Consumer group CHOICE has announced the winners of their annual Shonky Awards, celebrating 20 years since the awards first began.
"For 20 years now, CHOICE has been calling out dodgy products, services and companies through our annual Shonky Awards. Award winners have included appliances, major retailers, and airlines – even camel milk," says CHOICE CEO, Ashley de Silva.
"The Shonkys have ensured some major wins for consumers. The Coles and Woolworths award in 2023, and Qantas's win in 2022, marked the beginning of several years of reckoning for these major Australian companies. Bloomex received a hefty fine from the ACCC after we gave the online florist an award in 2022 for flowers that didn't deliver, and 2020 award winner, Revitalife, refunded over $57,000 to customers after admitting its sales tactics had likely breached consumer laws," says de Silva.
"This year, we're giving a special prize to Commonwealth Bank, which has received its fourth Shonky Award in 2025, making it the most awarded Australian company in Shonkys history. This year, we're calling out CommBank for refusing to refund millions of low-income customers $270 million in fees that never should've been charged," says de Silva.
Interviews, photos, video and graphics available: https://sites.google.com/choice.com.au/choice-shonky-awards-2025/
The 2025 CHOICE Shonkys are:
- Commonwealth Bank – for making bank off the back of Australia's poorest
- Temu – for being an unsafe haven for dodgy sales tactics and fast fashion
- Handy Heater Turbo 800 – for a plug-in heater that doesn't plug in, or heat
- Energy retailers – for pricing tactics designed to confuse
- HCF – for a price rise in disguise
Commonwealth Bank – for making bank off the back of Australia's poorest
"Commonwealth Bank has taken bad bank behaviour to a whole new level. Earlier this year, CommBank was one of the major banks ASIC caught charging low-income customers excessive fees, when they were eligible for low or no-fee accounts. In CommBank's case, 2.2 million customers were collectively charged $270 million in unfair fees," says de Silva.
"Most of the banks caught charging excessive fees said they would issue bulk refunds to some of the customers collectively charged millions in unfair fees. But Australia's biggest bank, the Commonwealth Bank, initially refused to issue refunds at all, then said it would only consider them on an individual, case-by-case basis. We think that's pretty shonky," says de Silva.
"CommBank also featured in our 2018 Shonky Awards for its Dollarmites program, which employed subversive sales tactics in primary schools under the guise of educating children. In 2014, the bank received a Shonky for its financial planners placing clients in risky and inappropriate investments to meet bonus goals, decimating lifelong savings. CommBank's Awards credit card, linked to the Qantas Frequent Flyer program, gained a win in 2010 for very poor performance," says de Silva.
Temu – for being an unsafe haven for dodgy sales tactics and fast fashion
"There is certainly no shortage of issues that make online shopping platform Temu deserving of a Shonky Award. Its customer service leaves much to be desired, purchases can take a very long time to arrive, and it's often difficult to get refunds. Temu is also one of the biggest drivers of fast fashion, selling poorly made clothes at cheap prices," says de Silva.
"Perhaps the biggest issue at Temu, however, is safety. In 2024, CHOICE purchased and tested 15 randomly selected coin and button battery-operated products from Temu, with every product tested failing at least one requirement of Australian button battery regulations designed to keep children safe. While all 15 items have been removed from sale, Temu has continued to make headlines for safety issues," says de Silva.
"In July 2024, an eight-year-old in Queensland suffered burns to 13% of her body after a Temu hoodie she was wearing went up in flames when a few rogue sparks from a firepit landed on the jumper. The ACCC found the hoodie wasn't compliant with mandatory safety standards, as it had no fire warning label of any sort. Four months later, Temu recalled the hoodie, but the damage had already been done. To make matters worse, Temu has still failed to join a number of other online marketplaces in signing up to the voluntary Product Safety Pledge, designed to do more to protect consumers. Temu's insufficient concern for the safety of the products it sells means it more than deserves its Shonky Award this year," says de Silva.
Handy Heater Turbo 800 – for a plug-in heater that doesn't plug in, or heat
"The Handy Heater Turbo 800 is, quite simply, a plug-in heater that doesn't plug in. In Australia, all electric devices must have a plug that fits directly into an Australian power point. To plug this heater into an Australian socket, you'd need an adaptor – but that's just strike one," says de Silva.
"The travel adaptor that came with the heater also wasn't compliant, leaving pins exposed when plugged into an Australian power point. Other safety issues included a lack of any kind of thermal protection device, insecure wiring, and a heating element directly mounted onto thermoplastic – a material that becomes soft when heated," says de Silva.
"On top of the multitude of safety issues, our testing also revealed the Handy Heater doesn't actually produce anywhere near as much heat as its advertising suggests. It's well and truly deserving of a Shonky Award this year," says de Silva.
Energy retailers – for pricing tactics designed to confuse
"Energy retailers are receiving a Shonky Award this year for sneaky pricing tactics designed to confuse customers, even as 84% of households are worried about paying for energy, and 68% are struggling to cut their energy costs. We've seen a number of retailers roll out new, cheaper plans with the exact same name as existing plans. As a result, many consumers were led to believe they were already on the best plan as their current plan name was identical – potentially missing out on savings as a result," says de Silva.
"CHOICE research estimated energy customers could have collectively saved about $65 million per year if retailers had made it clear that the new plan with the same name was cheaper than the existing one. Would it really have been that hard to give the new plan a different name? We don't think so. At a time when so many people are struggling to cut their energy costs, this kind of behaviour is incredibly shonky," says de Silva.
HCF – for a price rise in disguise
"We're giving HCF a Shonky Award this year for purposefully bypassing the government approval process for health insurance premium increases on existing policies – sneakily closing an existing policy, and opening a new policy with almost identical cover, but a significantly higher price," says de Silva.
"This year, HCF closed its Premium Gold policy to new members, instead releasing a nearly identical policy called 'Optimal Gold' with a whopping 34.6% price increase – no government approval required. Rorting the system like this makes HCF the perfect candidate for a Shonky Award this year," says de Silva.
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