It would be so much easier to avoid bad customer service and dodgy products if someone could just tell you exactly what companies, industries, shops and products got the most complaints and worst reviews, wouldn’t it?
Fortunately, consumer watchdog Choice has done that job for us thanks to their annual Shonkys awards.
What are the Shonkys?
The Choice Shonkys is an opportunity for the watchdog to name and shame the businesses, products and services that are the worst in the country. Choice use a dedicated in-house team of product-testers, researchers and reviewers to come up with the list.
“CHOICE’s job is to stand up against companies doing the wrong thing. The SHONKYS draw upon our unique testing, reviews and advocacy to help you identify the worst-of-the-worst. In a time of fake reviews, cash for comment, salespeople and lobbyists everywhere, it’s more important than ever for independent voices to tell the truth,” says CHOICE CEO Alan Kirkland.
SHONKYS WINNERS 2020
- InvoCare funerals – for failing to be upfront about prices
- Harvey Norma – for a toxic partnership with Latitude Finance
- Floor cleaners – for being flawed cleaners
- GreenTech PureAir 500 air purifier – for pathetic purification
- Revitalife – for a sale scheme that needs to be put to bed
Why are these the worst products are services in Australia?
InvoCare funerals
“InvoCare is profiting from keeping grieving families in the dark, NSW made funeral companies disclose their prices so families wouldn’t be taken advantage of. Companies like InvoCare have done the bare minimum, leaving grieving families in the rest of Australia behind. InvoCare needs to be upfront with all Australians and provide itemised costs for services online.”
Harvey Norman
“Harvey Norman has one of the most expensive credit cards on the market. Most people would be shocked to find that 1.9 million Australians struggle with credit card debt. Credit card debt affects your relationships, your sense of being in the world, your sense of community, your work, your mental health. Something needs to be done about Harvey Norman and Latitude charging 22.74% interest rates.”
Floor Cleaners
“It doesn’t help that most of the cleaners don’t list the ingredients or even the active cleaning ingredients on the bottle, let alone the percentage of these ingredients. If you want your floors clean just use a plain old bucket of hot water. Save your money.”
GreenTech PureAir 500 air purifier
“This and the other GreenTech model we tested performed so poorly that we basically couldn’t detect them doing anything at all.They were abysmal at removing dust from the air, terrible at removing smoke from the air, couldn’t remove VOCs from the air… they really are complete duds. I can only assume the problem is in the design. Certainly the price tags don’t indicate that they’re cheaply made.”
Revitalife
“Revitalife’s claim that Celliant technology helps older people sleep better is based on a single clinical trial of six people with chronic back pain. Their ages were not disclosed, and the results were far from conclusive. And Revitalife provided no evidence that Whole Body Vibration helps people sleep better.”
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