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Choice names year's most Shonky products
Consumer watchdog Choice has named and shamed the worst offenders in goods and services in its annual Shonky awards.
Eight lemons were acknowledged as the worst in retail for 2011, including the Go 4 Green electricity saving device that does not work, a bejewelled babies dummy found to be a choking hazard, and the Chery J1 car with roof racks that are only for show.
Weight-loss products also featured highly. SensaSlim got a lemon for its so-called slimming tongue spray, while Peachy Pink Shapewear was also highlighted as a shonk over claims its underwear - infused in green tea, peach and caffeine - helped fight cellulite.
A smartphone app that has helped children rack up bills of hundreds of dollars is another standout among the winners.
A group Shonky also went to the Australian insurance industry for leaving tens of thousands of people high and dry after this year's disaster season.
The awards are presented by Choice to products and services it deems dodgy, deceitful or dangerous.
Choice campaigns director Christopher Zinn says his favourite among the eight products singled out this year is the Smurf Village smartphone app game.
"This is a free app that you can download, but it has what's called in-app purchases," he said.
"We've had parents whose kids have rung up bills of $800, $900 buying Smurfberries to play the game.
"Now there are warnings there, but you know what, four, five-year-olds don't really know what warnings are. They certainly don't care about mum's or dad's money.
"And one would have to ask why any game aimed at kids, be it Smurfs or otherwise, could require you to spend $110 on a wagonload of Smurfberries, which of course are just digital bits of fluff anyway.
"People are really being caught out by this one. We think it's shonky to abuse the licence of a character like a Smurf to get kids to rob their own parents, if you like."
Insurance revenge
Mr Zinn says there was a broad range of consumer detriment linked to the insurance industry in the wake of natural disasters in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria this year.
"The first one, of course, was that the people thought they were covered for floods but, aha, look on page 23 of the policy and they weren't covered for what they considered a flood but for what the insurance company considered a flood. And sometimes it was completely different," he said.
"The other one was refusal to accept claims. Other ones were English language which was abused and indecipherable. We actually had a Legal Aid [lawyer] in Queensland who was unable to understand the policies despite reading them and re-reading them."
Mr Zinn says a review of disaster insurance, due to be released soon, will hopefully rein in some of the abuses.
"There's also calls for insurance to be included in the unfair contracts legislation," he said.
"We think that's about time. What happened around floods with insurance really has been an appalling process.
"Hopefully the Shonky, in a small way, will be a little bit of a sense of revenge for all of those who felt very unfairly treated by their insurance company."
Mr Zinn says he does not feel bad labelling the whole industry as shonky.
"There were some exceptions. I mean Suncorp did have a generous definition of floods, and the RACV (Royal Automobile Club of Victoria) actually also did make ex-gratia payments in Victoria," he said.
"But I'm afraid the whole insurance industry has been really wanting.
"I'm afraid the whole industry, we don't like giving industry-wide ones, but the whole industry is in need of a massive reality check and this is one small part of it."
Cosmetic roof racks
Mr Zinn says the cosmetic roof racks on the Chery J1 car are hilarious, but also a safety issue.
"Chinese products, they can be very good, they can be very well priced. And there's a Chinese hatchback called the Chery J1, $12,000, it's the cheapest on the market," he said.
"It doesn't rate well in terms of the crash tests, but it actually has some roof racks.
"Very handy for putting a board on to go to the surf or some skis to go to the snow, except if you look at a sticker on the inside of the roof rails, it says 'Caution, do not use roof rails. For cosmetic purposes only'.
"Essentially if you put anything on these roof rails and drove down the road you'd find the contents and the rails scattered behind you.
"So I mean, apart from being hilarious, there is a product safety issue here."
Kindergarten science
Among the eight awards, two were related to weight-loss or body-shaping products.
Mr Zinn says he expects to see more and more of these products receiving shonky awards in the future.
"It's going to get more and more," he said.
"The obesity crisis such as what it is, there are no end of shonks and charlatans and spruikers who will say that they can save you weight.
"One of them is to do with shape wear, which actually is more like a corset in the old-fashioned language.
"Nothing exactly wrong with that except they claim all sorts of scientific reasons why infusions of peaches and green tea and caffeine actually in the fabric helps you lose weight.
"There's about as much science in that as there is in a kindergarten class.
"The other issue here is a product people might have heard called SensaSlim, which is a spray you put on your tongue said to lose weight as you sleep.
"It's been subject to ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) action. They tried to take action against our representatives legally, to shut down the Therapeutic Goods Association who are meant to be the regulators in this area. It's been a whole process of shonkydom.
"And I'm afraid weight loss is something that we're going to have to keep an increasing eye on because everyone' s trying to come up with products.
"You can pay big money to lose big weight, but unfortunately the weight loss doesn't seem to happen."
Shonky ridicule
Mr Zinn says he hopes the annual Shonky awards make a difference.
"We've had manufacturers come afterward and say one, we will stop making claims; others who've come and said 'what do we do to avoid getting a Shonky?'
"We had a meeting with a breakfast cereal company yesterday who are terrified they might be getting one, not on this occasion as it happens.
"But look we think it provides a disincentive for behaviour, be it in financial area or food or marketing, for people to pull a fast one.
"And we'll never know those things that never came to market because of fear of this sort of ridicule.
"I hope with consumers too, it actually gives them a little fun way to think of some of the questions they should ask, or some of the scrutiny they should bring to various claims that are made in terms of some of the products or services that are presented to them."
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