Choice Shonky Awards 2026: From Exorbitant Ticket Prices to a 25-Hour Laundry Cycle

Australia’s consumer advocacy group Choice has released its annual Shonky awards for 2026, naming and shaming the nation’s worst products and services of the year. Now celebrating its twenty-first anniversary, the infamous dishonour roll highlights corporate practices and poorly designed consumer goods that fail to deliver basic value or reliability.

Among this year’s dubious honourees are concert ticket sellers whose dynamic pricing systems surge costs up to $1,650 for consumers, an airline that pocketed $75 million in unused flight credits, and a convoluted washer-dryer appliance featuring a baffling 25-hour laundry cycle. These selections were chosen by Choice researchers after careful evaluation of consumer complaints, product testing, and market trends.

The Shonky awards aim to hold businesses accountable and empower shoppers to make more informed purchasing decisions. Consumer advocates hope that publicizing these egregious examples of corporate misbehavior and flawed engineering will pressure companies to improve their customer service, transparency, and product quality in the coming year.

Sources: The Guardian World

Aggregated summary. Original: The Guardian World