is correct, yet TU won't acknowledge my info or let me in. Screw them.
For The Consumerists' purposes, I voted for TU.
But, because I am tired of hearing about bias against hip hop, I have to respond to you, FrugalFreak, and speak my piece:
MTV does still play plenty of "rock," if it deserves that title, and second of all, you seem to imply that there's something wrong with liking hip hop, which is not the case. I happen to enjoy BOTH rock AND hip hop, and many of my generation do, as well. It is simply a matter of preference. I feel very strongly that MTV just gives hip hop a bad name by only promoting music that consists of repetitive, mediocre beats and equally redundant rhymes that don't (rhyme, that is) AND is often largely violent, misogynistic and materialistic to boot. There's plenty of great hip hop out there; it just doesn't get airplay because a lot of it deals with serious sociopolitical issues, and MTV must, above all, remain as inoffensive as possible. And as we all know, being inoffensive does not make good music.
People who actually pay attention to music these days know better than to trust MTV to help them discover good music now, anyway. It's not like they have much credibility in that department, anyway.
@TechnoDestructo: Experian is way more deserving of being here than TU, agreed. I can't believe that they are still advertising that scam of a website so heavily and that people are still falling for it.
MTV (or, rather, one of the production companies that works for them) didn't inform the people that appeared on Spring Break 2008 what day Tila Tequila arrived on set to retain the people that appeared on one day of the shoot and didn't allow a rap group (spoiler: [en.wikipedia.org]) to perform even one full song before leaving.
Don't ask me how I appeared on the shoot; I just went because I was curious.
MTV stopped being relevant years ago thanks to it's horrible change in programming and philosophy, and yet it's still on my cable package, wasting that portion monthly bill. If you add the tiny fractions of cable bills together, that comes up to a sigificant number. Plus they've been responsible for years of the worst Super Bowl Halftime Shows ever produced.
TU might be stupid, but we can all agree that MTV is EVIL.
@FrugalFreak: I think it's more that they don't play hardly ANY videos, and when they do, they ONLY play rap. The only time you will see a video with someone with a guitar is on the MTV Video Music Awards. At least MTV2 still has Headbanger's Ball on Saturday nights...
@Rectilinear Propagation: Well, in truth I don't know what awful anti-consumer tactics MTV has employed that would arouse the ire of the average C-ist reader. I guess I just feel that TransUnion, while yes occasionally blundering and messing things up, is generally a regular company that isn't particularly "evil" but ends up a prime target because people get feisty about things like credit scores.
MTV is more just guilty of crimes against culture -- do we really need a spinoff of a spinoff of a spinoff reality show showing the dating follies of an aging rock star nailing hot young women competing to win his affection? I guess it's what the people want.
While MTV is greatly responsible for the notion that "cute" singers with no musical talent trumps plain ones brimming over with it, they've been so left behind that what's the point. Even their reality shows haven't done anything interesting in a decade. Yawn.
TransUnion, as a stand-in for all the credit reporting agencies, should hang high.
Well.... I dont know why the fuck MTV is even listed here. You can either watch it or not.
Transunion however effects EVERYONE since everyone has a credit record. One fuckup by transunion can damage your credit. Mtv doesnt have that kind of power.
MTV may be horrible compared to what they used to be, but you dont HAVE to watch it.





























Can I vote for DirecTv again instead of one of these?