Ticketek, Virgin and 'protein chips' win big at annual Shonky Awards

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. 

Tricky ticket tactics

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 had prices up to $1,650. 

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

A Ticketek spokesperson said variable pricing was used on less than 7 per cent of the John Farnham Tribute and this 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. 

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." 

Expired flight credits pocketed

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. 

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

"At best, these [credits] should be around until I want to use them … and at worst, you should just give me my money back,"

Mr Serrels said.

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. 

25 hours of laundry, protein tax

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 that take 12 hours to wash and 13 hours to dry — 25 hours for a load of laundry. 

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

"These [ratings] aren't really that accurate to your everyday use,"

he said.

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. 

Mr Serrels said this was a difficult decision with an influx of added-protein goods hitting store shelves, noting some of these 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 the cover.  

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

Play but don't own

Rounding out the 2026 list is Sony for announcing 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, at any time, can remove these games from the store. In some cases, they can close the store entirely,"

Mr Serrels said.

Sony said earlier this year the move was a natural direction for the company as, "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."