Ticketek, Virgin and 'protein chips' win big at annual Shonky Awards - ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Choice has handed out its 2026 Shonky Awards to the worst products and services. (ABC News: Eric Hao Zheng)

Consumer group Choice has handed out the 2026 Shonky Awards to the worst products and services. 

Ticketek and Ticketmaster were named for "fleecing fans with tricky ticket tactics", while Virgin claimed its first Shonky for pocketing $75 million worth of expired flight credits. 

Protein chips, a pet insurer, Sony and a washer-dryer that takes 25 hours also made this year's list. 

Two ticketing companies, an airline and a washer-dryer that takes 25 hours are among the recipients of the one award no business wants. 

Consumer group Choice has released the winners of its 21st annual Shonky Awards, handed to the worst products and services of 2026. 

Ticketek and Ticketmaster have been awarded their second Shonky. (Supplied: Choice)

Ticketek and Ticketmaster have won their second Shonky, this time for "fleecing fans with tricky ticket tactics", called out for using dynamic pricing and "in demand" tickets. 

Tickets sold by Ticketek this year for a John Farnham Tribute concert were priced up to $1,650. 

NRL fans purchasing through Ticketmaster were asked to pay $50 more for "in demand" seats, even when they were just one row or bay apart from regular seats. 

A Ticketek spokesperson said variable pricing was used on fewer than 7 per cent of tickets for the John Farnham Tribute and did not apply to the $1,650 tickets. 

"Where it is used, fans are notified about potential price changes before they enter the on-sale," they said. 

Ticketmaster has been called out for the use of "in-demand" tickets. (AP: Phelan M Ebenhack)

Changes to Australian Consumer Law from July 2027 ban dynamic pricing under certain circumstances where it unreasonably manipulates customers or distorts their decision-making. 

Choice editorial director Mark Serrels said there was heightened awareness around ticket prices. 

"I think it was really exacerbated by these big events like the Oasis reunion," he said. 

A Ticketmaster spokesperson said it did not use surge pricing and "for in-demand tickets" and that "event organisers set the prices of sought-after seats closer to market value and may review these over the sales period." 

This year, Choice gave Qantas a break and awarded Virgin Australia its first Shonky for pocketing $75 million worth of expired flight credits. 

The airline cancelled several flights between April 2020 and July 2022, at the height of the COVID pandemic, holding about $93 million in unused flight credits as of February this year. 

Virgin Australia has earned its first Shonky Award. (ABC News: John Gunn)

Customers were forced to book trips by June 30 this year, with a deadline to fly by May 27, 2027. 

Virgin notes in its 2025/26 annual report that $75 million worth of expired COVID-19 credits "impacted" its underlying net profit of $404 million. 

A Virgin Australia spokesperson said more than 93 per cent of COVID credits were redeemed. 

"We regularly communicated the expiry date and later extended the fly-by date to 27 May 2027, giving guests almost another year to travel," they said. 

Hisense earned its first Shonky for releasing an 8-star energy-rated "super energy efficient" washer-dryer. The catch? That rating is tied to the machine's eco settings, which take 12 hours to wash and 13 hours to dry — 25 hours for a load of laundry. 

Mark Serrels says Hisense's 25-hour washer-dryer cycle could be "greenwashing", pun intended. (Supplied: Choice)

Mr Serrels said the energy rating system was due for an overhaul, with almost all white goods manufacturers exploiting it. 

Also claiming a Shonky are Quest Nacho Cheese Protein Chips, priced at more than $20 per 100g — 886 per cent more than a pack of Doritos without the protein label. 

Quest Protein Chips will help get you ripped (off). (Supplied: Choice)

Mr Serrels said this was a difficult decision with an influx of added-protein goods hitting store shelves, noting some goods were ultra-processed with very little additional protein and a much higher ticket price. 

While the entire pet insurance industry has won a Shonky, with insurers not covering pre-existing conditions the main issue, this year Petcover has earned its own for taking things further. 

One of its policies requires customers to enter a new policy every 12 months, which classifies all conditions the pet has previously experienced as pre-existing, therefore excluding them from cover.  

And its definition of pre-existing conditions is broad, including any condition with the same clinical signs as another injury or illness. 

Mark Serrels says Sony once mocked Xbox's plans to go digital, but now it has taken things to the extreme. (Supplied: Choice)

Rounding out the 2026 list is Sony, which announced that all new PlayStation games would be digital-only from January 2028, under a model where customers did not actually own the games but instead licence them from the storefront. 

Sony said earlier this year the move was a natural direction for the company, saying: "The general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs." 

This year Sony removed more than 500 StudioCanal movies and TV show titles from users' libraries after a licensing deal expired. 

Mr Serrels added the move would remove price competition, stop game sharing, and negatively affect the second-hand market as well as game preservation. 

"This might be a canary in the coal mine situation with all video games; we'll start to see them all moving fully digital."