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You want polls? Here's a bunch: the Worst Company in America tournament. Amazon isn't in it.

I've had decent service from Amazon. They could be the most beloved of all the large companies. Which maybe is saying they're the nicest turd in the latrine. That a Worst Company contest exists is merely emphasizing what we all know, which is that large corporations have far too much power. As the saying goes, power corrupts. We do have problems getting these 900 pound gorillas to behave responsibly, and not lobby for unfairly favorable treatment and sweet rent seeking or monopolistic arrangements, or just plain stupid laws, such as ACTA. They get their way on such matters far too often.

job need to offer full menu to there staff. Mcdonalds Brazil sued over that my only offering part of the menu as part of the free lunch to staff.

http://consumerist.com/2009/09/brazil-declares-mcdonalds-only-diet-a-crime.html

This is clearly a stunt to boost their odds in the Worst company in America contest. They are already a favorite to make the final match up, but this might just be the boost they need to go all the way and claim the golden poo.

FYI: Apple is soundly beating Microsoft as "Worst Company in America" in The Consumerist's poll:

http://consumerist.com/2011/03/worst-company-in-america-round-one-apple-vs-microsoft.html

I too would like to visit any restaurant that refused to serve TSA agents. Unfortunately it seams only a single cafe is doing this.

http://consumerist.com/2011/02/seattle-area-restaurant-wont-serve-tsa-agents.html

and it does represent a real drag on the rest of the economy, and "a drag on the economy" does translate to "fewer jobs".

Well, it can. But an industry having overall less profit doesn't necessarily mean less jobs. I understand that government sector jobs really are a drain on the economy, and that money has to come from somewhere. But that could easily come off the corporate bottom line. To get shit done, you need people to do things, if you can have them do that and turn a buck, then businessmen will do it. And that's a really important threshold. But if the businessman can make two or three bucks out of the process, that doesn't mean he's going to go hire another person.

And I think that's it. You're running under the assumption that businesses re-invests in themselves, expand their operations, and experience growth.
Rather, then say, give out bigger bonuses to the CEOs at Christmas. You're right, taxing the rich is not a panacea, but the imbalance of wealth certainly appears to be the disease. You can't argue that the income of the bosses has become inordinately excessive compared to the pay of the workers. And that kinda mirrors the situation in the 1920's.

And, just one last thing, you have to remember that while every employee, government or private, is a drain on the entity, they also produce real meaningful work. We get something from these government employees. In theory anyway. $87K/year worth of work? Well.... yeah, that's debatable.

"Imagine a PC dealership trying to enforce such harsh software usability limitations like "never ever install any other software than the one you got it with, or forget the warranty" http://consumerist.com/2009/12/geek-squad-wouldnt-honor-my-netbooks-protection-plan.html Not much imagination necessary

Actually, someone I know is still paying a monthly bill for AOL for a different reason. They are afraid of the people on the retention line, and don't want to plan out a couple of hours to fight over it. Call it unethical or illegal, but it works - I still to this date (4 years later) cannot get them to cancel because they don't want to waste the time and energy. I would expect that a lot of other successful companies play this game too.

Then where do you try a phone to make sure that you will like it

At a store.

So you try the carrier-specific version of a phone in a store, and you buy the unlocked version online. I can see several problems with that:

1. Phones for use with a CDMA2000 network such as Verizon or Sprint don't have an unlocked version that works with the same network. Unlocked phones are GSM because neither U.S. CDMA2000 carrier (Verizon or Sprint) stores subscriber identity on a removable CSIM card.
2. Of the four major carriers, only the one purported to have the least coverage (T-Mobile) offers a discount on your plan for not subsidizing a phone. T-Mobile's "Even More Plus" plans let you buy a phone up front (or bring your own unlocked GSM phone supporting T-Mobile's band) and get a $10/mo discount on voice plans or a $20/mo discount on voice and data plans. Otherwise, you're paying a subsidy for a phone that you never get as part of your monthly service charge. This alone is reason enough for me to recommend only T-Mobile for anyone who lives and works in T-Mobile's coverage area, but that'd leave a lot of people either A. with zero bars or B. with a canceled contract for roaming on AT&T too often.
3. If you try in one store, which has to maintain a retail storefront, and then buy from someone else that doesn't have that overhead cost, isn't that one of the things that gets customers branded "demon customers"?
4. In May 2010, I checked three stores, and none of them have the phone I want (Nokia N900) on any carrier. Now how do I see whether the phone has a deal-killing flaw that's present in all units of the same model, such as an indistinct display or a touch screen that requires an uncomfortable pressure? E-tailers tend to charge a restocking fee for returns due to such model-wide defects.

this is still downright dishonest if the customers had a reasonable expectation that Amazon would go on providing their books for re-download perpetually.

There have been publicized issues in the past regarding customers having problems redownloading books. The most recent information I can find on the subject is at http://consumerist.com/2009/06/amazon-tries-to-clarify-download-limits-for-kindle-books-doesnt-quite-succeed.html.

This is just another disadvantage of the cloud. Putting your data in someone else's hands is dangerous.

It seems you could use a math lesson from Verizon.
(The link is for a transcript of a phonecall of a guy trying to resolve a billing issue. He was quoted a data rate of 0.002 cents/kb, but billed at 0.002 dollars/kb.)

It's only a "gross violation" if you are forced to do it. There is an opt-out.

Yeah, and in some cases opting out means being ejected from the airport without being allowed to board your flight, and even threats of $10,000 civilian fines. Here are just a few recent reported incidents:

TSA encounter at SAN

Woman Says She Was Cuffed And Booted From Airport For Questioning Body Scanners

Pregnant Traveler: TSA Screeners Bullied Me Into Full-Body Scan

Even pilots are being ejected from airports for refusing to submit to the scanners:

Pilot who refused body scan at Memphis International blasts TSA security

Sorry, but if even a pilot can't opt out of going through the scanners then either something is severely broken in the system or the whole opt-out argument is complete bunk.

It's only a "gross violation" if you are forced to do it. There is an opt-out.

Yeah, and in some cases opting out means being ejected from the airport without being allowed to board your flight, and even threats of $10,000 civilian fines. Here are just a few recent reported incidents:

TSA encounter at SAN

Woman Says She Was Cuffed And Booted From Airport For Questioning Body Scanners

Pregnant Traveler: TSA Screeners Bullied Me Into Full-Body Scan

Even pilots are being ejected from airports for refusing to submit to the scanners:

Pilot who refused body scan at Memphis International blasts TSA security

Sorry, but if even a pilot can't opt out of going through the scanners then either something is severely broken in the system or the whole opt-out argument is complete bunk.

I wonder if this version of the nook will delete all of your non Barnes & Noble books too?

http://consumerist.com/2010/09/comcast-wont-give-me-tv-service-because-im-a-home-business-customer.html

"Comcast won't give me TV service because I'm a home business customer"

Your Rights Online: FCC Fights To Maintain Control over Culture
"The FCC filed Thursday to appeal a recent court decision that struck down its policy of fining broadcasters for offending puritanical Christian moral majority groups such as Parents Television Council. The FCC's brief argues the court ruling would make it almost impossible to punish broadcasters that deviate from 1950s morality during hours when children are likely to be watching or listening."

Just as a reminder, most of these "complaints" are coming from dittohead idiots following form letter emails from the PTC and other such "watchdog" groups. It's not real outrage, it's manufactured in order to push a political agenda -- namely, the repression of sexuality in the US. If you want to try and influence and repress culture, a really good place to start is sexuality, after all.

Someone actually did a test like that. Tried a high-end cable, lamp wire, and even soldered coathangers together. Listeners couldn't tell the difference. http://consumerist.com/2008/03/do-coat-hangers-sound-as-good-monster-cables.html

A coat hanger would be still better.

Hey, did you know you can backup your Kindle downloads to your computer? YES REALLY. Every fricken time.

A Google search for kindle backup 1984 brought up this page, which claims that even after you have restored a backup, if Amazon has removed a book for alleged copyright infringement, it may delete the copy that you just restored the moment you turn wireless back on.

Actually, I believe he was referring to this, in which audiophiles couldn't tell the difference between monster cables and a coathanger.

No, it is not. Normal holding of the phone does not really affect the signal. You have to squeeze much harder than normal and kind of wrap the phone, to really have an effect. Although partially it's probably a function of how sweaty your hands are.

That's simply not true. Signal degradation occurs with a single finger covering the correct location. Here's a video that clearly shows a single finger causing degradation with no twisting or warping of the phone.

http://consumerist.com/2010/07/consumer-reports-wont-recommend-iphone-4-until-apple-fixes-death-grip-design-flaw.html

Thanks for you time but all the info you're giving out is directly contradicted by numerous sources.

Since none of the articles linked to by the summary felt it was relevant to mention what these skimmers actually look like, here's an article from Consumerist.

PS3.

How does the PS3 decide which stores I am and am not allowed to buy from? Sorry but you fail here.

The grocer decides what they will offer for sale.

But I have the choice to go to a different grocer, or talk to the distributors directly. I'm not beholden to a single distribution source. You fail here also.

Xbox 360.

See PS3. Fail number three for you.

Bullshit. They control the store.

And what runs on the device, and what browser you use, and what mail client you use, and what UI the developers are allowed to use. It's almost like they control everything. I mean it's not like you can't install an alternate browser from the web on an Iphone, no wait... you cant.

This isn't something Apple is doing, it's the app developer.

And when Apple is the developer. Itunes will refuse to let you install applications if you dont agree to Apple's terms and conditions. So it really is Apple's doing.

Citation?

Citation, taken from the summary

To provide location-based services on Apple products, Apple and our partners and licensees may collect, use, and share precise location data, including the real-time geographic location of your Apple computer or device. This location data is collected anonymously in a form that does not personally identify you and is used by Apple and our partners and licensees to provide and improve location-based products and services. For example, we may share geographic location with application providers when you opt in to their location services.

Some location-based services offered by Apple, such as the MobileMe "Find My iPhone" feature, require your personal information for the feature to work.

. So what colour is the sky in your world.

On one hand you say that Compressor blades / turbines are light and fluffy, and then you say that a carbon fibre fly wheel is the stuff of instantaneous death and destruction. I can see that this argument will not be one by words. It is time to resort to pictures.

These are all picture of the effects of parts of the engine flying off and traveling through the housing.
http://consumerist.com/images/resources/2007/12/Bad%20Looking%20Engine-thumb.jpg
http://img406.imageshack.us/i/img0163gu3.jpg/
http://www.iasa-intl.com/folders/belfast/AA763EngineFire-3_files/aa2.jpg
http://www.flightglobal.com/assets/getAsset.aspx?ItemID=16268

Wikipedia has an article about a plane that was brought down by one of these fluffy engine parts
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_232

The idea of powering something with a burnable fluid dangersous fluid would not be acceptable today.

Failure of gasoline: Fire.
Failure of a flywheel: Explosion.

You really don't notice the difference?

You really have never heard of the Ford Pinto? If you get gasoline and air in the right mixture, you can get an explosion. However, just because something does not EXPLODE holywood style, does not mean it is not dangerous. Ask an someone who has had to watch someone being burned alive in a automobile gasoline fire. It happened quite a lot before proper engineering controls were put in place. The generations before our had to deal with this. It took the previous generation(s) to build the automobile. They were noisy, dangerous, and unreliable, but they built them nonetheless. The truth is that anything powerful enough to power and automobile whether it be a Gasoline, Steam, flywheels or batteries packs enough energy to cause significant loss of life. My point is not that flywheels are necessarily the safest thing around, nor even that flywheels are necessarily the best solution. My point is that in today's political climate new inventions can not be brought to bear unless they are so safe that they are practically useless. Do you really think the lawyers would have allowed automobile / airplanes to be created if they were invented today? Hydrocarbon fuels were grandfathered in from a previous century. As for batteries, the public has the impression that batteries are safe and environmentally friendly. This may change over time when the energy density of batteries starts to compete with fossil fuels, and more laptop batteries start catching fire.

Planes and cars were engineered before during a time when people were willing to live with a little danger

Ah, the old "golden age" myth. The good old days when women weren't even supposed to ride in planes because of the danger.

Just because you scoff at an argument does not mean you actually answered the argument. As for women flying in planes, I don't know what that has to do with the argument. There are plenty of women aviators.

But to be perfectly honest with you I really don't know what you are arguing about, unless you just like arguing.

Oh, no need to go to Facebook for an example of how the walled garden doesn't protect your data.

Nothing will protect you from a company that will misuse the data you give them. (And despite their claims, iDrive has not stopped this practice.)

Oh...and your walled garden does not warn you about what the apps might be accessing like Android does. You just have to trust Apple to protect you instead of being allowed to use your own judgment.

http://consumerist.com/2009/12/hp-face-tracking-camera-doesnt-track-black-faces.html

If we're having a hard time getting relatively simple AI image recognition tasks like this to work, the ability to make an AI doctor for a cell phone is a very very very long way away.

Not everywhere:

Man Wins $1.5M Over Profane Debt Collection Calls
Man Out For Repoman's Blood (Listen To Their Calls)

Oh, and don’t email this guy

My electricity+water was $61 last month, and that was with some asshole screwing with the thermostat. Triple it. Go ahead. I'll cut back some if I need to.

More importantly, developers will cut back. I work at an organization that builds energy-efficient houses for low-income families (not HfH, though I used to volunteer there) and thanks to intelligent design and a few solar panels, residents have had electric bills well under 100USD per year. I think once guy had an electric bill of 11USD in 2008.

If we tax gasoline a lot, food prices will soar, and that will hit me a lot harder. We already subsidize food like crazy (and not very intelligently) but if necessary we could provide exemptions (or better, tax and subsidize--the point is to correct for the externality).

I had a very bad experience with AT&T DSL.

They botched the installation and then charged me $100 to come back and fix it. Several weekends ago, when my DSL died for a solid 2 days, I couldn't get a hold of a human because they kept transferring me to offices that were *closed*, which would then just hang up on me forcing me to start the automated system from the beginning.

When I finally did reach a human, they wanted to charge me again to come out and fix it. I cancelled my service the next day. During cancellation, when asked why, I said, "Because Comcast has better customer service." I don't think they understood the severity of that statement. I told them their customer service is so bad, I am switching to *COMCAST*: http://consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america. Comcast, the company that sent me a technician when I asked for cablecards, and I had to install the cablecards myself because the tech didn't know how to do it!

AT&T mistreated me so badly that I am selling my iPhone 3GS just to switch to Verizon Wireless after my contract expires. Apple started me down that path by being annoying with developers started me down that path, but AT&T crossed the line for me.

There is no hope where I live. My choice is AT&T or Comcast. It is truly a desperate situation.

Yes, brand-new issue

Lets also just forget that the guy stole source code on many occasions, and that the guy in general is just a prick.

Yes, lets forget all these things, and pretend problems just started like, yesterday. We were all born yesterday anyway, right?

You start your bill at 30$%

What's a dollarpercent? Is it something they use at Verizon?

The polling was open to anybody who could be bothered to make their way over to The Consumerist, and there were many banks and other financial institutions in the early rounds.

I encourage you to check out the bracket, complete with comments, and next time, maybe you too can participate!

Actually, AIG won last year, owing to their spectacular performance on the economy, and Countrywide won in 2008. In both cases, though, Comcast was the runner-up.

Actually, AIG won last year, owing to their spectacular performance on the economy, and Countrywide won in 2008. In both cases, though, Comcast was the runner-up.

This.

The two tickets are not comparable--you are getting a discount on the open-ended ticket, which is quite expensive on most airlines. As parent says if you have fixed dates, the online price is the best deal you are going to get but is full of restrictions, with a notable exception being Southwest Airlines.

More here, in the comments.

Any ideas on who might want to take over the domains and carry on the work would be appreciated by the Internet community at large.

Sounds like something that the Consumers Union might want to take a look at.
They publish Consumer Reports and recently acquired The Consumerist website.

Can buy the same boxes in Canada that C* forces you to rent why can't WE DO THE SAME HEAR? $16/m - $22 /m per box is joke. And comcast makes cable card a joke as well. http://consumerist.com/2010/04/how-many-comcast-techs-does-it-take-to-hook-up-a-tivo.html

I like the how the cable co killed tru2way as well what is up with the new tivo not having it?

I've not seen any ads that advertise unlimited gigabytes.

Verizon has/had a plan simply called "Unlimited Access" that they sold in New York State. They didn't specifically use any terms denoting quantity ("gigabytes") or any other usage restrictions in their plan name or advertising; they left it wide open to the customer's imagination, in their advertising/marketing (although not in the actual contract), as to what "Unlimited" implied. And, they got spanked for it by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo back in 2007 for "deceptive marketing." Verizon agreed to stop the "deceptive marketing" and reimburse Verizon customers in New York State $1 million.

http://riskman.typepad.com/peerflow/2007/10/cuomo-to-verizo.html

Cuomo's action was most likely brought on by vocal consumer backlash in various forums:

http://consumerist.com/2007/04/verizon-unlimited-access-plan-is-extremely-limited.html

Apparently, at least in New York State, the contract doesn't mean much if you are judged to have engaged in deceptive advertising while trying to sell that contract.

* * * * *

All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.
—Jane Wagner

Possibly the part where they mention ink and how much it costs?

Fun fact : it would be cheaper to print in blood than in HP ink?

Unless their "director of computing" can't tell the difference between ink and toner, which wouldn't surprise me overmuch.

Best Buy does bother with training. They train their employees on how to scam you.

Best Buy is the worst of all the computer/tv/tech stores I've purchased from. They charge for ridiculous 'products' and 'services' that are little more than outright scams. They have been indicted for some of them. Their prices are terrible, and they outright lie about matching others prices. This IS NOT your usual non-techy "I bought the wrong part" or techy "I know better than you" complaint. The complaints against Best Buy have to do with their criminal behavior.

http://consumerist.com/2007/05/best-buy-employee-confesses-to-scams-similar-to-ones-outlined-in-racketeering-lawsuit.html

http://bestbuyscam.blogspot.com/

http://digg.com/tech_news/Yet_just_another_Best_Buy_scam

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/11/04/best-buy-scams-hdtv.html

http://gizmodo.com/241220/best-buy-admits-they-scam-in+store-customers-with-secret-website

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-bar-tender/2009/10/lawsuit-best-buy-lies.html

http://www.gpsmagazine.com/2007/03/buyer_beware_best_buy_caught_t.php

Seriously, Best Buy is evil. Do not shop at Best Buy.

When I was on unemployment I got $550 a week. That's equivalent to a $15/hour job, and I thought to myself: "This is a pretty sweet deal..According to various studies, the benefits paid for being jobless (free housing, free food, free healthcare, and a government check) are equivalent to $10-15 hour. I didn't used to believe those studies but now having experienced it myself, I can see how it would be true

I call BS on this. I don't know where you lived or what your income was prior to becoming unemployed but the vast majority of people on unemployment get nothing close to $550 per week. In only 1 city in this list from consumerist.com of the best cities for unemployment was it possible to get $550 per week. Not only that, I couldn't collect unemployment for the wages I was making when I got laid off but for what I made for the year prior to 9 months previous. I was getting home a whopping $128 per week (I live in Florida which is worker unfriendly). Nor does unemployment provide any of the other freebies you mention, at least not without going through the system and proving need.

"Toyota Knew About Sticking Pedals In Europe A Year Before U.S. Accidents"
http://consumerist.com/2010/02/toyota-knew-about-sticking-pedals-in-europe-a-year-before-us-accidents.html

"NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Toyota has known about brake problems in its popular Prius cars for some time, going so far as to fix it in new production vehicles, but has kept Prius drivers in the dark about the problem until the Japanese government called for an investigation."
http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/04/autos/prius_timeline/index.htm

"Toyota says it knew there were problems with accelerator-pedal assemblies from supplier CTS late last year, but not enough to warrant a recall."
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2010-01-25-toyotalong_st_N.htm

Your opinion of its likelihood is not relevant. Not only is it likely, evidence points to it being true. You are being disingenuous by phrasing it "no economic gains to be had by killing your customers." A product has a flaw, people die, that happens sometimes. If you issue a recall, you draw attention to the problem and cost yourself money in lost sales, repair costs, and possible lawsuits. "Killing your customers" is a bit different from "hoping that driver error is the official cause, not faulty cars," and you deciding to phrase it that way is an appeal to emotion, not a logical argument.

You can say we're just arguing semantics, but you're going to have to back up your unlikely opinion with links to convince me.

http://consumerist.com/2009/04/216489-paving-stone-in-a-macbook-pro-box-looks-nice-but-wont-run-photoshop.html

Well, not always.

Question: Why is there a congressional case about this?

Answer: The 911 call. Toyota not fixing the problem.

http://consumerist.com/2009/10/toyota-911-call-of-familys-fatal-lexus-crash-due-to-gas-pedal-stuck-on-floormats.html

Retort to conspiracy theory: This is a Toyota problem. They paid off the NHTSA people to get the scope of the investigation limited to accelerations of less than one second. This has nothing to do with GM, it has to do with Toyota fucking up and getting caught.These cases have been in the courts and Toyota keeps citing user error.

http://consumerist.com/2009/08/tivo-now-offers-exciting-new-dvr-immortality-transfer-fee.html

" Fatties are now using it to vent rage over how cruel the world is for discriminating against them for being fat. "

Fat celebrities, not your regular jo' smuck. Besides Kevin's not that fat, at least not compared to my notion of "too fat to fly" (see photo).

I'm glad Kevin's getting the word out because apparently Southwest has a habit of kicking off big guys, and it's ironic Kevin twitted the "too fat to fly" diet because a UK couple, weighing 530 lbs combine, really did lose weight after being "too fat to fly"

Amex recently became a bank in the US also, to be able to be eligible for bailout money.
http://consumerist.com/2008/11/american-express-becomes-a-bank-and-wants-bailout-money.html

Now goto the http://consumerist.com/ and request/search for the respective top emails and tell them your thoughts too.
Get a name to go with the brand.
Then spread the word.
The joy of reading about about your day job :)