A washer-dryer that takes 25 hours to complete an energy-efficient cycle and ticketing agencies accused of using “tricky tactics” to push up prices are among the winners in Choice’s latest Shonky Awards.

The consumer advocacy group presents the Shonkies annually to hold businesses accountable and call out what it labels dodgy products and services.

“At a time when consumers are doing it really tough, you’d think that companies would give us a break – but that’s not the case,” said Choice CEO Monique Perry.

“This year we had so many contenders for our annual Shonky Awards.”

Its 2026 “winners” are diverse, ranging from Virgin Australia and Sony Interactive Entertainment, to a pet insurance company and a food business specialising in high-protein snacks.

Top of the list were Ticketek and Ticketmaster, which Choice says have used tactics such as dynamic pricing or in-demand pricing to take advantage of fans who are desperate to secure tickets to live shows or sporting events.

One example cited was the John Farnham charity concert staged at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena in September to raise money for Head and Neck Cancer Australia. Although Farnham wasn’t performing at the show, it featured a star-studded line-up of other popular Australian artists, with tickets selling for up to $1650 through Ticketek Australia.

The ticketing agency had warned people waiting in long virtual queues that prices could increase or decrease at any time. Some fans vented on social media at the time, with one complaining: “Looks like dynamic pricing will be happening, which is awful considering it is a charity event.”

Perry said NRL supporters who bought tickets to some matches in 2026 through Ticketmaster had also reported the “in demand” seats were selling for $50 more than regular seats just one row and one bay apart.

Ticketek and Ticketmaster have been accused of ‘tricky ticket tactics’. Photo: Choice

White-goods and electronics manufacturer Hisense came in for a roasting over a “super energy-efficient” washer-dryer that Choice claims takes 13.5 hours to dry clothes on the “eco” setting that the company nominated to get an eight-star energy rating.

The Australian Government’s energy rating website advises consumers that the more stars an appliance has, the less energy it uses and therefore the more money you save. The energy rating can be displayed as a “super efficiency” 10-star label for appliances rated seven or higher.

However, Perry suggests the system is flawed because while a high rating looks impressive, the manufacturer gets to nominate which program produces the best energy-efficient outcome – and it is  not necessary the one households would actually use.

“While technically the (Hisense) machine is energy-efficient when run on the Eco drying cycle, it goes without saying that over 13 hours to dry a load of clothes is an unrealistic wait time for most households,” she said.

“The Hisense machine also received its five-star energy rating for washing based on – you guessed it – a 728-minute-long program. Use both the energy-efficient cycles together, and you’ll be hitting over 25 hours of laundry.”

Choice gave the whole pet insurance industry a Shonky Award in 2019 over the issue of pre-existing conditions, and earlier this year also canvassed the question of whether pet insurance is actually worth buying. Its 2026 Shonky Awards zero in on one particular policy from insurer Petcover.

“Every 12 months, Petcover Economy customers are sold an entirely new policy, which classifies all conditions the pet has previously experienced as pre-existing, thus excluding them from cover,” Perry said.

“The policy’s definition of pre-existing conditions is also problematic, and one of the broadest we’ve seen… This is a policy that reduces cover every time you make a claim.”

Other 2026 Shonky Award winners were:

Virgin Australia, for forcing customers with flight credits from Covid cancellations to rebook their flights by June 30 this year and take them before May 27, 2027.

“While some of these customers were able to redeem their flight credits, Virgin’s strict flight credit deadlines meant $75 million of these credits expired, going straight to Virgin’s revenue,” Perry said.

Quest Protein Chips, which Choice found to be 886 per cent more expensive than similar, non-protein chips from another brand. With a 32-gram bag costing $6.50 at one major Australian supermarket, that works out at more than $20 per 100 grams.

Sony Interactive Entertainment, for announcing that from January 2028, all PlayStation video games will be sold exclusively as digital downloads. The problem, according to Perry, is that buyers are only purchasing a licence to access the content – and that licence could be revoked at any time without a refund.

Choice has been presenting the Shonky Awards for the past 20 years and publishes past recipients online in what it dubs the “Hall of Shame”.

The 2025 Shonky winners included online shopping platform Temu, health insurer HCF, and a plug-in heater “that doesn’t plug in, or heat”.

Choice also took aim last year at the Commonwealth Bank, awarding the institution its fourth Shonky after ASIC found around 2.2 million low-income customers were collectively charged $270 million in excessive fees.

After initially refusing to refund customers, CommBank ultimately reversed its decision and agreed to a partial refund of $68 million.