{"id":262272,"date":"2025-11-04T15:59:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T15:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/262272\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T15:59:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T15:59:08","slug":"commonwealth-bank-temu-and-hcf-among-those-named-at-this-years-shonky-awards-australian-lifestyle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/262272\/","title":{"rendered":"Commonwealth Bank, Temu and HCF among those named at this year\u2019s Shonky awards | Australian lifestyle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Commonwealth Bank is the recipient of \u201ca special prize\u201d in Choice\u2019s 2025 Shonky awards for failing its low income-customers<\/a>, with the consumer advocacy group singling out Australia\u2019s biggest bank for charging the cohort a collective $270m in unfair fees.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Asic caught a number of major banks charging low-income customers with excessive fees this year, CBA stood out from the pack,\u201d said Choice\u2019s CEO, Ashley de Silva.<\/p>\n

The customers affected were eligible for low or no-fee accounts, which should have been designated automatically. While other major banks issued refunds to their customers, \u201cCBA initially refused\u201d.<\/p>\n

CBA has since claimed it will issue refunds on a case by case basis, says Choice, but \u201cwe don\u2019t know how many of those customers have received refunds or what amount of that $270m is going back to customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson from CBA said: \u201cIn July, we committed to making goodwill adjustments where appropriate to customers who have incurred unusually high fees.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFor eligible concession customers, we have paused certain fees, including overdraw and monthly account-keeping fees. Following Asic\u2019s Better Banking for Indigenous Consumers report, we made approximately $25m in goodwill payments to approximately 87,000 accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the fourth time CBA has been shamed in the awards, which spotlight Australia\u2019s worst products and services as decided by Choice. The bank is now the \u201cmost awarded\u201d company in its 20-year history.<\/p>\n

Temu safety concerns<\/p>\n

In 2024, Choice tested 15 children\u2019s products from Temu<\/a> containing button batteries against Australian safety standards, which are mandatory for button batteries. They found every single product failed at least one of those standards.<\/p>\n

Though Choice says Temu stopped selling those 15 button battery products, de Silva says it is not the only case where an item bought through Temu has caused harm.<\/p>\n

In 2024, an eight-year-old girl in Queensland suffered burns to 13% of her body after a Temu hoodie she was wearing caught fire. The hoodie was found by the ACCC to be noncompliant with mandatory safety standards and is no longer on sale \u2013 \u201cbut it took four months, which is a really long time, to come offline,\u201d de Silva said.<\/p>\n

Choice\u2019s editorial director, Mark Serrels, CEO, Ashley de Silva, and director of campaigns, Rosie Thomas, presenting the \u2018winners\u2019 of the 2025 Shonky awards. Photograph: Choice<\/p>\n

De Silva also noted Temu\u2019s failure to commit to Australia\u2019s voluntary safety pledge, which online marketplaces Amazon and eBay have signed up to.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson from Temu said \u201cconsumer safety is a top priority\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we do not manufacture products ourselves, we take platform responsibility seriously. We\u2019ve invested significantly in compliance measures, including robust seller vetting, pre-listing checks and ongoing monitoring using both automated systems and human review. We act swiftly to remove listings when there is a concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the incidents cited by Choice, all affected items were promptly removed, and we\u2019ve since further strengthened oversight in higher-risk categories.<\/p>\n

HCF policy price hike<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s largest not-for-profit health fund HCF was given a Shonky for \u201csneakily\u201d closing a policy, then opening a more expensive policy with similar cover.<\/p>\n

The health fund closed its Premium Gold policy to new members in late February, then launched a \u201cnearly identical policy\u201d called Optimal Gold \u2013 at a 34.6% price increase.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s an industry-wide issue, but this was the worst we\u2019ve seen,\u201d said de Silva. Insurers are required to seek government approval for their premium increases, but this move sidesteps the process.<\/p>\n

In response, a spokesperson from HCF said it changed its Gold policy to help keep it \u201caccessible, equitable, and sustainable\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese changes apply only to new sales and are in full compliance with industry standards and regulations,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cExisting members on Premium Gold products purchased prior to February 2025 were not impacted by this change.\u201d<\/p>\n

HCF said it will comply with any changes in legislation or regulation.<\/p>\n

\u201cChallenges with Gold-hospital sustainability reflect broader sector pressures, driven by higher costs from complex claims, particularly in mental health,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

Entire energy retail sector shamed<\/p>\n

Choice slapped a Shonky on the whole energy retail industry for \u201csneaky pricing tactics designed to confuse\u201d. De Silva said it\u2019s \u201ca very widespread issue\u201d, and comes when \u201c84% of Australian households are worried about paying for their energy\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustralian energy retailers have an obligation to periodically tell customers proactively if they could be on a better deal and they do that by communicating it on your bill,\u201d said de Silva.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe issue is: they\u2019re sometimes referring to a better deal, but it\u2019s got the exact same name as your current deal \u2026 It\u2019s not unless you go online and get into the details that you realise it\u2019s a plan with the same name but different rates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Choice estimates Australian energy customers could have saved as much as $65m a year if retailers made it clear new plans with the same names were cheaper.<\/p>\n

Since launching in 2006, the Shonkys have shamed major supermarkets<\/a> for cashing in during the cost-of-living crisis, a stick vacuum that \u201csucks at sucking\u201d<\/a> and Qantas<\/a> for steering customers to flight credits even when they were entitled to refunds.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver 20 years, there have been many examples of where the Shonkys have delivered major wins for consumers,\u201d said de Silva. \u201cWe continue to find them year after year.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Commonwealth Bank is the recipient of \u201ca special prize\u201d in Choice\u2019s 2025 Shonky awards for failing its low…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262273,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-262272","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}