New York, NY – Three rounds down and newcomer Electronic Arts (EA) and bracket veteran Bank of America lead the pack in Consumerist.com’s Worst Company in America tournament. Walmart and AT&T round out the “Foul Four” semifinalists competing for the Grand Champion title and the coveted Golden Poo Award. 

The matchup between EA and Comcast started out close, but those unhappy with the video game publisher’s poor consumer policies continued to cast their votes, ultimately helping EA pull away from Comcast with a 67%-33% victory. EA now faces telecom powerhouse AT&T, which knocked off Verizon, Apple and most recently Facebook on its road to the Foul Four.

The numerous customer service complaints against Walmart stacked up to earn the retail giant a narrow 51%-49% victory over PayPal. However, Walmart will have its hands full as it takes on Final Four veteran Bank of America, winner of the 2011 Silver Poo Award as runner up. Bank of America punched its ticket to the semi-finals by beating another perennial tournament favorite, Ticketmaster.

“It’s great to see consumers coming out in droves to vote and take a stand against these company policies” said Chris Morran, Deputy Editor of Consumerist.com. “It just goes to show that this tournament continues to prove itself as a soap box where consumer’s voices can be heard.” 

This year, Consumerist.com is saying thanks to fans with its first ever Worst Company in America Beat the Bracket Sweepstakes. Readers can visit Consumerist’s Facebook Page to pick which company they think will be crowned the 2012 Grand Champion for the chance to win prize packages from Consumerist.com. The Grand Prize winner will receive a Consumerist.com prize package including their very own Golden Poo statue. Four runners up will also receive a prize package from Consumerist.com.

The companies in the Foul Four round were nominated and voted on by Consumerist.com readers and will go head-to-head on the Consumerist.com website in a bracket-style, single elimination tournament, similar to the NCAA basketball tournament. Each round, Consumerist.com visitors’ votes scale down the brackets until the final round on April 2, wherein a Grand Champion will be voted on and the winner announced on April 4. Consumers can visit Consumerist.com today to cast their vote for the first bout in the Foul Four round between Bank of America and Walmart at noon ET. Voting for the EA vs. AT&T match will begin at noon ET on Friday, March 30.

Consumers can check back regularly at Consumerist.com for updated brackets and voting opportunities throughout the next week.  The 2012 Grand Champion in Consumerist.com’s “Worst Company in America” will receive the prestigious Golden Poo Award, a golden statuette modeled after a pile of poo.

Upcoming elimination dates:

• April 2 – Championship Battle

• April 4 – 2012 “Worst Company In America’ Grand Champion Announcement

 Here’s a look at the Foul Four nominees and the match-ups.  Click here for a direct link to bracket.

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The Consumerist empowers consumers by informing and entertaining them about the top consumer issues of the day. We are a leading online resource for consumer-driven advice about dealing with everything from non-existent customer service to onerous cell-phone contracts to ever-shrinking (and ever-more-expensive) grocery products. The Consumerist is published by Consumer Media LLC, a not-for-profit subsidiary of Consumer Reports, and takes no outside advertising.

About Consumer Media LLC
The Consumerist's parent company, Consumer Media LLC, is a subsidiary of Consumer Reports, the nation's leading not-for-profit consumer advocacy organization. Since its founding in 1936, Consumer Reports has fought for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect themselves. To maintain independence and impartiality, CR accepts neither outside advertising nor free samples. It employs a staff of "mystery shoppers" who buy products in retail stores around the country, just as any other buyer would, and then ship them to the Consumer Reports labs, where technical experts test some 3,000 products yearly.