‘Shonky’ gong for Qantas service

QANTAS has topped the Shonky Awards list from consumer advocacy group Choice, which described the airline as the “spirit of disappointment” over alleged failings including unusable credits, delayed flights, lost baggage and long call wait times.

Choice this year asked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to determine if Qantas’ terms and conditions for flight vouchers amounted to unfair contract terms, and if its communications to customers about flight credits could be classified as misleading. A determination is yet to be made.

“If there was ever a company that appeared to deliberately be going out of its way to win a Shonky award, it’s Qantas,” Choice travel expert Jodi Bird said.

“People are still paying premium prices to fly Qantas but it’s clear from the complaints we’ve heard, they’re not getting a premium service.”

Choice chief executive Alan Kirkland said: “Qantas might call itself the Spirit of Australia, but we think Spirit of Disappointment is more appropriate.”

The 17th annual Choice Shonky Awards recognise the worst of the worst products and services uncovered by the group’s experts.

A Qantas spokesperson fired back, claiming the “awards are clearly out of date” and said the data Choice was using was “a bit shonky”.

“We had several months of poor performance earlier in the year, but it’s improved significantly since August,” the spokesperson said.

Other Shonky winners were: VetPay, for a finance product targeting distressed pet owners; Steggles Chicken Nuggets Boosted with Veggies, for hiding vegies so well they could barely be found; Bloomex, for flowers that don’t deliver; and Zega Digital cookware, for an expensive “self-cooking” smart pot that does not properly cook.