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EA is not this year's 'Worst Company in America'
That's right, after two years as The Consumerist's Worst Company in America, as voted by the site's online audience, EA was knocked out in the first round by Time Warner Cable. EA received 48.8 percent of the vote, while TWC got 51.2 percent. In response to EA's win last year, COO Peter Moore said the company had made plenty of mistakes: "These include server shut downs too early, games that didn't meet expectations, missteps on new pricing models and most recently, severely fumbling the launch of SimCity. We owe gamers better performance than this." This year, we launched a critique of online service to supplement our standard game reviews, called State of Service. It was driven by the need for more longterm evaluation of games as customer service, as illustrated in part by EA's SimCity and Battlefield 4 launches. Still in the running for the Golden Poo are TWC, Comcast, Koch Industries, Monsanto, Verizon, Wal Mart, McDonald's, Bank of America, Ticketmaster and American Airlines, with more still to be named. [Image: EA]
EA named 'Worst Company in America' second year in a row
Gamers aren't letting up on Electronic Arts for its record and attitude. The games publisher was voted "Worst Company in America" for a second year in a row in The Consumerist's poll. EA trounced the other finalist, Bank of America, with 78% of the tallies. The Consumerist provided commentary as to why EA earned that reputation with customers and what it could be doing to not earn this title next year. The site identified EA's three main problems as failing to provide a product people want and like, failing to sell products at reasonable prices, and failing to support its products. EA COO Peter Moore posted a letter last week responding to the probable second win, admitting mistakes while attempting to refute popular complaints. His response to the poll? "We can do better. We will do better."
EA responds to 'Worst Company in America' poll: 'We can do better. We will do better.' [update]
Electronic Arts' Chief Operating Officer Peter Moore has responded to the company's commanding wins (losses?) in The Consumerist's "Worst Company in America" online poll to say EA will do better, while standing strong on a couple issues it refuses to take heat over."Let me cut to the chase: it appears EA is going to 'win.' Like the Yankees, Lakers and Manchester United, EA is one of those organizations that is defined by both a legacy of success, and a legion of critics," wrote Moore in an official post on the EA site. "Are we really the 'Worst Company in America?' I'll be the first to admit that we've made plenty of mistakes."He continued, "These include server shut downs too early, games that didn't meet expectations, missteps on new pricing models and most recently, severely fumbling the launch of SimCity. We owe gamers better performance than this."
EA going for a repeat of the Worst Company in America title
When EA won the Consumerist's "Worst Company in America" title last year, many gamers were not surprised. But considering the sheer number of horrible companies that there are in the US of A, non-gamers were at a loss for perspective. With more than 250,000 votes cast by the Consumerist readers, the final tally showed that video games are indeed serious business. EA is up for nomination in this year's showdown as well. Since there has never been a repeat winner for the Golden Poo trophy, EA could break that streak considering the company's recent blunders and resignation of its CEO. Yes, even with such harsh competition as DirecTV, Walmart, and BP, EA stands to win (or lose?) it all. If you'd like to participate, you can cast your vote in each round starting today. Take note that voting is only open for three hours each day.
EA is The Consumerist's 'Worst Company in America,' wins Golden Poo
Today marks another resounding success for the gaming industry! Be proud, everyone; call your parents, have a glass of fancy wine and kiss your spouse: We've won the Golden Poo.EA was voted the "absolute worst company in America" in The Consumerist's 2012 poll, defeating Bank of America with 64 percent of the vote. EA and Bank of America fought through four bracket rounds against companies such as Sony, Apple, Walmart, PayPal, Comcast, GameStop and others from a wide range of industries to make the final round. The CEOs of both companies must be thrilled.EA provided Joystiq with a statement on its solid win: "We're sure that bank presidents, oil, tobacco and weapons companies are all relieved they weren't on the list this year. We're going to continue making award-winning games and services played by more than 300 million people worldwide."This is Bank of America's second loss in the final round, following last year's battle against BP. Perhaps if Bank of America was also discovered as the main investor in Soylent Green, rather than a major player behind America's housing crisis that left thousands of people homeless and in poverty for flimsy legal reasons, it would have won the title this year or last. As it stands, EA's win suggests online voters find poor customer service a more egregious sin than destroying lives.250,000 votes were cast in The Consumerist's poll and the people online have spoken. The people in reality, however, may disagree.[Thanks, Andy.]
EA still in running for The Consumerist's Worst Company in America
Two weeks ago, The Consumerist launched the "Worst Company in America 2012" challenge, featuring 32 businesses from a variety of industries, including gaming, which this year threw three companies into the running: EA, Sony and GameStop.EA and Sony battled it out in the first round, with EA fighting for its consistently high prices, DLC blitzes, poor reputation and quiet support of SOPA, and Sony for the major hack and subsequent change to its PSN terms of service that disallowed class-action lawsuits. EA won with 81 percent of the vote. EA has since beaten Best Buy with 66 percent of the vote and is in the final eight, facing Comcast tomorrow at noon ET.GameStop, playing on its link to high, stagnant prices, poor customer service and the industry-wide pre-order exclusive maze, beat Netflix in the first round with 71 percent of the vote, but later lost to Wal-Mart with 46 percent. Voting on the remaining eight companies (including EA) runs today and tomorrow, and the final four will be announced Thursday.Go team?
