Just judging by appearances, this match-up has the feel of a strapping young heavyweight going up against a past-his-day bruiser who is clinging on to memories of his days as champ. But you never know if that elder fighter might have packed some bird shot and ball bearings in his boxing gloves.

Where to begin with Sears? What used to be the name associated with American retail is now struggling in every department.

Buy an appliance there and maybe it will get to right address. Need it repaired? Maybe they can do that. But one thing you can be sure of is that they will try, and try, and try, to sell you an extended warranty.

And then there’s Walmart, which has gone from replacing mom and pop stores to replacing chain grocery stores. It’s the nation’s largest retailer and it’s also the one that customers are the least satisfied with.

The biggest complaint from Consumerist reader who nominated Walmart was the mind-bogglingly awful customer service.

“No one there seems to know thing one about any of the store policies,” writes Amy about why she’s voting for Walmart. “If a price comes up wrong or if a item doesn’t scan, the cashier just stares at the machine. The manager will just say there’s nothing they can do about it and nobody cares to make an effort to fix the problem.”

Speaking of which, the last time we checked Walmart was still not handling returns and refunds for items that had gone down in price since being purchased. The retailer keeps saying it’s fixed the issue, or denies the issue exists, but customers continue to get screwed out of cash.

Oh, look — there’s a sale on voting in Aisle 23…
(Voting for this poll will close at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 16)

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2012 series. The companies competing for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. See the entire WCIA 2012 bracket and schedule of match-ups HERE.

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