Among the bodgiest rip-off merchants and scam artists is Nurofen. It sells separate pain killers specifically labelled and promoted for back pain, migraine, period pain and a whole raft of other ailments. However, except for the packaging, all of these products are identical.
Coles also blips the Choice dodgyometer for its promotion that claims four people can be fed for less than $10. The catch is, you already need to have some of the ingredients for the dish in your kitchen. The items that Coles assumes you just happen to have on hand aren't included in the price. One ingredient you're likely to keep handy, according to Coles, is three quarters of a bottle of wine. If you add this to the $7.76 Coq au vin, it would actually cost more like thirty bucks.
The Monstress Shonky Awards 2010
I reckon [a HUGE phone retailer] ought to get a placing in the awards. This company told me if I ever wanted to add a phone to my plan, under the terms of the arrangement, they would contribute to the cost of the phone. The company promptly discontinued the plan without telling me. When I went to their store to purchase a phone, they said that because the plan no longer existed, I had to pay full price for it. The cost to me was up something like 57% and I received not so much as an ‘Oops, sorry’. Charming.
Another contender would be [an optometrist] who told me he had no problem with completing the forms so my employer would reimburse a (significant) percentage of the cost of my glasses. The forms indicated that the glasses were largely for work-related purposes. But after I ordered, paid for and collected the top-of-the-range specs, the optometrist changed his mind and would not sign the forms, after all. This is top of mind because he recently had the audacity to send me a reminder that my next eye test is due. Some people have no shame.
A third contender is [one of the better known jeans retailers]. Their self-branded jeans fit perfectly in the shop but transform forever in to sloppy, shapeless sacks after a single wash. What's worse is that this store's pricing structure encourages you to buy two pairs of the wretched things, so you get double the eternally flaccid leg bags. Not cool.
Is there anyone you want to nominate for The Monstress Shonky Awards?
(Check out the Choice Shonky Awards at http://www.choice.com.au/)
I noticed the shonkiness in Nurofen years ago but kept the opinion to myself. Hats off to Choice for exposing this. Not only did I get confirmation that my thinking is still sound, I can now talk about this without feeling alone in my opinion.
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