Toyota, BP among most hated firms in US

Washington: Toyota and BP have joined a familiar cast of airlines, banks and telecom providers as the most loathed companies in the United States, according to a survey published on Thursday.

The list of 15 "most hated American companies of 2010," compiled by website 24/7WallSt is dominated by technology firms, which rank poorly in the survey's index of consumer and employee polls, stock market performance and press coverage.

AT&T is on the list for having patchy service, Dell for its shabby online store and fragile laptops, while satellite provider Dish Network features on the list after a third of customers described its service as poor. Dish Network's competitor DirecTV was also listed for perceived gouging through automatic contract extensions, and a $480 cancellation fee.

Fading stars

Finland's Nokia, the world's biggest mobile phone company, saw its star fade thanks to customer complaints and a poor ranking for design.

According to David VanAmburg of the American Customer Satisfaction Index, the frustration with these firms comes from a mix of teething technology problems and consumer dependency on gadgets.

"Reliability still isn't perfect, or nearly perfect. A lot of people set the bar very high, ‘you are giving me this really neat newfangled high-tech thing and now I expect it to work all the time,'" he said.

But VanAmburg said customers should understand that wireless networks or digital television feeds are more akin to glitch-ridden early telephone networks.