After three days of Worst Company In America voting, nine big businesses lie battered and bloody on the sandpaper mat of the WCIA Dodecahedron of Doom. But we are not here to mourn the fallen, but to hurl rotting fruit at the victors who survive to fight another day. [More]
Retail Services
Bank Of America, Monsanto, Verizon Move On To Next Round Of Worst Company Competition
March 21, 2014
Do Not Trust The Alleged Podiatrist Asking To See Your Lickable Toes At Walmart
By 3.21.14
Hide your toes, hide your feet — there are people out there willing to pose as podiatry students in order to get a peep at your de-socked digits… and then trying to get a taste of them. A Walmart customer in North Carolina told police she had a very unsettling encounter with a man who convinced her to remove her socks and shoes at the store. [More]
Fish Is So Fresh At Costco, One Package Of Cod Still Had A Live Worm Wriggling Around In It
By 3.21.14
Because most of us don’t buy our fish straight off the dock, finding a worm with your fresh fish is bound to be a bit of a surprising event. And while a Costco customer’s video of a fresh package of cod doesn’t show the kind of wriggling worm you’d put on a hook, seeing a parasitic nematode snuggled in there is still enough to warrant a “careful if you’re eating lunch while reading this” warning. [More]
Victim Of Attempted Robbery Says Walmart Manager Asked Her To Not Call Cops
By 3.21.14
Just because a robbery is unsuccessful doesn’t mean the police shouldn’t be involved. But try telling that to the manager at a Walmart in California, where a customer says she was urged to not contact authorities after being assaulted in the store. [More]
Walmart, Koch, McDonald’s All Move On To Round Two Of Worst Company Tournament
March 20, 2014
Two of today’s WCIA battles were dominated by household names, proving that being the biggest doesn’t mean you’re the best. Another showdown featured companies that aren’t necessarily on the tip of everyones’ tongues, but are no less hated than the big brand names. [More]
Bank Of GameStop Is The Best Or Worst Idea Ever
By 3.20.14
When you need a place to stash your money that isn’t a shoebox under the bed, it can be hard to find a good option. Minimum balance requirements, fees for the privilege of having an account…it’s all very complicated, especially if you don’t have a lot of money to deposit. Simplify things by joining the First National Bank of GameStop. [More]
Great, Spring Black Friday Is Now Officially A @#$@*$% Thing
By 3.20.14
Has it just been too long since you’ve felt the panic rising from your stomach and into your throat at the idea of competing for Black Friday specials? You’re in luck! Walmart and Lowes are both pushing so-called spring “Black Friday” discounts in an attempt to stir up some business, or maybe just to make us feel like the walls are slowly closing in… [More]
Family Accused Of Stealing 19 Identities To Buy $56,000 Worth Of Home Depot Gift Cards
By 3.20.14
As the ancient Sumerian saying goes: The family that steals a whole lot of identities in order to ring up a slew of fraudulent charges together, gets arrested together. A couple, their adult children and a daughter-in-law have all been nabbed by cops, accused of an identity theft scheme that brought in $56,000 worth of goods at Home Depot. [More]
Comcast, Abercrombie, Chase Victorious In First Day Of Worst Company Competition!
March 19, 2014
The 2014 Worst Company In America competition got off to a big start today with readers turning out in droves to vote on the tournament’s first three match-ups that saw a former Golden Poo champ flexing its muscle, a tournament mainstay making its case for the WCIA title, and the year’s first upset. [More]
Walmart Fancy Feast Pricing Is Off Because Cats Can’t Do Math
By 3.19.14
Can cats do math? Maybe they can do math, and simply choose not to. Whatever the case, reader LukeBaby noticed some pricing shenanigans in the pet food department at Walmart. [More]
Toilet Paper Shrink Ray Hits Walmart Brand Rolls
By 3.18.14
Our soft yet absorbent colleagues down the hall at Consumer Reports have great things to say about Walmart’s house-brand toilet papers, but maybe that’s because horizontal width isn’t a factor in their scoring. Reader Andrew sent along these photos comparing his previous and current packages of TP from Wally World, and found that a barely perceptible size decrease adds up to 30 fewer square feet per package of 18 rolls. [More]
Have Fun Breaking Down This Year’s Worst Company In America Bracket
March 18, 2014
The above bracket will be updated at the end of each day of WCIA competition to reflect that day’s results.
——————
After going through all of your nominations, then having y’all rank the contenders and eliminate the chaff from the wheat, we’re proud to present the first round match-ups for this year’s Worst Company in America tournament! [More]
Tonight’s Cougar Town Is One Massive Target Ad
By 3.18.14
Have you ever seen something on a television show, say a scarf or an end table, and just had to have it? Of course you have, we all have (Or at least I have). Target wants to tap into that urge by letting online viewers of TBS’s Cougar Town buy items seen in the show. Unfortunately, this may mean having to watch a show that is covered in flashing red plus-signs. [More]
Walmart Wants To Be The GameStop Where You Trade In Games For Groceries
By 3.18.14
Starting next week, Walmart shoppers looking for something to do with those Batman: Arkham Origins discs they no longer play will have one more option for unloading their used video games, as the nation’s largest retailer aims to likely become the largest purchaser of customers’ old games. [More]
Why Is Anyone Buying The 10-Pack Of Fruit Snacks At Target?
By 3.17.14
Carly was shopping at Target and captured this example of the confusing math for which the retailer is known around here. Here, you can get two small boxes or one large box of the same snack food item for the same price. That’s where it stops making sense. [More]
Price-Matching: The Only Way To Haggle At Chain Retailers
By 3.17.14
Most Americans aren’t very comfortable with haggling, even when they know that it could theoretically benefit them to do so. What you may not realize is that when you visit Walmart with a CVS flyer in hand, asking for a price match, you’re engaging in a form of haggling. [More]
Lands’ End Will Officially Be Freed From Sears On April 4
By 3.17.14
After 12 years in the Sears family fold, Lands’ End is heading out on its own in a spinoff set for April 4. From there on out, it’ll be a stand-alone, publicly-traded company, without the shadow of its struggling former parent company looming over all those fleece jackets and sensible sweaters. [More]
28 Attorneys General Urge Major Retailers To Discontinue Tobacco Sales
By 3.17.14
Is it a conflict of interest when stores that sell products to improve your health also make billions every year selling cigarettes? More than two dozen Attorneys General think so, and are lighting a fire under the nation’s largest drugstore and supermarket chains to get them to quit. [More]
