Every year, we receive a heap of complaints about less-than-satisfactory products and services.
Our Yeah, Nah Awards shine a spotlight on New Zealand businesses, products and services that have been downright dodgy, disappointing or difficult to deal with. This is an awards ceremony that chief executives will want to miss.
What qualifies for an award?
Any business, product or service that's disappointed you could be fit for an award.
It may be your favourite chocolate bar has shrunk by 25%, or perhaps a fridge you purchased doesn’t properly cool your food. Or maybe a company that misled you into thinking it was sustainable, or a business hit you with a hidden fee leaving you feeling upset and short-changed.
Whatever your story, we want to hear it.
The winning criteria
To be a contender for a Yeah Nah Award a business, product or service should 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, which causes consumer confusion, frustration or just plain outrage.
Winners will be judged by a team of unbiased Consumer investigators.
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.
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