First Means ‘Worst’

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With March Madness fully under way, DirectTV Group and Ticketmaster are in their own bracket – but one they don’t want to win.

Consumer advice website Consumerist.com, in a nod to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, is holding a contest to find out which is the Worst Company in America. It solicited nominations and 32 companies are being voted on by consumers, including the two local ones.

The El Segundo satellite television provider was put in the running after it agreed in December, without admitting wrongdoing, to settle allegations regarding its marketing and customer service brought by attorneys general in all 50 states. The company agreed to pay $13.3 million to the states and reimburse customers who filed claims. Among the allegations was that it extended contracts without customers’ knowledge.

“People didn’t know they auto-renewed,” said Chris Morran, a senior editor at Consumerist.

Meanwhile, Morran claimed consumers’ irritation with Ticketmaster has risen to new heights since it became a division of Beverly Hills’ Live Nation Entertainment Inc. last year. The issue has long been the service fees added to ticket prices by Ticketmaster, which, for example, charges consumers $2.50 to print their own tickets.

“These are things you are supposed to enjoy in life,” Morran said. “And then you get horrible service and pay an exorbitant fee for it.”

A spokeswoman for Ticketmaster declined to comment.

DirectTV spokesman Robert Mercer called the tournament clever, but said it does not reflect the company’s customer service.

“Readers should consider a more reliable and scientific method of tracking consumer satisfaction,” Mercer said.

Meanwhile, Pasadena’s Parsons Corp. managed to get on a different list – one it was happy to make. The Ethisphere Institute, a New York think tank that promotes and evaluates ethics, social responsibility and sustainability practices named Parsons one of the world’s most ethical companies.

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