This is Round 22 in our Worst Company in America contest, American Airlines vs Blockbuster. [More]
polls
![Did You Do Your Taxes Yet?](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/tax-cat-mctaxyface.jpg?w=300&h=205&crop=1)
Did You Do Your Taxes Yet?
Taxes are due in two days and change. Did you pay them yet? If you still haven’t sat down with your W2s, don’t worry, there’s still time to fire up the old Casio.
![Round 21: Time Warner Cable vs Radioshack](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/radioshackvstimewarner.jpg?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Round 21: Time Warner Cable vs Radioshack
This is Round 21 in our Worst Company in America contest, Time Warner Cable vs Radioshack.
Time Warner Cable: Has been known to employ crackheads (figuratively speaking) as their installation technicians, leading to all sorts of hijinx and complaint letters.
Radio Shack: Won’t let you buy batteries unless you give them your zipcode. Their previous CEO resigned after it was found out that he made up the degrees on his resume. They don’t take cash without getting your home address. They were fined by the FCC for selling TVs without warning consumers of their impending obsolescence. Oh, just give up, Radio Shack, they’ve invented the internet.
![Round 20: Wellpoint vs Charter Cable](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/chartervswellpoint.jpg?w=300&h=198&crop=1)
Round 20: Wellpoint vs Charter Cable
This is Round 20 in our Worst Company in America contest, Wellpoint vs Charter Cable.
Wellpoint: is a health insurance company that’s part of BlueCrossBlueShield. They don’t believe anesthesia is necessary for colonoscopies. That pretty much encapsulates all you need to know about them.
![Round 19: Dell vs Home Depot](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/homedepotvshell.jpg?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Round 19: Dell vs Home Depot
This is Round 19 in our Worst Company in America contest, Dell vs Home Depot.
Dell: Formerly the king of direct to customer PC sales, Dell now has a well-deserved reputation for abysmal bad customer service ever since they outsourced their Home and Home Office customer service departments (secret trick: always order from Small Business, it’s US based and the reps and techs still know what they’re doing). Horror stories of botched warranty repairs abound. Just Google “Dell Hell” and you’ll know what the company is so reviled.
![Round 18: Sears vs Citibank](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/citibankvssears.jpg?w=300&h=191&crop=1)
Round 18: Sears vs Citibank
This is Round 18 in our Worst Company in America contest, Sears vs Citibank.
![Is This Absolut Ad Cheeky Or Distasteful?](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/in-an-absolut-world-which-is-apparently-back-in-the-1800s.jpg?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Is This Absolut Ad Cheeky Or Distasteful?
Absolut is running an ad in Mexico that some in this country are finding offensive because it favorably depicts our borders as they existed before the 1848 Mexican-American war. We’re going to bite and talk about the ad even though it means that the advertisers win and America dies just a bit more.
![Round 17: Wal-Mart vs TJMaxx](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/tjmaxxvswal.jpg?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Round 17: Wal-Mart vs TJMaxx
This is Round 17 in our Worst Company in America contest, Wal-Mart vs TJMaxx.
Everyone has their own special reason for hating Wal-Mart. Forcing manufacturers to make shoddier versions of their products is pretty bad. Selling sandals that gave patrons feet chemical burns was pretty bad too. What’s yours?
TJMaxx’s lax wireless security lead to the theft millions upon millions of customer’s debit and credit card numbers being stolen, the greatest bank robbery in the history of the freakin’ world.
![Round 16: Mattel vs ATT](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/matteltakesonthedeathstar.jpg?w=300&h=211&crop=1)
Round 16: Mattel vs ATT
This is Round 16 in our Worst Company in America contest, Mattel vs AT&T.
Mattel profited off of selling millions of toys covered in lead paint, as well a toy with detachable, swallowable, magnet balls.
![Round 15: Capital One vs Video Professor](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/videoprofvscapitalone.jpg?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Round 15: Capital One vs Video Professor
This is Round 15 in our Worst Company in America contest, Capital One vs Video Professor.
Capital One’s amusing credit card commercials aren’t so funny after dealing with their appalling customer service staffed by thugs and gutter snipes.
Round 14: eBay/Paypal vs COX
This is Round 14 in our Worst Company in America contest, eBay/Paypal vs COX cable.
Tightwads vs Spendthrifts
“Frugality is driven by a pleasure of saving, as compared with tightwaddism, which is driven by a pain of paying.”
That’s one of the findings of a new study comparing people’s spending habits. Here’s how the differences between tightwads and spendthrifts break down, according to the survey of 13,327 people:
![Round 8: Allstate vs Verizon](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/allstatevsverizon.jpg?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Round 8: Allstate vs Verizon
This is round 8 in our Worst Company in America 2008 contest, Allstate vs Verizon.
![Round 7: DeBeers vs 1-800 Flowers](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/debeersvs1800flowers.jpg?w=300&h=222&crop=1)
Round 7: DeBeers vs 1-800 Flowers
This is round 7 in our Worst Company in America 2008 contest, DeBeers vs 1-800 Flowers.
![Round 6: Starbucks vs United Airlines](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/starbcuksvsunitedairlines.jpg?w=300&h=145&crop=1)
Round 6: Starbucks vs United Airlines
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.
![Round 5: Exxon vs Crocs](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/crocsvsotts.jpg?w=300&h=132&crop=1)
Round 5: Exxon vs Crocs
Exxon Valdez crash spilled 11 million gallons of oil into Alaskan waters. Recently Exxon petitioned to have the $2.5 billion in punitive damages reduced because it thought they were excessive. Exxon was also sued in lawsuit claiming their Indonesian subsidiary allowed their facilities to be used by the Indonesian government to torture 11 villagers.
![Should American Airlines Have Flown Five Overbooked Passengers Across The Atlantic In An Empty Plane?](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/empty-bird.jpg?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Should American Airlines Have Flown Five Overbooked Passengers Across The Atlantic In An Empty Plane?
American Airlines managed to rebook all but five passengers after canceling one of its four daily flights from Chicago to London. The five still needed to get to London, so American rustled up an empty plane and invited everyone up to business class. Seems nice, but Friends of the Earth is outraged that American burned 22,000 gallons of fuel for five passengers. Great customer service or eco-scandal? Vote in our poll, after the jump.