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Consumer NZ has opened nominations for the worst businesses, services and products in Aotearoa New Zealand – the ones that have excelled at letting consumers down.
“If you’ve been at the pointy end of a bad experience that’s cost you time or money, given you a headache and left a bad taste in your mouth, we want to hear about it,” Consumer NZ head of research and advocacy Gemma Rasmussen says.
“The Yeah, Nah Awards are an opportunity for consumers to make their voices heard and put bad operators on notice.”
Last year’s awards covered a wide range of issues, including sticky plasters that did not stick, misleading claims about consumer rights, online services that were difficult to unsubscribe from, and retailers’ promoting “specials” that were anything but.
“In a cost-of-living crisis, it’s important to keep businesses honest,” Rasmussen says.
Last year, Pams plastic plasters won the “You Had One Job” Award after a Consumer member tipped us off that the plasters “do not stick properly” and our in-house trial confirmed it.
Barkers took out the “On Bad Terms” Award for potentially misleading consumers about their rights.
“We reviewed return policies across 30 online stores and were unimpressed by Barkers’ high number of dubious claims.”
The “Unsubscribe Impossible” Award went to HelloFresh. After months of research into deceptive online design practices, the food delivery service stood out for a particularly exasperating cancellation process (also known as a subscription trap).
Finally, the “No, Harvey Norman, No” Award went to Harvey Norman, following our review of pricing at New Zealand big-box retailers. A bewildering number of specials were labelled “super deal”, “great price” or “huge deal” when they really were not.
“We want to know what’s left you annoyed, out of pocket or shaking your head in disbelief – and help us expose this year’s Yeah, Nah winners.”
Nominations close July 31 and winners will be announced in November.
To make a nomination, go to: https://campaigns.consumer.org.nz/yeah-nah-awards.
