[Corp. Watch] Corporate America's 10 Least Wanted list

[Corporation Watch]

Most Hateable Companies (Not Named BP)

 BP is obviously the most loathed company these days, so we decided
 to rank the least likable firms that aren't ruining the Gulf of Mexico

By David Goldman and Colin Barr

(CNN, June 30) -- Hating British Petroleum (BP) is a cottage industry nowadays. A Google search on the term "I hate BP" pulls up more than 13 million hits. But it would be wrong to allow BP's folly to completely overshadow all the other corporate miscreants out there whose behavior is also worthy of your contempt.

	Big Business has done a great job of making people angry so far in 2010. There are companies that, at various times, soaked up billions of taxpayer dollars, jacked up fees just to show they could and provided customers with unbelievably bad service. Meanwhile their execs made off with millions. Great job, guys.

	So here, in our opinion, are the 10 most hateable companies that aren't named BP:

#10. Microsoft -- We're so cool (well, aren't we?)

	For years, the software giant has been aggravating customers -- not to mention investors. Take Windows Vista: Plagued by bugs, software incompatibilities, sluggishness and annoying security alerts, the almost universally detested operating system nearly destroyed the tech giant's reputation with its customers.

	Then there are the countless product misfires. Windows Mobile: Flop. Zune: Seriously, do you know anyone who owns one? Through all of its problems, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer continues to live in the past and praise the PC -- even as multiple forecasts show mobile devices overtaking PCs in a matter of years.

	The company's stock has gone absolutely nowhere in the past five years and Apple now is worth more than Microsoft. The generally positive reaction towards Windows 7, Office 2010, and the new Xbox 360 have taken away some of the sting, but Microsoft is still a company that has a lot to prove to customers and investors.

#9. Wal-Mart Stores -- Taking advantage of its workers

	It wouldn't be a most-hated list without Wal-Mart, the retailer that's synonymous with giant stores, low prices, killing off mom-and-pop stores, and worker grievances.
The company has paid hundreds of millions of dollars over the years to settle suits alleging it locked workers inside stores, forced them to work through breaks, and worse.

	Yet those pay-outs could pale next to a class-action lawsuit claiming the company discriminated against women on pay and promotions. The company has said it does not think the claims made "are representative of the experiences" of its female workers, but lawyers say damages could run into the billions of dollars.

	Given the company's track record, who would even bat an eye?

#8. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- The biggest bail-outs are yet to come

	Money is pouring out of these bottomless reservoirs of taxpayer dollars at a rate rivaling that of the oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have received $145 billion of government capital in less than two years.

	In case you forgot, Fannie and Freddie needed this money because these federally chartered companies made reckless bets on housing, particularly sub-prime borrowers. Executives concede that they will need much more money as they struggle to shore up a sinking U.S. housing market.

	Estimates of the total cost range as high as $1 trillion. If that's not enough, the White House and Congress are so afraid of upsetting this fragile political ecosystem that they haven't even begun the process of fixing the mess. BP looks like a paragon of responsiveness by comparison.

#7. Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner -- People watch the Oscars?

	Maintaining a virtual monopoly for years, customers have long criticized big cable companies Comcast, Time Warner, and Cablevision for horrendous customer service. The American Customer Satisfaction Index ranked them the lowest among consumer service firms in each of the past nine years, and again in the first quarter of 2010.

	Recent spats with broadcast networks have only made customers loathe their cable companies even more. Earlier this year, high-profile battles between Time Warner and the Fox Network, and Cablevision and Disney, threatened to black out popular programs like "American Idol," the NFL playoffs and the Oscars for millions of subscribers.

	Customers were especially peeved when they found out the fees broadcasters were requesting amounted to 50 cents to $1 per subscriber. It's no wonder then that one in eight cable customers plan to scale back or completely eliminate their cable service this year, according to the Yankee Group.

#6. Facebook -- Privacy, shmivacy

	The world's biggest social network unveiled a host of changes in April that CEO Mark Zuckerberg touted as "transformative" and would "create instantly social and personalized experiences on the Web."

	But there was a public outcry when it was revealed those changes allowed some third-party websites to access and store some users' personal information. Two weeks later, Facebook announced it found a bug that made some instant message conversations visible to a user's entire list of friends.

	Zuckerberg later apologized for not explaining Facebook's changes thoroughly enough, and for the company's lack of understanding of the public's privacy concerns. Facebook also launched easier-to-use privacy settings that made it clearer who could see each user's information.

	The fixes have helped calm some people down, and campaigns to get users to quit the social network failed. But users are clearly on edge about privacy, and Facebook likely can't afford another privacy mishap.

#5. AIG -- The never-ending IOU

	Anger at the bailed-out insurer has died down some, but the company is still in hock up to its eyeballs to taxpayers, and efforts to sell off its crown jewels to raise capital aren't proceeding according to plan.

	More to the point, AIG is now shorthand for a debilitating syndrome that this year's financial reform push has left untreated: The urge to maintain short-term financial stability at any price. The failure to put an end to "too big to fail" means it's only a matter of time until there's another AIG to contend with.

#4. WellPoint -- Sick of their act

	The nation's biggest health insurer is taking a bruising. It recently tried to jack up premiums by as much as 39% through its Anthem Blue Cross unit in California, at a time when many consumers aren't exactly rolling in dough.

	Then there were reports that the company was in the habit of automatically investigating breast cancer patients for fraud, in what some said was a ploy to deny claims. The company denies this, insisting that it was merely trying to prevent losses, but skeptics have their doubts.

	President Obama complained in May that "we have been held hostage to an insurance industry that jacks up premiums and drops coverage as they please," prompting WellPoint CEO Angela Braly to whine that "attacks" on the industry must end. Good luck with that.

#3. Nike -- Standing by their men

	If this article were about the Top 10 Creeps of the Year, Tiger Woods and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger would no doubt make the list -- Woods for serial adultery and, in Roethlisberger's case, alleged sexual assault. Yet Nike continues to stand by these jerks.

	Nike even launched a lampooned -- and, to some, tasteless -- commercial of Woods staring blankly into the camera as the voice of his late father asks him what he learned from his experience -- even though that lecture was not about cheating on his wife.

	The company's loyalty isn't surprising. Nike kept Kobe Bryant on its roster through the Los Angeles Lakers star's high-profile court battle over rape charges in 2003 -- charges that were eventually dropped.

	But Nike has proved that it wasn't shy of dropping publicly disgraced endorsers in the past. The sneaker and sports equipment maker dropped Michael Vick after his conviction in 2007 related to dog fighting. Many angry bloggers cited the Vick incident as evidence that Nike seems to care more about dogs than women.

#2. AT&T -- Coolest product, lousiest service

	The nation's second-largest wireless carrier has long been a thorn in the side of iPhone lovers. But customers' ire towards Ma Bell has moved beyond the spotty 3G service and dropped calls that have made AT&T the butt of late-night jokes.

	In early June, AT&T was the first U.S. mobile provider to do away with unlimited data pricing, threatening to raise some iPhone and iPad customers' monthly bills. A week later, a security hole in AT&T's website allowed hackers to access more than 100,000 e-mail addresses of iPad 3G customers.

	AT&T fixed the problem, but took an entire week before the company chose to notify the affected subscribers. If all that wasn't bad enough, AT&T servers then couldn't handle the barrage of pre-orders for the iPhone 4. Apple apologized for the incident, but AT&T didn't -- it simply e-mailed customers to tell them that their phones would be late.

#1. Goldman Sachs -- Needing a lawyer for God's work

	Life at Goldman Sachs has gotten more complicated since regulators sued the company in April for defrauding investors in a bubble-era housing debt deal. Goldman insists it's blameless, but the SEC action has spurred a race to the courthouse among those who lost money in other bubble-era deals as well.

	That's not all: The company has been accused of stonewalling crisis investigators too. And the fact that Goldman Sachs is once again raking in huge profits -- it earned $3.3 billion in the first quarter alone -- probably doesn't sit well with consumers either.

	Recalling happier days, shareholders are circling the wagons around embattled CEO Lloyd Blankfein, who put his foot in his mouth after saying, reportedly in jest, that bankers were doing God's work. Goldman investors and employees must know the slings and arrows have only just begun.