People have always been eager to know the 10 most hated companies in America in 2020. The reason is simple: if it is ever possible to dislike or hate some people for real or imagined reasons, then it is equally possible to hate some companies for what they do and how they do it. Interestingly, the business organizations that are hated most in the United States have offended the general public in one form or another over the course of many years. Many of the offenses were innocent mistakes, and others were toxic situations related to unwholesome products/services or unethical business practices.
Business organizations are aware that their success is linked to public perception, so they strive to increase overall customer satisfaction and stay away from controversies. The companies with bad reputations 2020 as well as the worst customer service companies 2020 are not only running the risks of declining sales and patronage, they may also be staring at bankruptcy in the face. And this is why organizations spend millions of dollars annually to launder their public image through positive public relations.
Frederic Legrand – COMEO / Shutterstock.com
It is best not to be included in the list of the most unethical companies in America than try to wiggle out after the damage is done. And this underscores the importance of workplace principles that guide staff behavior and work values so that the integrity of the company may remain intact. Being labeled the worst company in America 2020 is a tragedy in itself since it is very difficult to regain public confidence once it is eroded.
The worst companies 2020 as well as the most hated industry in America are those that operate a terrible work environment, market harmful products, suffer internal wranglings, lack effective security, have unfavorable customer ratings, disdain ethical practices, and feature in toxic scandals and controversies that refuse to go away. Unfortunately, many companies overcome their public hatred over time, but some get drowned under it and suffer bankruptcy or liquidation.
You also have to keep in mind that some of the most hated companies in our list are great long-term investments. Consumers may hate these companies but they can’t stop using their products or services for one reason or another. Let’s take a look at Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB). Our calculations showed that FB is #3 in our list of the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds. The top 10 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 41.4% in 2019 and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 10.1 percentage points. These stocks also gained 28.2% in 2020 through August 24th and beat the market by another 20.6 percentage points this year. We have been recommending FB as an investment to our subscribers because of its tight grip on 2 billion users. These two billion users not only provide free content to Facebook, they also consume this content and help to turn Facebook into a trillion dollar company. You can subscribe to our free daily enewsletter by entering your email address below (click here if you don’t see the signup box):
In order to arrive at the companies that people hate most in America in 2020, we utilized a methodology that took cognizance of ranking factors from the American Customer Satisfaction Index, a Zogby Analytics poll, and employee reviews on Glassdoor. We also used a combination of metrics such as customer and employee satisfaction, public perceptions of the organizations, Better Business Bureau’s (BBB) rating, as well as a variety of surveys on the companies.
These metrics are open to public evaluation and you can compare them to previous similar lists by heading over to the 10 most hated companies in America three years ago. This has made the trust and respect people have for these companies to wane, and they have racked up so many public enemies that people even campaign against them on social media and in public conferences.
10. United Airlines (UAL)
Pixabay/Public Domain
One of the 10 most hated companies in America in 2020 is United Airlines. With over 1,000 air flights in the United States per day, many people hate United Airlines for the way it treats customers. The Chicago-based airline has been in hot waters since 2017 when the management forcibly evacuated a passenger from an overbooked flight. The video of the incident went viral and generated so much hatred for the company that people called for the airline to be boycotted.
Its market value dropped over the incident and it has not really bounced back since then, but analysts said the company had been facing difficulties long before then. Despite the efforts of the CEO to get the airline back in the good books of the masses, the company continues to struggle at the bottom of the scale in terms of customer service and satisfaction. This is one airline that many Americans would wish to see disappear from the American airspace.
