Worst Company In America: US Airways VS Capital One
Which is worse? A fee party disguised as a credit card? Or an airline that tried charging for water? We report, you decide.
It's #19 US Airways VS #14 Capital One:
This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2009 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers, and seeded according to number of nominations. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america. Download the bracket here.
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Comments:
Bah, its in my wallet, but it pisses me off!
Everyone hates banks and credit card companies these days, I can't see Capitol One getting knocked off.
In normal times US Air would win this hands down. But with all the economic problems revolving around banks I think popular opinions probably going to sway the "worst company" towards any bank.
US Airways is so bad that I would use a Capital One card to purchase a ticket on another airline.
@Radi0logy: I don't hate Capital One these days. I actually have a lower APR on my capital one card than I do on any of my other credit cards right now... by about 8 points. It's the only card I'll really use anymore.
It only took me four months to obtain, then cancel, my Capital One card due to complete incompetence in their automatic online payment system. No contest in my book!
@jerros: I think it's because banks raising rates on existing balances, playing games with billing cycles, etc. I think if US Air sent me a bill for the Coke I drank two months ago on their flight because they had a "we can do whatever we want" contract, I'd vote for them.
I"m going to ride Capital One right to the end. They suck.
I don't use either company. Capital One has annoying ads, but I don't think I've ever seen a US Airways commercial. So Capital One gets my vote.
U.S. Airways is way worse. They fail to even provide the basic service an airline is supposed to provide (reasonably on-time air transportation), as their "schedule" is a work of fiction that they feel free to completely alter whenever want.
Capital One actually has some redeeming features, annoying commercials aside. They don't charge a foreign exchange fee, for one thing, which makes their cards quite useful if you travel internationally (or at least, they didn't charge one the last time I did this).
Atleast USAir didn't send every passenger a letter forcing them to pay more or lose their flight because "we all have to share the burden of tough economic times". USAir's problems are common throughout the industry. Capital One's rate hike - not so much.
CapOne to the Final Four! You've heard this one before, but I got a notice that my rate was being jacked to 17.9% I have store cards that are better than that, so I declined and shredded my card, which I had for at least six years. With a credit score well north of 800, which will probably stay that way even without CapOne's credit line at my disposal, I found this rather insulting.
Good God, these are boring matchups!! Here, I've got some for you:
Cyberdyne Systems v. Weyland-Yutani
Brawndo v. OCP (Omni Consumer Products)
Kanemitsu v. Mega Lo Mart
CHOAM v. LexCorp
Umbrella Corporation v. Tyrell Corporation
Krusty Burger v. S-Mart
Now those are some seriously evil corporations.
The only bad part with Capital One is my rate. I pay it off every month, so I don't think of my rate like others do. The plus side to my CapOne card is that they don't charge for currency conversions or foreign currency purchases. That I do like.
US Airways is the home of the filthiest airplanes ever! Capitol One may be a lousy "financial" company, but the biohazard in a tin-can claiming to be transportation exposes you to more dangers than bad credit or customer service can provide.
Capital One does not put Legionnaire's disease or the NoroVirus in your pocket (unless you use their custom card lab...)
How do you choose?
On one hand you have bad customer service, over charging, expensive rates, horrible policies, and the threat of bankruptcy. On the other hand, you have bad customer service, over charging, expensive rates, horrible policies, and the threat of bankruptcy.
What do you do?
How about not showing the results for a few weeks? I've heard by showing the results can skew the results or cause a bias.
@packcamera:
I was undecided on this matchup, but you reminded me of my scariest plane experience! I was on a USAirways flight where they decided to clean the bathroom while the plane was loading. The fumes were incredible... I don't know if it was cleaning fluid, the magic air toidy solution, or a combination. Pure, choke-a-licious evil, whatever it was. I don't care for companies that attempt to gas their customers.
I just attempted to process a chargeback for merchandise through capital one and it was rejected because where the form said "service cancellation date" I wrote "merchandise, not a service." They use the same form for everything, and can't be bothered to label the fields properly. My vote goes to Capital One today.
I have never used either companies services, so I must recuse myself.
my capital one is low interest and I've never been hit by fees at all
so i guess I'm lucky.
I lost two days of my life sitting at the airport in Philadelphia thanks to US Air. There were weather issues, but they could have canceled the flight right away instead of changing the departure time over and over and making us sit at the airport for ten hours before finally deciding to cancel.
Oh HECK yes it goes to ANY airline that charges a "Per baggage" fee after you already paid for your dang ticket... Piss off USAir...
@HurtsSoGood: I'm not sure they'll make it to the final four, I have CapOne going up against Chase in the 3rd round of my bracket.
Shouldn't this contest end now? We all know AIG's got this in the bag.
I'm actually a Cap One fan - they're one of the few banks left that don't charge an extra 2-3% for foreign currency purchases - definitely my preferred int'l travel card.
No, Weyland-Yutani is trying hard to bring back a xenomorph and end the human race, which they so far have failed to do.
Cyberdyne Systems came much closer to succeeding.
*sticking to film plots, not comics or novels
I'm going to have to sit this round out. US Airways (note, it's US Airways - hasn't been USAir since the mid 90's) has gotten a lot better over the last while and Capital One hasn't screwed me over, despite me making a couple of stupid mistakes with my card.
I will say the capital one seemed to be much more cautious when handing out credit limits than other companies. I got my first card from them when I was 20 with a credit limit of $300. Almost five years later the limit is only $800 without ever missing a payment
@johnva: I use US Air lots. I've never had any problems with them. Who cares if they don't give you a Sprite on your flight to Charlotte.
In fact, in january I flew internationally with them (total of 4 flights) and EVERY flight arrived early.
@misshistory:
Wait a few weeks, they will change it to about 21.99%. I have been a loyal customer for years now and then they dropped that on me. Its now the highest out of the credit cards I have. I just paid them off and tossed it in the freezer with my other CCs.
This is fairly close, but the Capital One rate raising due to "market conditions" gets them my vote. I would give them points for honesty if they said "because we can get away with it."
@ConroyCotta: The last 5 or so times that I took U.S. Air they delayed my flights by hours, citing things like "weather", "missing their takeoff slot", etc even when all the other airlines were running just fine. Maybe it depends on where you're flying out of.
@ConroyCotta: I am flying with them this afternoon, and regularly do. I have had problems with flying into and out of Philly, but I associate that more with Philly itself than anything else. I also believe US Airways has greatly improved their timeliness rating in the last year. If charging a la carte means they keep their fares more competative, then I understand. Although they have reversed the policy on beverages.
"Or an airline that tried charging for water?"
Well, in their defense, it's not like they expected ALL of the passengers to opt for the mid-flight dip in the Hudson.
@Citizen Kang:
Krusty Burger wins it all!
Wait a sec., opening a Krusty Burger on an unmanned oil barge isn't necessarily evil...just bad business.
@vastrightwing:
Does the fact that Capital One mistakenly issued a guy a credit card with Nick Nolte's hilarious mug shot on it sway you?
That's what put Capital One over the top for me. I'm so superficial like that.
@vastrightwing: Well, I choose Capital One if for no other reason than the ton of junk mail from them that I've had to shred. Again and again and again over the past few years.
Crazy IDEA for Next year...
I like the seeding but we need to add in "Regions" or "Industries"
It does not make sense to compare a BANK with an AIRLINE. Our expectations of the two differs significantly.
For instance:
When I call a Bank I expect a professional service and immediate assistance
When I call an Airline I expect delays, long wait times, and to be bounced around between several CSRs
This competition should highlight not only "The Worst Company in America".. But also "The Worst company in each industry"
@Citizen Kang: CHOAM isnt based in the U.S., and is therefore ineligible for inclusion in this list.
@Citizen Kang: What about the Dharma Initiative? Or the International Bank of Business and Credit? Or Springfield Nuclear Power? Or Shinra? Or Initech? Or, my personal favorite, Blue Sun Corporation? We could really do a whole separate bracket.
I think this one is going to be close!