Consumer group CHOICE has handed out its annual Shonky Awards for the dodgiest products and companies for the year. So, who took home the awards nobody wants?
Running since 2006, CHOICE’s Shonky Awards have once again been bestowed upon the worst products, business and services of 2024 and are a who’s who of items to avoid.
CHOICE CEO Ashley de Silva says that despite his organisation highlighting Australia’s worst products for almost two decades, some businesses are still trying to get away with everything they can.
“As we approach 20 years of the CHOICE Shonky Awards, it’s clear they’re needed now more than ever,” he says.
“This year’s winners, both big and small, prove that shonky products and business practices are still rife.”
Big and small they certainly are. The winners this year range from one of the world’s largest social media companies to a relatively unknown manufacturer of ‘grounding energy’ therapy products.
2024 Shonky Award winners
Meta
Meta, parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has received a Shonky for its failure to take action on increasing scam losses across its platforms, which reached a record high last year.
“In 2023 scam losses from social media reached $95 million, an almost 250 per cent increase from 2020,” says Mr de Silva.
“Accordingly, you’d think a huge company like Meta would be taking adequate action to protect people from scams.”
Instead, CHOICE estimates that Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp account for 76 per cent of all reported social media scam losses last year. Mr de Silva says CHOICE’s own investigation showed glaring holes in Meta’s scam prevention methods.
“When CHOICE reported three suspicious Facebook ads as scams to Meta, one remained live for at least four days,” he said.
“The other two were taken down within 24 hours, but one of these accounts was allowed to quickly repost an almost identical ad and continue to promote other suspicious ads.”
Acerpure Clean Lite stick vacuum
On a slightly smaller scale, CHOICE also had nothing good to say about the Acerpure Clean Lite stick vacuum. Made by computer manufacturer Acer and weighing just 550g, the Clean Lite is billed as a lightweight stick vacuum boasting ‘powerful suction’ in a small package.
Trouble is, that’s not what CHOICE found when they tested it out.
“The reason this Acerpure vacuum is receiving a Shonky is plain and simple – it’s the worst stick vacuum we’ve ever tested in our labs,” Mr de Silva says bluntly.
“The Acerpure bombed in our main performance test, which measures how well the vacuum can pick up cornflakes, potting mix and flour from a hard floor. It scored a measly 10 per cent, the worst performance ever recorded for this test.”
The CHOICE testers also found the Acerpure gets clogged quickly and can’t be unclogged easily – a pretty fatal flaw for a vacuum cleaner.
“The Acerpure stick vacuum fails at its one job, creates more work for you, and is outperformed by stick vacuums half its price – we think maybe Acer should stick to computers,” says Mr de Silva.
NIB single parent premiums
Closer to home, major Australian health insurer NIB was also awarded a Shonky for what CHOICE says is its mistreatment of single parents when it comes to premiums.
CHOICE found that if you’re a single parent who has Gold Top Hospital cover, with Basic Extras and a $750 excess, your premiums will double if you add a child. But if you’re a couple, it’s only approximately an extra 4 per cent to include your child on the same policy.
“If you’re looking again at NIB’s Gold Top Hospital cover, the single parent policy also costs more than the equivalent couples policy,” Mr de Silva says.
“That means if you’re single, it’d be cheaper to add a romantic partner to your policy than your own child,” says Mr de Silva.
Daily Juice Co ‘green’ juices
Daily Juice Co has two ‘green’ juices in its lineup – Daily Juice Green Mix and Daily Juice Green Juice Blend with Folate. Nowhere on the bottles does it indicate that the juices contain vegetables, but the juices are both green, which CHOICE says would be misleading to the average consumer.
“You’d assume green juices would contain at least some vegetables, but this is not always the case,” Mr de Silva says.
“When it comes to Daily Juice Co’s ‘green’ juices, there’s not a vegie in sight.
They found both products only contained fruit juices, and rely on added colourings for their ‘green’ label.
GroundingWell grounding socks
This one is certainly an interesting product. GroundingWell’s grounding socks are based on what the company calls ‘grounding therapy’, where users stand on special mats, lie on special mattress covers or indeed, put on special socks that connect to the grounding connection in a mains power outlet.
The idea is that by ‘grounding’ your body through connecting it to the outlet, excess electrons that have built up inside you can escape. Grounding therapy is said to relieve inflammation, insomnia, fatigue and many other physical ailments.
Although thousands of people do swear by the benefits of grounding therapy, the science backing it up is scarce.
“While the socks do ‘ground’ you by connecting to the grounding socket of an electrical outlet, we couldn’t find any evidence that they deliver on any of the promised health benefits,” says Mr de Silva.
They also found the grounding socks were poorly made, with the connection pin tearing off the socks after just one use.
Have you purchased any of these products? Can you think of any other products or services that deserve a Shonky Award? Let us know in the comments section below.
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