Each year, eagle-eyed shoppers band together to name and shame what they believe to be the ‘shonkiest’ products or services in Australia.
CHOICE, Australia’s consumer advocacy group, host the ‘Shonky Awards’ to allow customers the chance to share their questionable shopping experiences and, next month, will name the worst offenders.
‘It’s that time of year again when consumers get to dish the dirt on what they believe is the country’s shonkiest product or service,’ CHOICE told Daily Mail Australia in a statement.
‘If you believe a company is being sneaky, slippery, unscrupulous or even unsafe, we want to hear from you.
Made in Australia? Upon further inspection, this shopper found that while the product was ‘made in Australia’ it was made using both ‘local and imported ingredients’
‘Oats and nothingness’: Another shared this snap of Uncle Tobys’ Ancient Grains Oats made with ‘100 per cent Australian oats’ and ‘added rye, puffed millet and quinoa’ – but was surprised at how little of the added ingredients there were
‘Unfortunately the Shonkys are now in their 12th year. We hoped business would have lifted their game years ago but the steady streams of complaints we receive each year seems to suggest we have a lot more lemon squeezing to do.’
‘While not every Shonky Award winner may be breaking laws or breaching regulations, CHOICE believes that consumers deserve better.’
To be worthy of one of these not-so-prestigious awards, products or services must meet criteria including proven faults or flaws, a lack of transparency, false claims or broken promises, consumer confusion, poor value for money or the ‘propensity to outrage or amuse’.
In the lead up to the awards, fed up consumers have been sharing their finds using the hashtag #SpotAShonky – with very interesting results.
Whoops! Damora’s Seaweed rice crackers were also named by a customer, who spotted soy sauce (made with soy beans, wheat and salt) on the pack which was labelled gluten free
Tasmania’s own… plus imported ingredients: Others misleading examples included Tasmania’s Own orange juice made with ‘imported ingredients’
Which is it?! This $106 dress was described as being made from ‘vegan leather’ but was also labelled as ‘real leather’ and described further down on the page as being made from a ‘leather-look fabric’
As always, misleading packaging and labelling has been a common gripe, with countless consumers sharing snaps of their own shopping experiences.
One woman shared a snap of Golden Circle’s crushed pineapple in juice – each of them sitting in boxes labelled with ‘Product of Australia, From Fresh Queensland Pineapples’.
But upon further inspection, the shopper found that while the product was ‘made in Australia’ it was made using both ‘local and imported ingredients’.
Another shared a snap of Uncle Tobys’ Ancient Grains Oats made with ‘100 per cent Australian oats’ and ‘added rye, puffed millet and quinoa’.
Australian lobster… from Florida? This Florida lobster was stamped with an ‘Australian seafood’ label at the supermarket
‘Undigestive’: Despite their name, these biscuits contain no substances ‘that assist digestion’
It must be good! Despite being exactly the same, one of these products is 30 cents more than the other
And while this is technically true, the shopper found the product was made with 95 per cent oats and just four per cent rye, 0.5 per cent quinoa and 0.5 per cent millet.
‘Delicious blend of oats, and nothingness,’ she wrote.
Damora’s Seaweed rice crackers were also named by a customer, who spotted soy sauce (made with soy beans, wheat and salt) on the pack which was labelled gluten free.
‘Not gluten free! Still on ALDI shelves today after reporting to store management three weeks ago about family members getting sick. ALDI offered a refund, but are continuing to mislead the public,’ the shopper wrote.
Great deal! Here, shoppers were promised a whopping 0 per cent off their ‘on sale’ purchase
Misleading? Despite the name, a customer noticed this product actually takes a little more to work that you’d think
Others misleading examples included Tasmania’s Own orange juice made with ‘imported ingredients’, Florida lobster stamped with an ‘Australian seafood’ label at the supermarket and Digestive biscuits which, despite their name, contain ‘no substances that assist digestion’.
Some also spotted baffling clearance prices and math errors while running errands.
One pillow ‘on sale’ was reduced from $26.99 to $26.99 while a $7.62 pack of meat was ‘reduced’ to $8.18.
In another case, a row of $9.95 hairsprays were snapped labelled with a sign that read ‘Save $0.00’.
‘Not exactly a huge saving!’ This sign highlighted just how little of a saving customers would be making by purchasing this hairspray
‘Pepper-only if you’re lucky’: This customer was surprised when she opened her pizza box to find just seven pieces of pepperoni on her pizza
Others took issue with products themselves – from half empty Pringles cans to a McCains pepperoni pizza with just seven slices of pepperoni.
‘Pepperoni or “pepper-only if you’re lucky!”?’ A customer wrote.
Online stores were also a target, with one woman sharing a snap of a dress she was looking at on an e-boutique.
The $106 dress was described as being made from ‘vegan leather’ but was also labelled as ‘real leather’ and described further down on the page as being made from a ‘leather-look fabric’.
It’s all about appearance: Despite holding less, the bottle on the right is more expensive than the one on the right
We’ve all been there: Pringles were brought up yet again for filling their cans just half way
‘Leather? Vegan leather? Leather look fabric? Which is it?!’ The customer wrote.
Another spotted a ‘reduced’ Geoffrey Beene shirt on the Myer website that had been reduced from $49.97 to just $49.95.
Others took issue with insurance companies, Internet services, confusing washing instructions and credit cards.
In 2016, nine companies were awarded the dubious lemon-scented honour, including Samsung, Kelloggs Pringles and Cash Converters.
CHOICE urges those who have their own examples to share their snaps on the Shonky Awards website for consideration.