EA Wins Title of "Worst Company in America"

[DeathQuaker]

I've never had a problem with EA myself. That's probably because I don't pay attention to the developers and publishers of games. I pay attention to the game.

You kids are ridiculous.

Just wait till that game you're paying attention to hits a bug, or you find you can't download DLC you purchased*, and you have to deal with their customer service.

Just wait.

*Happened to me, EA's official customer service response was basically, "You're SOL, sorry you wasted your money, but we're keeping it."

 

[-Samurai-]

I've never had a problem with EA myself. That's probably because I don't pay attention to the developers and publishers of games. I pay attention to the game.

You kids are ridiculous.

Just wait till that game you're paying attention to hits a bug, or you find you can't download DLC you purchased*, and you have to deal with their customer service.

Just wait.

*Happened to me, EA's official customer service response was basically, "You're SOL, sorry you wasted your money, but we're keeping it."

I did have to call EA customer service once for a Rock Band 2 DLC problem. The guy was extremely helpful and totally professional. He talked me through each step and stuck around while my game restarted to make sure it worked. Probably some of the best customer service I've ever had. I took their survey afterwards and gave him great marks.

 

[GamemasterAnthony]

I'm not surprised EA won this title, and not just because of the ME3 debacle. Between that and the issues the marketing department had with the "Sin to Win" and "You parents will hate this" ads that they did (as these guys [http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/an-open-letter-to-ea-marketing] talked about), it seems that EA is currently being run by what I can only describe as the most phenominal idiots in business ever created, second only to the pointy haired kind in Dilbert.

Huh...actually, if the award for Worst Company in America came with a copy of what these guys said [http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/an-open-letter-to-ea-marketing], maybe they'd get SOME kind of hint?

 

[CaptOfSerenity]

Damn, the fallacies in your argument rub ME the wrong way.

First off, read what I wrote through those links, because you lack context in terms of knowing my stance on certain things that matter.

Who should win is the company that is the worst, objectively. And deception and murder are pretty fucking bad.

Fallacies? Where?

Also, how does murder fits into all this? If we are talking about a PMC, isn't murder part of the job? If you are saying they should not do their job or that their job is bad then fine but that doesn't mean they treat their consumers like shit. Also, deception goes both ways. So both things are quite irrelevant in the current discussion.

And the majority isn't necessarily right. Just because the majority voted one way doesn't mean they're right. pik
"The majority says otherwise." So, I should shut up because the majority has a different, emotionally-charged opinion of EA? You fucking kidding me?

Are you just writing what I said?
There is no objectivity in saying XYZ is worst company. Everyone votes based on their personal opinion. All this jazz about other company being evil would have made sense before the poll if you were campaigning against another company but now its all just noise.

Fallacies?
Your appeal to popular vote to back up your argument.
Deflecting the argument with your region-lock argument that is irrelevant. (we're talking worst company in America).
Your justification of murder. You say: "If you are saying they should not do their job or that their job is bad then fine but that doesn't mean they treat their consumers like shit," in regards to PMCs. They're still textbook "evil." They commit murder; just because it's their job doesn't mean it should be excused. As for the way they treat their customers: you really think what PMCs do outweighs what EA does to the industry if PMCs treat their customers (governments) nice? That's what your words say.

 

[Honest Jed]

You people take internet polls too seriously.

 

[LilithSlave]

Not the worst company, I think.

But they're certainly pretty bad. And yet so many people seem to insist on buying their games.

Oh crud, I have a copy of Alice: Madness Returns.

Fudge.

 

[Eusebius]

That's absolutely fucking stupid. This says virtually nothing about EA and a lot about the complete lack of perspective of the voters. I'm sure the poll results would have been different had the poll been not online.

 

[Guardian of Nekops]

EA faced stiff competition from WalMart, Citibank, the US Postal Service and a small army of other corporations in Consumerist's knock-out poll before squaring up to the much-reviled Bank of America in the final.

What's the US Postal Service doing on that list? Any company already burdened by having their prices set ridiculously low by the goverment and by not getting a red cent of support from it does NOT need extra hate from us.

I mean sure, I don't like junk mail either, but that's hardly their fault.

 

[Frankster]

Gratz EA we all knew you had it in you
EA's comeback was classic EA goodness too "you just player hating cuz we so rich".

Seriously though... America didn't have any worst companies this year? Color me impressed, I always viewed america as the whorehouse of corporations and where they can get away with doing practically anything with enough greased palms. Seems I was wrong if EA is your biggest problem.

 

[Abedeus]

Wow, so people say EA's attempts "to nickel and dime consumers to death" overshadow WalMart's inhuman sweatshops in China?

Congratulations, internet: you've indirectly placed the ending of a game series above the well-being of human life. Stay classy.

Yeah, that's just about one game. Sure. Whatever makes you feel superior to us all.

I voted for EA because frankly I never even encountered a Walmart. I know there's one in my COUNTRY, and few on this side of Europe, but I simply had no contact with them. EA has been ruining my childhood's series for a while now.

 

[Grape_Bullion]

For those of you exploring the social injustices of an online poll, kindly take your banter elsewhere. If you truly think that another company deserved the title of "worst company of the year by xyz.com", your efforts are misplaced and you should feel ashamed for wasting so much energy messaging in a forum and not writing a letter to your senator.

For those of you thinking some great victory has been won, kindly write down the number of games you buy published by EA over the next two years. When you realize you've given them over $400, remember that you thought this was the beginning of the end.

For those of you who think EA didn't deserve it... words don't describe how I feel about you. At least you're loyal.

We're all dumb for thinking that this will have any large influence on how EA conducts business and makes games. We should all feel bad.

 

[FieryTrainwreck]

Hey look, a bunch of gamers are fucking stupid.

EA's response was actually quite scathing.

 

[Warforger]

While I hate EA and it would be a much better world if EA was the worst company in America, sadly it isnt.

Oh and screw EA for their brush off of the fact that they just got voted the WORST and will just continue doing the exact same thing, seriously... screw those d-bags.

I guess it's more first world problems that got them up here. I doubt Apple or Walmart would be that far behind if their sweatshop workers were able to honestly voice their opinion about them in this poll.......

 

[Zeckt]

I'm sorry, but there's no way a video game company is more evil then companies that ruin the economy and poison the enviroment or force no alternatives to oil or create sweat shops in a form of literal slavery. This is a simple case of the first world having a louder opinion and throwing a temper tantrum like a CHILD!

Grow up.

EDIT : Look, I thought about this post and realize it could be modded but I stand by it. People suffer in this world, and there is no way a video game company trumps other companies charging third world countries 25-40% of their income for water alone or poisoning their enviroments causing thousands upon thousands of birth defects. This is simply a case of our uneducated public being unaware of what alot of american companies are doing or not caring because it does not effect them.

 

[FalloutJack]

They are all shit. Let's not split hairs on that. All the companies mentioned are bad and they should feel bad. There can be no argument there.

EA 'won' because of gamer rage against its games, its business practices, and against Origin itself poking out farther than others because if you had to ask them which they're more bothered by - politics or game problems - they choose games.

This does not excuse ANY of the others. You are all bad and wrong (Badong!) and should slap thyselves silly.

 

[inquisitorJL]

Are EA the worst company in America? Truly the worst? No

Did they deserve this award? Yes

For all of you saying its just the ending of ME3, no it's not. If there was a company that everyone loved and then put this ending out they might have gotten votes, but they probably wouldn't have won. I don't know when the poll was started, but EA's nomination might have come before ME3 even came out. Yes, the poll is in a place that is biased towards the direct recipients of EA's douchbaggery, yes there has been a recent event that might also bias the results - but if it wasn't for EA's persistently horrible conduct, which they don't even feel the need to attempt PR for, they wouldn't have won. And most companies have done something that is still in peoples minds if they are in this at all.

I agree that the fact they did win shows bad priorities and short attention spans, and that there were better candidates to win. But that's just what the human condition is like, and whoever won there would be arguments about it.

EA deserved the award. There might have been other companies that deserve it more, but EA are definitely worthy of it. And to be honest, when you consider who else was on that list, and who could have been, a games company probably shouldn't stand a chance. The fact it did, and the fact it actually won... well we didn't need a poll to tell us EA was evil.

 

[Kingjackl]

To the people out there who voted for this, and voted for EA, fuck you, you selfish bastards. The thought that a company who releases Day One DLC and runs a slightly dodgy digital distribution service, is somehow worse than the banks who practically destryoed the US economy, or the corporations like Walmart, who outsource work to overseas countries with apalling conditions in the name of profiting from sweatshop labour, is utterly deplorable!

Yes, Origin isn't very good. Yes, their customer support is awful by industry standards. But the worst company in America? Seriously, that is completely absurd. It seems pretty clear that a lot of this hatred towards EA is just misdirected rage coming from the Mass Effect 3 ending fiasco, which is ridiculous on it's own, since the ending wasn't even their fault to begin with. But even if it was, that's still an incredibly superficial thing to be named 'worst company in the US' for.

I'm not saying they're not a bad bunch, and if this had just been in the category of, say, game companies, then I could think of no better recipient. But when compared to Bank of America who illegaly foreclosed on a large amount of American homeowners, or the various oil and motoring companies who make their money from destroying the natural environment, do Origin and on-disc DLC really seem that bad? Because if you honestly think so, then you really need to get your head out of your arse and get some perspective.