Verizon Communications, Inc. (VZ)

This is primarily a spite and contempt pick. Because it's a pick that's driven by spite, it's probably not as likely to be right as my usual picks... But then again, I might be onto something here.

Friends of mine have had some bad experiences with Verizon that have turned them off. Some of them have been ripped off far worse than me by Verizon's overgrown bureaucracy, billing mishaps, terrible record keeping, and incompetent reps. Some avoid Verizon because their phones are cheap plastic made in china, break often, have poor voice quality, and pathetic features. Others avoid them because they price gouge and charge through the roof compared to competitors. And others hate how they are in full compliance with the government and are more than happy to divulge every word you say and every website you visit over your Verizon phone or Verizon FIOS/DSL to the department of homeland security through the wiretapping laws.

On a personal note, Verizon has been absolutely despicable with their billing, customer service, and general honesty towards me. They are trying to charge me over $400 that is entirely their fault and it is quite a headache that I don't need... A record keeping mishap because I called them to cancel a phone and even got a confirmation email (except that they didn't actually cancel it). So I was charged the disconnect fee twice plus several months of service for a phone that was never used since then, and every time I called them (over 15 times) they didn't bother to take down any records of any of the calls into their computer system, and each time they refused to listen to me because I'd reference calls that "didn't exist" so my credibility was apparently suspect.. The reps would proceed to yell at me at the top of their lungs and use words that shouldn't be repeated here. I'd re-read the confirmation email to them over the phone and they'd just dismiss it because there isn't a copy in their system.

Well, I know a lot of people who used to use Verizon, and every single one of them is disgusted with the company after just a few months of service. If they can't hold onto their customers, this is a reasonable cause for an underperform pick. The only way Verizon gets customers is when it's a monopoly in a town where the only alternative to FIOS is Comcast's equal level of incompetency.