Innehållsförteckning för July 2022 från CHOICE

Before the federal election, a coalition of more than 100 consumer and community organisations called on politicians from all parties to commit to regulating the buy now, pay later (BNPL) and wage advance industries in the next Australian Parliament. Initiated by Financial Counselling Australia, Anglicare Australia, Financial Rights Legal Centre, Consumer Action Law Centre and CHOICE, the open letter to politicians calls for action on the credit services, which the groups say are causing more and more financial harm. The Australian Labor Party made some limited commitments to look at BNPL regulation and consumer safeguards for the sector before the election. In April, shadow financial services spokesperson Stephen Jones told the Herald Sun the party would look at adding some regulatory “teeth” to the industry’s voluntary code of conduct. He…

In June CHOICE made a submission to the Treasury’s Quality of Advice Review in which we called for strong protections for people who seek financial advice. The Review comes after the 2018 Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry exposed widespread misconduct in the financial advice industry. Many people lost their entire life savings as a result of inappropriate financial advice and continue to suffer the ongoing economic and social consequences. To inform our submission, we asked CHOICE supporters to share their experiences with financial advice. We found that of the 1200 supporters who responded, only 33% feel they can trust financial advisers to give them high-quality advice. Our submission focused on the importance of banning the remaining conflicts of interests, which allow some advisers…

Community choice.community What is your favourite pizza topping? @Gregr: Topping eh. Shredded ham. And lots of it. Not the awful ham bits that you find in packets in supermarkets, but long thin strips lovingly crafted by skilled pizza makers in Australia for such classics as the capricciosa, the tropical, and the good old Aussie with bacon and egg. @robynne.burchell: Much quicker for me to tell you that pineapple is an atrocity on a pizza, and so is chicken. And anchovies should be compulsory. @debera: Ham Pineapple Bacon and Banana topped with Garam Masala. Facebook @choiceaustralia Our experts dish the dirt on the products you don’t need. What do you think? Mark W: I love my robot vacuum. It doesn’t clean very well but its antics are endlessly entertaining. Tina C:…

In the last financial year, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) received 366 complaints about death benefit nominations in superannuation. It’s the third-most complained about issue in super, behind account administration and insurance. And behind each complaint there is stress for those involved, such as pressure on relationships or tension between family members. Disputes can also delay the payment of death benefits, holding back money that the recipient may need. “The biggest mistake people make is thinking that they can give their super to whoever they nominate” Making a death benefit nomination A death benefit nomination directs where any leftover superannuation goes when you die. You can make a binding or a non-binding nomination: ● Binding – the super fund has to follow your wishes. ● Non-binding – the super…

The doona on your bed is like the icing on a cake. Your bed is pretty great as is, but topped with a fluffy, warm doona? Just try keeping yourself away. If you’re in the market for a new one, you might be baffled by your options. Should you get wool, microfibre, or feather? What’s the difference between feather and down? And is a doona the same as a quilt or duvet? We answer those questions and more, so you can spend less time shopping, and more time snoozing. Quilt, doona or duvet? In Australia, quilt, doona and duvet mean the same thing – a thick piece of insulating padding in a plain fabric casing designed to be put inside a cover. You could also call this item a continental…

Rangehoods are an integral part of your kitchen, but the sheer choice out there can be daunting. Regardless of type, leaving your rangehood on a high fan setting means it could drown out nearby conversations or even disturb sleeping members of the household. While all styles of rangehood can be annoyingly loud, more than half of rangehoods that score borderline or below for noise in ducted mode are wall canopy styles. So we’ve decided not to recommend ones that score below 55% for noise, even if they score very well for performance and ease of use. Undermount and retractable rangehoods typically need to work a bit harder to get the steam out (especially if recirculating), so we still recommend models that score at least 46% for noise, to help you…

Most people find a moderately cool temperature in the range of 15 to 20°C is best for sleeping. If your bedroom is too chilly for comfort, you can always rug up with fleecy PJs, blankets and a hot water bottle. But to heat the room itself to a comfortable temperature, a reverse-cycle air conditioner is your most energy-efficient option. Most of us are used to just turning the air conditioner to cooling or heating, setting a temperature or fan speed, and nothing more. But there are a couple of extra features that can help you get a good night’s sleep: the sleep timer and quiet mode. Sleep timer This function lets the air conditioner run for a while after you go to bed, to keep the room temperature comfortable as…

CHOICE joined financial counsellors and others in the consumer movement for the annual conference of Financial Counselling Australia (FCA). FCA is a free, independent and confidential service that exists to help people who have unaffordable debts. More than 700 people attended the conference, which started with a Welcome to Country by representatives of the Yidinji people. The annual event is a chance for financial counsellors to share their experiences with each other, reflect on their achievements and consider how to deliver on FCA’s goal of fewer people in financial hardship. Throughout the conference we heard the stories of people who have been facing financial hardship, and the efforts of financial counsellors to minimise and prevent further financial harm. There was discussion of the causes of this harm, from scams and…

CHOICE survey has found that 83% of respondents A who were yet to retire say they find planning for retirement ‘moderately’, ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ complicated. “Last week, I tried to navigate the government concessions available and gave up because it is an absolute nightmare,” one retiree tells us. “We need a one-stop shop or government department that provides all the info we need.” Here at Super Consumers Australia, we agree. Retirement planning is complex partly because the different resources you may want to use are scattered across multiple government departments and websites. A ‘one-stop shop’ could bring all these free, independent services and tools together under a single portal, making it much easier for Australians to plan for retirement. The UK has already introduced a similar portal to help people…

Shoppers are being warned by consumer advocates to beware of a new wave of ‘shrinkflation’ – where companies shrink the proportions of a pre-packaged product while still charging the same price for it, or sometimes more. Companies have admitted to reducing the size of their goods, and in some cases raising prices, due to what they claim are increasing overhead costs. Reports of shrinkflation on the rise The Queensland Consumers’ Association (QCA) has sounded the alarm on the issue, saying it’s already received reports of consumers getting less value for money at the checkout. Companies have admitted to reducing the size of their goods, and in some cases raising prices “At one major supermarket, the selling price of a large pack of a popular brand of breakfast cereal increased by…

A recent Federal Court case illustrates how these disputes can arise and are resolved. In this case, the member met his wife while undergoing chemotherapy. He returned to hospital the day after they were married. They were married less than six months when he died. There was evidence the member made a nonbinding death benefit nomination for half of his super to go to his sister and half to his brother. However, the late member’s wife applied to receive all his superannuation and the fund agreed. The member’s two siblings challenged this decision at the tribunal and later the Federal Court, but were unsuccessful both times. The siblings had argued the marriage was short-term and she was aware of his short life expectancy when they married. They also argued they…

It’s easy to see why an infrared forehead thermometer is a popular option for diagnosing a fever. You get results in just one to three seconds, compared with 30 to 60 seconds, and sometimes longer, for a traditional oral digital probe thermometer. What’s more, many are touchless, which limits the spread of household germs and means you don’t need to disturb a sick child. Backlights and a large display are also helpful if you’re taking a reading in the dark, and some even have a gentle light beam for aiming at the forehead to help with accuracy. However, this type of thermometer – which uses an infrared scanner to measure the forehead’s temporal artery – isn’t always easy to use, and results can be inconsistent. They also make beeping noises…

We all need a pillow to rest our heads on, whether it’s old faithful that’s been with us for the past 10 years, or the same brand and filling we stick to and buy every 12 months. You may have noticed that pillows range in price these days from less than $20 at Kmart up to several hundred dollars. But what exactly are you getting for the extra bucks? Better sleep? Less neck discomfort? We can’t measure your comfort, but we did ask a select group of people what they wanted from a pillow. Using their suggested criteria, we’ve tested a range of pillows on the Australian market to see how well they perform. Price bonanza When we first tested mattresses several years ago (see our latest review p59), we…

While some areas of the country have been getting more moisture than they know what to do with, the colder months can be a time when dry air affects people with allergies or sensitive skin, and can also have an impact on sleep quality. A humidifier transforms water into mist or very tiny droplets to disperse in a room to help increase the relative humidity level. But do they live up to their claims? How humidifiers work A humidifier artificially adds water vapour (moisture) to the surrounding atmosphere to increase the humidity in a room. It may help with common winter symptoms such as dry skin, dry throat, cracked or dry lips as well as some sinus and respiratory issues that can stop you getting a good night’s sleep. A…

In an Australian first, financial service provider RI Advice has been found to have breached its licence obligations by not having sufficient cybersecurity measures. In proceedings brought by ASIC, the Federal Court found the formerly ANZ-owned subsidiary failed to act efficiently and fairly by not properly managing its cybersecurity risks. It comes after years of cyber breaches at representatives that provided services on behalf of the company, culminating in a malicious agent gaining access to thousands of client files for several months from 2017 to 2018 before being detected. ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court says it’s more important than ever that Australian financial services licensees adopt adequate protections in the current “heightened cyberthreat environment”. On top of paying $750,000 towards ASIC’s court costs, RI Advice will also have to engage…

Online clothing retailer Tiger Mist has paid more than $26,000 in fines and updated its refund policies after it was hit with infringement notices over the returns section of its website. The Melbourne-based business had said on its returns page that consumers could only return a faulty item by contacting Tiger Mist within 30 days of receiving their order, and that the product must be returned in its original packaging. “Under the Australian Consumer Law, a consumer’s right to a remedy for a faulty product is not limited to a specific time period, and consumers do not need to return the faulty product in its original packaging to obtain a refund, replacement or repair,” says ACCC commissioner Liza Carver. The retailer, which largely markets to young consumers on social media,…

The ACCC is calling for online marketplaces to provide more information on the algorithms they use to rank products, saying some ‘hybrid’ retailers are unfairly promoting their own goods. In its latest report on digital platform services, the consumer watchdog calls for services such as Ebay and Amazon to be more transparent with consumers and sellers about why their search functions and other tools promote some products over others. ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb says the Commission is particularly concerned about retail platforms that host third-party sellers while selling their own products at the same time. “Hybrid marketplaces … face conflicts of interest and may act in ways that advantage their own products with potentially adverse effects for third-party sellers and consumers,” says Cass-Gottlieb, adding that the ACCC has seen examples…

Paper round Ihave subscribed to The Age newspaper I since 1997. They implemented a new delivery service in February this year that promised “flat-wrapped” papers and delivery before 6.30am. Papers are rarely flat-wrapped, and sometimes don’t arrive until 10.30am, 11.30am or even between 12noon and 2pm, and on several occasions no paper has arrived at all. They have agreed to extend my subscription by three months because I call them every time the paper isn’t delivered before 8am. But I have become aware that others in my area, who don’t complain, are not being similarly compensated. My neighbour, also a long-time subscriber to The Age, walks before 7am each morning and alerts me when there are no papers. One day we stopped a delivery driver who informed us that he…

When Dallas Robson and her husband Jim saw an ad on Facebook for cryptocurrency investing, featuring Australian entrepreneur Dick Smith and other prominent Australians, it looked pretty convincing. The Gold Coast couple pride themselves on taking alternative approaches to things, including investing, and it seemed cryptocurrency was the way of the future. But now their financial future is in jeopardy. After clicking on the Facebook link, they got a call from someone claiming to be a retirement investment adviser, apparently from the UK. Over the course of about two months, the man convinced the couple to invest their entire pension entitlement, $330,000, in his alleged cryptocurrency scheme. That money is now gone. “He called both of us every day for a month or more and gave us access to what…

When it comes to heating your home, what will be cheapest in the short term is quite different to what will be cheapest in the long term. If you own your own home and have the money for reverse-cycle air conditioning, then this is by far the cheapest way to keep your home warm. If you rent or simply don’t have a spare couple of thousand sitting in your bank account, then an electric heater is probably your best option. You won’t take such a financial hit upfront, but unfortunately you’ll need to suck it up and pay more per year for heating costs. But there are ways to make sure you’re not paying more than you need to. We’ll talk you through how to choose the best heater, and…

Many of us could probably do with better quality sleep. So who wouldn’t want to find out whether a simple piece of bedding could make our nights more restful? That’s where mattress toppers come in. What is a mattress topper? With so many bedding terms flying around, it’s easy to get confused about which bits of bedding do what. Some suppliers readily interchange the terms ‘underlay’, ‘mattress protector’, ‘mattress topper’ and ‘mattress pad’. In fact, they all do different things, but we’ll focus on mattresses toppers here. A mattress topper is basically an extra layer, about two to 10cm high, that sits on top of your mattress. (The height of the extra layer distinguishes mattress toppers from mattress pads, which are pretty much flat.) The primary purpose of the mattress…

When it comes to washing the dishes after dinner, we’ve all wished there was a magic genie to do the job for us. Even though many households have a dishwasher to take the strain, good old-fashioned washing by hand is still the preferred choice for some. If that’s you, you’ll want a dishwashing liquid that does the job with no fuss and minimal scrubbing. We tested the liquids available in the major supermarkets to see which ones make light work of what can be a time-consuming job. Washing by hand uses six times more water than a dishwasher uses for the same load Saving water: Dishwasher vs handwashing If you’re conscious of your water consumption and would like to keep it to a minimum, you may be surprised to know…

Compared with mattresses that we bought from bricks and mortar stores, mattresses in a box that are sold online did quite well in our 2022 test. Not only are they among the best performers, but they collectively achieved slightly higher scores than the comparable retail models that we looked at. It might be time to go back to the box. Comfort in a carton There was a time when mattresses in a box generally outperformed mattresses from most traditional retailers in price and performance. But that gap narrowed as retailer results improved over the past two or three years and more mattress-in-a-box manufacturers emerged. Since then, we haven’t been able to claim that one option was better than the other. But our latest results show that the mattress in a…