To stay off the list, don’t 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.

There were some no-brainers on the list — Weinstein Companies (formerly headed by sexual predator Harvey Weinstein) and the Trump Organization (‘nuff said).

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

The most hated of all was Equifax, the credit monitoring firm that not only exposed more than 140 million Americans’ personal data to hackers last year but then bungled its public response to the breach, 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 firms have paid millions of dollars in sexual harassment settlements.

Thankfully, none of Detroit’s auto companies made the list, nor did the nation’s newspapers or grocery chains or even the legal profession, butt of countless jokes. All of those have remained in consumers’ good graces — or at least better graces than the “hated” companies.

So what’s the common theme? Overwhelmingly, the firms that made the mosthated list have tended to promise one thing but deliver another. It’s a fatal mistake. 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 notorious 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.