Every year, Consumer NZ receives a heap of complaints about less-than-satisfactory products and services.
This year, our Yeah, Nah Awards shine a spotlight on products, businesses and services that have been especially disappointing. These are the awards that no brand wants to win.
Cue the drum roll…
Less Isn’t More Award
The Less Isn’t More Award goes to Pams Value cream style corn, for having only 40% corn in the can. That leaves a lot of room for filler. Which begs the question, what else is in there? Water, thickener, sugar and salt. Yum!
Read morePolished Turd Award
Masterpet gets the Polished Turd in our Yeah, Nah Awards for dishing out a healthy dose of greenwashing. If a single-use plastic bag is almost certainly headed for landfill, it shouldn’t be selling itself on its environmental benefits.
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Grave Disappointment Award
Of the 178 businesses we looked at, Westpac came out the worst for customer satisfaction! It gets the Yeah, Nah Award for Grave Disappointment, after scoring 33% for customer dissatisfaction with its life insurance. That's one in three of its life insurance customers reporting a terrible time.
Read moreAvoid At All Costs Award
This award goes to Bosch for its heat-pump dryer WQG24200AU. Why? Because it will take you nearly 4 hours to dry a load of washing and sets you back $2,000 to purchase. Our test team slapped the WQG24200AU with a “do not buy” for the same reasons.
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Taken For A Ride Award
We looked at 648 flights on Qantas and Air New Zealand over 18 weeks to understand how competitive their airfares were during the school holidays. The biggest price increase in Air New Zealand fares between term time and school holidays was 167% – in just 3 weeks. By comparison, Qantas fares increased just 7% over the same period.
Read moreYou nominated the winners
You told us about your less-than-satisfactory consumer experiences. You were left frustrated, out of pocket and perplexed by your interactions with our award winners. Thank you for sharing your stories.
The selection process
In addition to submissions for the awards and complaints from the public, our test and investigative research team has identified ongoing and emerging trends in the consumer landscape that raise concerns. These include uncompetitive markets, shrinkflation, greenwashing, misleading messaging, and high-priced products that underperform.
The winning criteria
To be a contender for a Yeah, Nah Award, a product, business or service must meet one or more of the following criteria:
- failing a standard
- stinging customers with hidden charges
- using false claims or broken promises
- selling products or services that are an absolute rip off
- using unclear messaging that causes consumer confusion, frustration or just plain outrage.