Coles and Woolworths have received notorious Shonkys awards for making big profits amid an inflation crisis.

“This has been yet another hard year for many Australians,” said Alan Kirkland, CEO at consumer advocacy organisation Choice, which makes the awards annually. “When facing a cost-of-living crisis, people want to be confident that their money is well spent, but unfortunately our Shonky winners have only disappointed us during this difficult time.

“While Coles and Woolies have been promoting how they’re supposedly helping with the cost of living, in the background they’ve been banking huge profits. At the same time, frequent changes in prices mean it’s hard to tell if you’re even getting a genuine discount. They are well and truly deserving of a Shonky award.”

Kogan also received the infamous award for allegedly deceiving customers to sign up for the two-week trial of the Kogan First program for $99, without their knowledge. 

Choice also gave a Shonky to RentTech for allegedly demanding excessive personal data from potential tenants.

An award also went to personal alarms – for failing to deliver their primary purpose, to call a person’s nominated contacts in an emergency,

“We’ve tested over 40 personal alarms in the Choice labs since we began reviewing them in 2017, but we still can’t recommend a single one. Personal alarms are meant to provide peace of mind for carers wanting to keep their loved ones safe, but we’ve found these alarms often fail to perform their most basic functions,” said Kirkland.

The Xbox Mini Fridge also took one for not being able to keep anything cool, despite its high energy consumption.