11 Most Hated Companies in America in 2017

There’s a lot of hate in the world, unfortunately, and the 11 most hated companies in America in 2017 are getting at least 23% of that global hate directed at them. You can’t talk about these 11 companies on any online forum without 100 hate-filled messages popping up, regaling you with how evil they are, how they price gouge, have terrible customer service, and probably hate kittens.

Certainly, customer service plays an integral role in people’s perception of companies and whether or not they hate them. Nothing riles up customers more than listening to elevator music for 20 minutes while waiting to talk to a bonafide human being, not even Wal-Mart rolling up its price on something by 11 cents. For that reason, many cable companies are among the most hated in the world, as they’re one of the few companies you’re probably going to need to call up every now and then.

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In broader terms, many oil companies are at the receiving end of a lot of ire from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which criticize them for their destruction of the environment, among other issues. Tax avoidance has also become a heated topic of late, with many groups and people growing weary of corporations using loopholes and foreign domiciles to avoid paying their fair share back into the system.

To compile such a hateful list, we utilized rankings from three different sources and spliced them together, giving equal weight to each list. Those lists are: Sigwatch’s 2016 list of Corporations that NGOs loved and hated in 2015, The Harris Poll’s 2016 Reputation Quotient, and 24/7 Wall St.’s 2017 list of America’s Most Hated Companies. The higher a company ranked on each list, the more hate points they got, starting with 20 points for a first place finish, 18 for second, 16 for third, and so on, down to 10 points, at which point the gap was lowered to 1 less point for each lower placing.  The company with the most hate points won…or is that lost? Either way, the 11 with the most points made the list of the 11 Most Hated Companies in America in 2017, which begins on the next page.

If you haven’t yet gotten your fill of hate after reading this article, then head over to the 16 Most Hated Companies in America for more. Now then, on with the list.