And the most unpopular company in America is...

[Jag_Warrior]

WALMART! Big surprise?


Wal-Mart is the most unpopular company in America
MarketWatch
11:58 AM ET

By Quentin Fottrell, MarketWatch

The most unpopular company among consumers is not a cable company. And it's not an airline.
The honor goes to big box retailer Wal-Mart (WMT) , which placed last on the list of the University of Michigan's American Consumer Satisfaction Index. On a list of 230 household brands surveyed, Wal-Mart scored 54 out of a possible 100, just behind Time Warner Cable (56), Comcast (57) and United Airlines (60). The index scores each company based on more than 70,000 interviews conducted annually, and uses a customer satisfaction score, 10 economic sector scores, 43 industry scores, over 230 company scores, and more than 200 federal or local government service scores.

"One of the things plaguing Wal-Mart at the moment is that they have cut the front end staff too deeply," says independent retail analyst Jeff Green. "Wait times at the checkouts have increased significantly, which seems to be offsetting the positive of Wal-Mart's lower prices." But the Wal-Mart consumer may also have been spoiled by low prices there, he adds, and "doesn't continue to give the company credit for their low prices." And Wal-Mart also made a "checkout promise" earlier this year to staff all checkouts during the busy holiday period.


Last year Wal-Mart suffered bad publicity around the holidays when employees organized a holiday food drive for colleagues at a Canton, Ohio, store. That reignited the debate about low pay for many of Wal-Mart's 1.3 million workers in the U.S. ("We strive for excellence and to serve our customers in each and every way every day," a Wal-Mart spokeswoman says.) Labor unions protested at the annual general meeting in June over what they alleged was illegal retaliation against employees who've publicly spoken about wage and benefits inequality. (Wal-Mart has consistently denied this.)

[Storm]

Also the company with the most employees?

[Rudy Tamasz]

Was the U.S. government included in the rankings? It must be one of the biggest service providers and employers in the country.

[airshifter]

Was the U.S. government included in the rankings? It must be one of the biggest service providers and employers in the country.

They might have been exempt. Using the term "service provider" would just confuse people when you are talking about the government!

[Starter]

They might have been exempt. Using the term "service provider" would just confuse people when you are talking about the government!

Only too true.

Unless of course you are talking about being "serviced" by the government.

[Jag_Warrior]

TBH, I'm not sure that the government (even if it qualified as a "company") would score lower than Wally World. Walking through a Wal-Mart (anywhere) is sort of like wandering through the lobby of a Social Services office... complete with fat women with ill-fitting clothes, hauling screaming babies on their wide hips, along with drunks & drug addicts who look like they might throw up on you if you don't move away from them at a fast pace.

One thing that the government and Wal-Mart have in common these days: both are filled with "customers" trying to get something for nothing (or very little) and employees who could not care less if they're giving satisfactory service or not. But in Wal-Mart, the employees are probably MUCH better at hiding from the customers, so they don't have to be bothered. So I think I'd still have to give the nod to Wal-Mart as the most unpopular company.

[Rollo]

Unless of course you are talking about being "serviced" by the government.

Do you drive on the interstate at all?

[Starter]

Do you drive on the interstate at all?

That was a product of the fifties when the government still worked. And it was under a Republican administration too. (Sorry, couldn't resist throwing that last bit in there Rollo. )

[Rollo]

WALMART! Big surprise?

That reignited the debate about low pay for many of Wal-Mart's 1.3 million workers in the U.S. ("We strive for excellence and to serve our customers in each and every way every day," a Wal-Mart spokeswoman says.) Labor unions protested at the annual general meeting in June over what they alleged was illegal retaliation against employees who've publicly spoken about wage and benefits inequality. (Wal-Mart has consistently denied this.) [/I]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...0JU1XJ20141216
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered Wal-Mart Stores Inc to pay $188 million to employees who had sued the retailer for failing to compensate them for rest breaks and all hours worked.
Wal-Mart said on Tuesday that it might appeal the decision, which upheld lower court rulings, to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- Reuters, 16th Dec 2014

I can see why a company which short pays its employees might be seen as unpopular.

And it was under a Republican administration too. (Sorry, couldn't resist throwing that last bit in there Rollo. )

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