SHONKY: (adjective) Australian slang meaning "unreliable, unsound, dishonest, poor or of dubious quality; shoddy"
So CHOICE has awarded the 2016 Shonky Awards. Samsung and Amex were among the recipients.
But this got me wondering - what other products or brands do OzBargainers think should get a Shonky Award or at least deserve recognition for being dodgy, overrated or misleading?
I find most of those deals are only suitable for a couple anyway.
That is another argument.
me and me dog are a couple orite!!!!!
Never seen an airline advertise ppts unless it is a deal involving accomodation.
Yep Agoda is one of the worst!
Why doesnt agoda advertise with all its taxes and surcharges included?
And they don't display total price on search, showing price per night instead so it looks more affordable than it actually is on first glance..
Mobile services providers are still allowed to use the manipulative practice of making up imaginary "funny money" that only exists to within their own products.
These are used to make it impossible for the customer to evaluate the product properly in their head and to make it difficult to compare providers properly as we all pretend that competition works out best for the customer.
Telcos: go (profanity) yourselves.
They have to disclose how many 2 minute calls you can make, which is a step in the right direction.
This and the use of "unlimited"
The "unlimited" plan with limited data.
There are telcos that don't use the "thousand bucks of calls included at a hidden $10 min" scam.
Deal with those co's and the problem is fixed.
Except the problem isn't just magically fixed by doing that, since the vast majority of people will still go for the (major) telcos that do it.
Video Game wise, it must go to No Man's Sky. All 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 disappointing planets of it.
Don't forget Captain Blood and all 32,768 planets. Sure it's no where near as many but not bad for the 1980s
Or Disney killing Infinity after < 2 years
Ebay - not the sellers/stores, but eBay itself with these 'sales'
Anyone with half a brain cell knows that the stores have to cover part/half of the % off, but given that most of them run on tight profits, they then need to increase their prices to compensate for the discount. In turn, this makes the stores look bad, when really it's eBays fault for running these sort of 'sales'.
When eBay does the X% off across the whole of eBay (except cars/houses/boats), retailers like us aren't directly affected and we pay the normal 8-12% eBay fee on every sale.
However, what you may be referring to is the X% off on specific stores in specific categories. Just yesterday there was a 15% off 'technology' coupon that would only work in specific stores. Lo and behold, those stores were 15% more expensive (in my assessment) — so you're right!
Who does pay for Ebay % off deals?
I know retailers jack up the price to do them but has anyone seen how the deal really operates?
I suspect that eBay actually pays for those sales, but hard to say.
As when you are given a Tax Invoice from the retailer they put the full amount on there.
If the retailer pays for part of the eBay Promotion then their books would be off because they are issuing receipts for a higher value.
However there maybe ways around it sorta like a rebate scheme, which would balance their books again.
Therefore its hard to say who actually foots the bill. In Supermarkets, I know that the supermarket actually doesn't foot the bill when they run a discount as it is rebated by the supplier.
I thought eBay would be absorbing their fee with the rest made up by the retailer.
I thought Telstra deserves a shonky award for it's comparatively overpriced plans and so many outages in the last year.
I don't understand why so many people are coughing up so much money to Telstra. I would be surprised if Amaysim or Vaya had even half as many outages as Telstra this year.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/telstra-outages-now-a-real-pr…
And any customers leaving Bigpond get their email account held hostage. That's pretty shonky in my book.
Even CHOICE themselves recognised that Telstra customers are paying a 92% premium for a failing network yet somehow didn't award Telstra a shonky.
Coverage mate. Outages aside, the only one i noticed was the first one that made headlines earlier this year. They're the fastest and widest mobile network in the country - Thats why people continue to pay.
Yet the article harps on about mobile and data, etc and you mentioned Amaysim and Vaya, i just put two and two together. I don't doubt that most of us live in the big cities, but doesn't count for squat when you look at how spread out the population is. I'm 45mins from the CBD. I've been with Voda, Optus and Telstra. Don't argue the coverage argument because you will lose.
After being with iinet for ten years i moved to Telstra for home broadband. Same price and same amount of data. But now i get unlimited international phone calls as well. plus my speeds have gone from 9mbps to 114mbps.
I regret not moving to Telstra sooner. Also keep in mind the prices listed for Telstra broadband arent the "real" prices since you can call up and haggle with them, we got $20 off per month plus a $200 visa gift card
Fixed broadband is about a physical cable that connects to the house, so "coverage" doesn't even come into consideration, and it is broadband that CHOICE calculated has a 92% "Telstra Tax".
I have bigpond cable to my house and NO OTHER BROADBAND OPTIONS. No ADSL, No NBN, nothing (please don't tell Telstra this, BTW, they'll want to charge me even more).
So I'm a "loyal" Telstra customer, LOL.
Say what you want about Telstra, but I'm happy to pay for the coverage, even when I live in the city.
Optus doesn't get 4G at my place (my work phone is optus) and coverage in general is noticeably less than Telstra. Not sure about Vodafone these days, but I got out of my contract 3-4 years ago because it was terribad.
With so many loyal customers I will have to buy some Telstra shares.
Have you considered Aldi mobile? They use Telstra network.
I googled this, apparently they still have less coverage because they don't use the whole network.
@mgowen: I have recently switched to them and haven't had any coverage issues aside from my underground garage.
Boost Mobile also use the Telstra network.
I don't even get enough coverage to make a reliable phone call on Optus or Vodafone at my house - and I'm not out in the middle of nowhere, I live in a suburban area 17km from the CBD as the crow flies. I used to be on Optus (through and MVNO) and I could never even use anywhere near my data allowance as it was slow and fragile.
I strongly dislike Telstra, but I don't bother going with any other mobile networks.
Couldn't be happier on $30 Freedom Plus with the ability to use account balance for Google Play - one product I feel overdelivers.
Yep same reason I've stayed with them
Probably the only reason I'm staying. Pays for Netflix every month.
Telstra already got a Shonky if you'd looked at the vid
Australia post - for their great deliveries which never seem to happen.
Seconded you on this, Australia Post & Great Deliveries, they are world's apart.
What is this Great Deliveries company you speak of? We might need to use them more.
Nevermind the great deliveries, some of the deliveries never happened.
They're the grate deliveries.
Hate ordering something local and Australia Post estimates delivery in one week, with the disclaimer that this is only an estimate.
Then product rolls up in 2 days.
It's like they set you up for disappointment so you feel extra happy about them when parcel arrives when it should have anyway.
Classic business phrase on managing expectations: Under promise, over deliver.
Yeah but in under promising one shouldn't disappoint. My net feelings about Australia Post is still negative.
Bad and been getting worse.
Not only are they ludicrously slow, there is the missing mail to.
Their in store experienxe is also horrible in the CBD. Crazy slow lines, staff with no clue, self service could free up the line so much better than it does now, shit service… always hate having to go in :(
Definitely Australia post their express postage is a joke.
i just ordered something from the US using fedex international priority and got it in 3 days, ive had aus post take longer withing Australia with express postage.
How do fedex prices compare to Australian Carrier Pigeon?
Choice magazine gets a shonky award. I was a member and couldn't cancel my subscription to their online service as they had none of my details although kept charging me every 3 months. So I had no site access and they couldn't find me to cancel me. One quarter it just stopped and I was relieved but my opinion of them is very low as they can't get their act together.
Agree… Choice in itself is one of the biggest shonks around. Some of the products they recommend are true rubbish.
It's a mixed bag, I had the use of a friends account for a while and while I found it useful it was a bit of a lottery if the review was scientific at all. Some of the cooking appliance reviews read like "I am a cook with professional experience and I baked the same cake in each oven and based on which one my kids liked the best that's how we rated"
It raises a few eyebrows when Choice declared an extraordinarily expensive product to be the best, then that company used the endorsement in their adverts : e.g. "this product is rated #1 by Choice!"
I’ve been relying on Choice Magazine reviews and so far haven’t had any issues
International transaction fees on credit cards when you purchase in $A. I've recently noticed a lot of my paypal (but not all) payments are getting extra fees when using my CBA credit cards. Really sucks to have to pay extra and no idea when the fees will be charged.
Here is the CBA explanation: https://www.commbank.com.au/support/faqs/410.html
Yes! Yet another reason I ditched ING after the Paywave rebate expired. Went back to my 'old' bank who never charged for this (only trans in foreign currencies which is fair enough).
Same my spotify payments have an international surcharge now, even though amount in in AUD.
Dodgy CBA..
It is actually visa or mastercard that is the one charging this new "company HQ residing overseas" fee even though the transaction is in local currency. It is up to the bank to absorb or pass on these charges. This is a global thing AFAIK.
Doesn't seem ASIC will do anything about it except tell the banks to make it clearer (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-08/westpac-refunds-20-mil…).
How the hell would you know when a merchant uses a foreign bank for processing transactions? I know that Scoot does only because that's how they got around following the new RBA requirements on credit card surcharges.
really, thats why they can charge the CC surcharges? could the ACCC not argue its a misleading advertising issue again? oh ACCC, theres another shonky
I hook up my 28 degrees MC with PayPal. Have to change the payment methodology everytime (it defaults to a bank account) but bam! No more international transaction fees!!
This annoyed me SO much, and after too many times defaulting to bank account instead of credit card I deleted the bank account details. Solved!
I tried to delete my bank account so many times. They keep saying its in use even though it wasn't. I gave up.
What you can do is link your bank account to PayPal and PayPal will direct debit, no fees :)
I could just use my 28 degrees or bank account but I'd prefer to earn points.
My main problem is that they don't tell you when the fees will apply. I could avoid them if I knew.
As long as they charge in AUD and you pay by CC via PayPal, you won't pay international transaction fees. If they charge in another currency then you'll be charged. I always pay with my AMEX linked in PayPal if in AUD or Coles Rewards MC if any other currency via PayPal.
Unfortunately this is not the case. Read the link in my original message. CBA charge international transaction fees even if the cost is in AUD as long as it is processed overseas. Which is pretty impossible to know.
@Hellfire: Oh really? Paying in PayPal and AUD still attracts intl tx fee on some cases? I better check my statements…
Only some banks change the fee like that. It only started happening with CBA a few months ago.
Very true indeed! Choice have already been on it:
https://www.choice.com.au/shopping/online-shopping/buying-on…
I've noticed that AMEX direct issued cards never charge fees when in AUD so now use them when in doubt where payment is processed, rather then a big 4 card.
Yes noticed my ANZ card got charged international fees when buying from PSN AU
Comparing energy providers that all seemingly offer discounts and have different tariff rates making it a nightmare to Compare on face value.
ISPs using terms like 'fast' and up to to describe internet speeds achievable but not actually achievable for majority of customers.
I agree with the energy providers.
Also note that some energy retailers offer flexible pricing. This gives you a lower rate of you choose to use more off peak power. However to unlock this you are charged a higher daily rate charge. So in the end you don't save anything for trying to do the right thing.
For energy retailers, if you're in Victoria, use switchon.vic.gov.au, other states should have a similar website.
Booking/processing fees per ticket for online cinema bookings!
plus lots. Considering it costs them less for you to buy online than to have someone stand and serve you why does it cost more for thier convenience?
Convenience always cost more!
Yes, convenience for them costs us more…
OMG Yes! Theatres are much worse though: booking fee $6, credit card fee 2.2%-ish (no options to pay but cc!) and then $5.50 for you to print them at home on your own paper and ink!!
If I actually booked tickets I'd be so peed off. If the so-called "handling fees" can't be avoided then how is it not drip-pricing.
I pay in cash at tickettek/master, though that $6 booking fee, they might as well add it to the ticket (as I always buy 1 ticket), but if you split it with 3 friends it's not as bad, but still unfair. They're charging you to buy a ticket! On top of the $60+ tickets!
problem is because its a per order charge, per ticket pricing is variable… technicalities, rubbish —> edit: this is response to ticketek/ticketmaster
I have a few, some have been "Found out" already, such as the targeted pain medication that is no different to standard pain medication but more expensive.
realestate.com.au = even though my search and notification on their site is very specific, I still get alerts that are no where near what I've asked for - it is as if they get paid by REAs to blanket their subscribers no matter what their preference is. Domain.com.au stick to my specific search criteria on their notifications.
My wife uses my Nivea shave balm and moisturizer as it contains the same ingredients as some products targeted at women, only the "Nivea Men" version costs $12, compared to $50+
Antibacterial soap. It has been proven this year that there is no difference between the antibacterial soaps in overpriced dispensers compared to regular soap, yet they continue to be sold and marketed as being better.
The checkout did something on the second one a while back. Essentially buy what's cheaper rather than whether it is marketed at men or women.
Look on the bright side, not only is you wife product savvy, but she shaves too
:)
oh crap, i thought you had to work your way up
Antibacterial soap: not only isn't it more effective at reducing bacteria on hands, the chemicals used to make it stay around and get into the food chain.
It's recently been banned in the US and should be here.
If you want a hand santitizer, make sure it's alcohol based (70% is hospital grade, actually more effective than 100% because the water helps break cell structure).
So if I pour vodka over my hands will they be amazingly clean?
Vodka only 40%
Hand sanitizer is not as effective as soap/water hand washing, but it is simply a convenience. Over time it will also dry your skin, and is a likely carcinogen (as we have learned from alcohol mouthwash.) I wouldn't suggest it unless you're in a rush.
Australia Post Registered Mail System and delivery also Duromine Australia thieves.
What are Duromine Australia thieves
I googled it and apparently it is a medication for weight loss and is expensive in Australia… However, the company behind Duromine said that the people shouldn't be complaining as the amount of fast food they eat each week is multiples of what duromine costs.
i just did a super quick search and chemist warehouse is $106 for 30mg x 30. US site is USD$80 which is around aud$105.
or do you mean that drug worldwide is expensive.
Not brand specific, but it really grinds my gears how airlines, hotels and tour companies advertise deals that are "$x per person twin share" with a seemingly cheap price. But it's not cheap, it's really double that because you can only get that price if two of you pay it and go together.
They should have to advertise the actual cost for the deal; either the price for just one person, or if two people are required the cost for both.