Justice

The 3 Most Hated Companies in America

January 13th 2017

A new list reveals the companies people in the United States hate the most, and there's some big names on top.

Financial media company 24/7 Wall St. looked at a wide range of surveys, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index, employee reviews on Glass Door, and its own annual customer survey, to pick the most hated companies by "customers, employees, and the general public."

These are the top three worst companies in the U.S., according to their picks. 

1. Comcast

Comcast truck. Flickr/Mike Mozart - flic.kr

The cable industry in general has a bad reputation, but Comcast stands out. The cable giant received poor scores across the board — in "cost to consumer, performance, billing, and reliability" — according to 24/7 Wall St.

Comcast is the regular subject of complaints on social media. 

A lack of other options in the cable industry probably contributes to the negative feelings toward Comcast. Where else can an unhappy customer go? That also raises the cost of bad service: Cable viewers in the U.S. pay an average of $231 dollars a year for cable boxes, according to the Unlock the Box Campaign, an initiative aimed at getting the FCC to pass regulations that would increase competition and allow more online streaming of televised content. 

The FCC was considering a proposal aimed at "unlocking the box" in February of last year, but nothing came of it.

2. Bank of America

Bank of America in Connecticut. Flickr/Mike Mozart - flic.kr

The 24/7 Wall St. list puts Bank of America as the second most hated company for two main reasons: a significant number of customers don't like the service they receive, and the workers are unhappy too. 

"In a 24/7 Wall St.’s annual customer satisfaction poll, about 44 percent of those surveyed said they had a negative experience with both BofA’s banking and credit card operations, among the worst of any company surveyed," wrote Michael B. Sauter and Samuel Stebbins. "In addition to unhappy customers, the company has also has dissatisfied employees."

People on Twitter complained about Bank of America's customer service. 

In 2013, Bank of America was fined $2 million by the U.S. Department of Labor for racial discrimination against its black employees. Last week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development also filed charges against Bank of America for allegedly discriminating against Latino borrowers. 

Bank of America declined ATTN:'s request for comment.

3. Mylan

packaged-epipenAP/Mark Zaleski - apimages.com

Mylan is the maker of the EpiPen, a life-saving emergency allergy medication. The company was on the receiving end of a huge public backlash last summer after it raised the price of this product by more than 400 percent.

Because of the high price tag, Cigna, one of the biggest health insurers in the U.S., announced on Wednesday that it will no longer cover the EpiPen. Instead, it will cover generic versions, with CVS, the largest drug store chain in the U.S., announcing Thursday that it will start selling its own generic version for a fraction of the cost.

RELATED: A Major Way Cable Companies Cost You Hundreds of Dollars Could Be Ending

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