A washing machine that takes six hours per cycle, a fabric softener performing worse than water and a ‘poorly labelled’ cat food are among the biggest product fails of the year.
CHOICE has ‘named and shamed’ eight brands as lemons at their 2017 Shonky Awards no company wants to receive.
The Australian consumer watchdog said the products and services listed have misled shoppers with dodgy advertising and false claims.
Samsung has racked up its third straight award, alongside Westpac, Coles and five car manufacturers for their dubious and overpriced goods.
CHOICE has ‘named and shamed’ eight brands as lemons at their 2017 Shonky Awards no company wants to receive
Honda, Toyota, Lexus, BMW and Mazda were chastened for failing to warn consumers of their deadly Takata airbags while a $2,999 Samsung washing machine took more than six hours to cycle.
‘Unfortunately each year the Awards go from strength to strength as companies continue to serve up poor value, hidden charges and questionable claims,’ CHOICE chief executive Alan Kirkland said.
Retailed at $2,999, Samsung’s washing and dryer machine took more than six hours to cycle
Samsung racked up its third straight award for its washer/dryer that used more than 200L per cycle
SAMSUNG WASHING DRYER MACHINE
Samsung racked up its third straight award from the consumer group for its $2999 washer/dryer that took six-and-a-half hours and used more than 200L per cycle.
The brand’s past two lemon trophies were for last year’s exploding smartphone batteries, and another unreliable washing machine in 2015.
‘Amazingly the first two were for products that caught fire, and this one that wastes water,’ CHOICE spokesman Tom Godfrey said.
It is the company’s fourth appearance at the Shonkys, a record.
Westpac’s Bump Savings account had a poor 2.30 per cent interest rate and a 16-year wait to cash in a dodgy bonus
WESTPAC BUMP SAVINGS
Westpac’s Bump Savings account had a poor 2.30 per cent interest rate and a 16-year wait to cash in a dodgy bonus.
CHOICE said the bank attempted to recruit unborn babies – and customers would need to wait 16 years before they can cash in on the $200 bonus.
Mr Godfrey said the the campaign to recruit customers before they are even born was ‘downright creepy’.
Vita Gummies were sold as healthy treats for children despite the sugar-coated gummies essentially being little more than lollies that could cause tooth decay
VITA GUMMIES
Vita Gummies were sold as healthy treats for children despite the sugar-coated gummies essentially being little more than lollies that could cause tooth decay.
CHOICE slammed Nature’s Way for using colourful cartoon characters to promote vitamins to children.
CHOICE said Coles Complete Cuisine cat food was anything but complete in nutritional value
COLES COMPLETE CUISINE CAT FOOD
CHOICE said Coles Complete Cuisine cat food was anything but complete in nutritional value.
‘Feeding your feline friend Coles Complete Cuisine could cause significant problems like expensive vet bills, sickness, or worse,’ host Kate Browne said.
Pain Erazor pen was awarded the Shonky award because it’s ‘likely to erase anything than your hard-earned cash’
PAIN ERAZOR PEN
Pain Erazor pen was awarded the Shonky award because it’s ‘likely to erase anything than your hard-earned cash’.
The pen claims it offers ‘drug-free pain relief through “the science of electro-analgesia” by discharging an electrical current onto your skin up to 40 times.
Retailed at $159, the product was better used as a lighter for a stove top than a pain relief pen.
Cuddly Sensitive Hypoallergenic fabric softener failed to outperform water while costing 3000 times more
CUDDLY SENSITIVE HYPO-ALLERGENIC FABRIC SOFTENER
Cuddly Sensitive Hypoallergenic fabric softener failed to outperform water while costing 3000 times more.
The product scored the lowest points out of all its tests and was more expensive than many of the fabric softeners on the market.
Five car manufacturers have been accused of failing to disclose their Takata airbags, which have resulted in 18 deaths worldwide and more than 180 injuries
HONDA, TOYOTA, LEXUS, BMW AND MAZDA – TAKATA AIRBAGS
Five car manufacturers have been accused of failing to disclose their Takata airbags.
Almost two-and-a-half millions cars in Australia were affected by the worldwide recall of Takata airbags after they were found to have resulted in at least 18 deaths and more than 180 injuries internationally.
While the 70 models of cars in Australia affected were sold by 14 manufacturers, only Honda, Toyota, Lexus, BMW and Mazda failed to tell customers of the lethal, combustible inflators, and of the like-for-like replacements in vehicles.
‘Ultimately consumers need to go back and get it fixed again,’ Mr Godfrey said.
‘It’s just not good enough from some of the biggest car companies in the world’.
The ticket resale website has been accused of ripping off customers with hidden fees and tricky tactics
VIAGOGO
The ticket resale website has been accused of ripping off customers with hidden fees and tricky tactics.
CHOICE said the website ‘may see itself as a simple go-between for scalpers, buyers and sellers’ but ‘illegal drip pricing’ was a ‘dodgy practice’.
It was also found to have used ‘tricky tactics to create confusion and ‘failing to respond to consumer complaints’.