The Commonwealth Bank has ‘won’ a title that no other company wants: the most awarded company in the 20-year history of Choice‘s Shonky Awards.
For the past 20 years, consumer advocacy group Choice has handed out its Shonky Awards to “dodgy products, services and companies”, and thanks to its inclusion in the 2025 list, CommBank has now received four Shonky Awards.
Choice has given CommBank a 2025 Shonky Award for refusing to issue refunds to low-income customers, after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) found CommBank was one of several large banks that charged excessive fees to customers who were eligible for low or no-fee accounts.
In 2018, the bank was included in the Shonky Awards for its Dollarmites program for primary school kids, while in 2014, Choice called out the bank for actions by financial planners within its business. In 2010, Choice focused on CommBank’s Awards credit card, which was linked to the Qantas Frequent Flyer loyalty program.
“This year, we’re calling out CommBank for refusing to refund millions of low-income customers $270 million in fees that never should’ve been charged,” said Choice CEO Ashley de Silva on Wednesday.
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The winners of the 2025 Shonky Awards are:
CommBank: “for making bank off the back of Australia’s poorest”
In 2024, ASIC found four major Australian banks, including Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, Bendigo Bank and Westpac, had charged excessive fees to customers who were eligible for low or no-fee accounts.
CommBank was found to have collectively charged $270 million in unfair fees to 2.2 million customers between 2019 to 2024.
The banks all paid goodwill payments to affected customers, including $25 million to 90,000 customers by CommBank. However, the bank reportedly told ASIC in July 2025 that it would not pay additional refunds.
“We think that’s pretty shonky,” said Choice‘s de Silva on Wednesday.
“Commonwealth Bank has taken bad bank behaviour to a whole new level.”
Temu: “for being an unsafe haven for dodgy sales tactics and fast fashion”
There’s “no shortage of issues” that have led to ultra-cheap Chinese e-retailer Temu landing on the Shonky’s list, says de Silva.
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These include poor customer service, long delivery times and difficulties obtaining refunds. The online retailer is also responsible for large volumes of fast fashion purchases, thanks to its model of “selling poorly made clothes at cheap prices”.
However, de Silva says product safety is perhaps the biggest concern at Temu.
“In 2024, Choice purchased and tested 15 randomly selected coin and button battery-operated products from Temu, with every product tested failing at least one requirement of Australian button battery regulations designed to keep children safe. While all 15 items have been removed from sale, Temu has continued to make headlines for safety issues,” says de Silva.
Choice also highlighted a case in July 2024, when an eight-year-old Queensland girl suffered burns to 13% of her body after a Temu hoodie she was wearing caught fire. The retailer recalled the hoodie four months later, after the ACCC found it had no fire warning label and did not comply with mandatory safety standards.
Temu has also not signed up to the ACCC’s voluntary Online Product Safety Pledge for online marketplaces, says de Silva.
“Temu’s insufficient concerns for the safety of the products it sells means it more than deserves its Shonky Award this year,” he says.
Handy Heater Turbo 800: “for a plug-in heater that doesn’t plug in, or heat”
The Handy Heater Turbo 800 makes Choice‘s Shonky list this year for serious safety concerns and because, according to Choice, it just doesn’t work.
The device doesn’t come with a plug that fits into an Australian power point, says de Silva, and the travel adaptor that comes with the heater doesn’t comply with safety standards as it leaves pins exposed when plugged into a local power point.
“Other safety issues included a lack of any kind of thermal protection device, insecure wiring, and heating element directly mounted onto thermoplastic — a material that becomes soft when heated,” says de Silva.
“On top of the multitude of safety issues, our testing also revealed the Handy Heater doesn’t actually produce anywhere near as much heat as its advertising suggests.”
Energy retailers: “for pricing tactics designed to confuse”
Energy retailers as a group have also made it onto the Shonky list this year, with Choice taking aim at “sneaky pricing tactics” used across the industry at a time when households are becoming increasingly worried about being able to afford energy use.
“We’ve seen a number of retailers roll out new, cheaper plans with the exact same name as existing plans. As a result, many consumers were led to believe they were already on the best plan as their current plan name was identical – potentially missing out on savings as a result,” says de Silva.
Choice says its research estimated that Australian energy consumers could have collectively saved around $65 million per year if energy companies were transparent about the cost of the new plans.
“Would it really have been that hard to give the new plan a different name? We don’t think so,” says de Silva.
HCF: “for a price rise in disguise”
Rounding out this year’s Shonky Awards from Choice is health insurer HCF for “purposefully bypassing the government approval process for health insurance premium increases on existing policies”.
The insurer acted poorly by “sneakily closing an existing policy, and opening a new policy with almost identical cover, but a significantly higher price,” says de Silva.
“This year, HCF closed its Premium Gold policy to new members, instead releasing a nearly identical policy called ‘Optimal Gold’ with a whopping 34.6% price increase – no government approval required.”
Shonky Awards lead to “major wins for consumers”: Choice
The companies name-checked in the Shonkys each year often dispute Choice‘s claims, however, de Silva said the long-standing awards have “ensured major wins for consumers”.
“The Coles and Woolworths award in 2023, and Qantas’ win in 2022, marked the beginning of several years of reckoning for these major Australian companies,” said de Silva.
“Bloomex received a hefty fine from the ACCC after we gave the online florist an award in 2022 for flowers that didn’t deliver, and 2020 award winner, Revitalife, refunded over $57,000 to customers after admitting its sales tactics had likely breached consumer laws.”
