There is no doubt as far as the public opinion regarding the 16 most hated companies in America goes. Due to bad service, shady practices or a well-crafted combination of the two, all these companies are the evil giants in the nation’s eyes. Do all of them deserve the hate? Maybe, maybe not. Lots of them have a lot of controversy behind their backs, and lots of them still have at least one controversial ongoing practice.
There is lots that bad reputation could do to a business, especially in the bottom brink of the chain where the customers are. However, for many of these, individuals are either not the direct buyer/user or are forced to use the company’s services due to there being little to no available other options or competition. The case in which a company forms a monopoly over a given region, forcing its residents to either use their services or have none at all is anything but unheard of. After all, there are ways in which laws can be circumvented to allow that and enforce it. Ethics are not a strong side of any of these businesses at least towards their customers. And, if you think that unethical behavior is sometimes necessary for business, you might be wrong; compare this list below with our list of the Most Profitable Businesses to find out if some of these most hated companies are among the most profitable ones, or not.
Poor customer support is not the only problem, though. There are several spikes of cases which speak of abuse in the form of asking for unagreed upon fees, ending or upgrading people’s subscription plans or other types of services without notifying them and many more. While most of these are waved off as a “mistake” from the given business, in the life of an individual who struggles to make ends meet, such a mistake can be disastrous. However, for many of these businesses, unhappy customers wouldn’t be able to make any sort of change. You can rant about that freshly opened seafood restaurant and arbitrarily cause its failure to attract more customers but for many of these businesses, any real danger could only be losing clients in the tens of thousands quickly. Despite many people’s choice to not support a business they see as unethical, that company’s operation would not be affected strongly in cases such as these due to the fact that masses of people rely on them as their only option. Let’s look at them.
16. Time Warner
Time Warner’s cable TV and internet providing services are where customer ill is mainly concentrated around with more than a couple of major controversy spiking cases in the past few years.
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15. United Airlines
United Airlines has had a tough time with keeping integrity due to several disastrous events in its history, including the 9/11 attacks. Even so, United has held together to this day but nowadays people are just fed up with their service.
14. JPMorgan Chase
JPMorgan Chase has a long history of controversies, some more absurd than others, in countries beyond the USA too. From overcharging active military personnel for their mortgages to market manipulation, they’ve got it all.
13. General Motors
General Motors has been a staple in US automotive history. However, they have also been blamed and persecuted for multiple violations of environmental safety, as well as their own products’ safety.
12. Citigroup
It’s interesting how multiple financial services find their way into this list. Citigroup has been held responsible for multiple allegations, ranging from money laundering to theft from their clients.
11. British Petroleum
You don’t even need a hint for this one. British Petroleum’s operation across the Gulf of Mexico which ended in an environmental disaster which BP just waved off and decided not to be too bothered with is just one of the many cases.
10. Bank of America
The next banking service on this list is one of the lowest rated banking giants – the Bank of America. From randomly doubling interest rates to selectively freezing accounts for no reason, the Bank of America stands tenth among the most hated.
9. Charter Communications
The second most hated group on this list – cable/internet providers – is represented by Charter Communications and some of the worst service nationwide at the 9th spot on this list of the 16 most hated companies in the US.
8. Comcast
Comcast has picked up a lot of heat from its customers for a heap of things including overcharging for poor quality service, refusing to comply with their customers’ legally legitimate wishes and surveillance.
7. Koch Industries
Despite having a lot more to be hated for about, Koch Industries has mainly been the center of attention in disputes about their poor environment safety policies. Furthermore, the company has weighed in in certain related political decisions by supporting certain people.
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6. Sears Holdings
Sears Holdings is the result of Sears being purchased by Kmart which are now both being owned by the holding company. As you may have guessed, Sears Holdings has picked up attention for bad practices such as unethical treatment and tracking its customers online.
5. Halliburton
Halliburton takes the fifth place mainly due to its unusual ties to Dick Cheney and allegedly taking advantage of the Iraq war to drill for oil. Aside from that, Halliburton has multiple cases of corruption and environmental harm.
4. Monsanto
As you all should know, Monsanto is the leading producer of genetically engineered seeds and other agricultural products. As you should also know, Monsanto has a long trail of class action lawsuits mainly related to harm caused by their products.
3. Dish Network
The Dish Network has been under heavy criticism from many because of its often overpriced and poorly executed programming services. Other than that, they have been also held accountable for a variety of violation cases.
2. AIG
Barely making the first spot but not quite, we have the American Insurance Group. After being held responsible for multiple accounts of fraud and having multiple criminal charges pressed against its CEOs, AIG’s poor management has led to it being in a constant crisis since 2008.
1. Goldman Sachs
And the winner (loser) in the list of the 16 most hated companies in America is Goldman Sachs. This company has hands down deserved its place in this list by having way more controversy behind it than you would even care to glance at without reading.
