Companies on the 20 Most Hated list overpromise or underdeliver

This month the financial website 24/7 Wall St. published its list of America's 20 Most Hated Companies, based on consumer surveys and other metrics.

The list bears watching. It provides a rogues' gallery of how companies get in trouble with consumers.

Two airlines made the list - United and Spirit - as did cable/internet businesses such as Comcast.

The most hated of all was Equifax, the credit monitoring company that not only exposed more than 140 million Americans' personal data to hackers last year but then bungled its public response to the breach by not reporting it immediately and then trying to charge consumers for future protection.

Companies have responded to their critics with a mix of denials, apologies and promises to do better. Some CEOs have departed. Some businesses have paid millions of dollars in sexual harassment settlements.

None of Detroit's auto companies made the list, nor did the nation's newspapers or grocery chains or even the legal profession. All those have remained in consumers' good graces - or at least better graces than the 'hated” companies.

One common theme is businesses that made the most-hated list have tended to promise one thing but deliver another. Slick marketing promotions cannot overcome the reality of lousy service, high prices and indifference to the public welfare.

United Airlines used to advertise itself as the 'friendly skies.” Overcrowded planes, rising prices, schedule delays and the video of guards dragging a passenger off an overbooked flight gave the lie to that marketing slogan.

In similar fashion, Spirit Airlines offers vacationers 'no-frills” flights to Sunbelt resorts. Then it operates in a way that all but guarantees long lines and other discomforts.

The University of Phoenix, probably the best known of the nation's for-profit colleges, made the list. It runs ads showing satisfied graduates getting ahead in life thanks to the school.

But the school's parent company, Apollo Education Group, has been investigated by various state and federal authorities over allegations the company uses deceptive recruiting, advertising and financial aid practices, and produces results much worse than promised.

Arrogance and bad behavior at the top can land a company on the most-hated list. That's why Weinstein Companies got there despite producing many Oscar-winning movies.

Uber, the ride-hailing service, made the list not least because a video went viral of its then-CEO Travis Kalanick arguing with one of his drivers. The company also faces allegations of a culture of sexual harassment.

And of course Uber continues to battle with various cities over following regulations.

Fox Entertainment Group, the parent of Fox News Channel, saw some of its biggest names depart recently amid charges of sexual harassment - franchise personalities such as Bill O'Reilly and the late Fox News CEO and founder Roger Ailes, who resigned in 2016. And Fox's political slant doesn't appeal to everyone.

Banking giant Wells Fargo landed on the list for allowing bank employees to create millions of fake accounts in the name of consumers without their permission to juice its metrics. That scandal cost CEO John Stumpf his job in 2016.

There were some surprises on the list. The National Football League landed on it despite running what arguably are some of the most popular sporting events in the nation.

But the NFL's long denial of the link between head injuries and brain damage has eroded the league's image. Players kneeling during the national anthem and the league's clumsy response drew criticism from both sides of the political spectrum.

Facebook, too, made the list, despite running perhaps the most popular social networking site on the planet. Facebook's tone-deaf manipulation of its members' news feeds, the site's vulnerability to hacking by Russians during the 2016 election and the site's general image of being the Big Brother of American life have engendered consumer scorn.