Overview
- Commonwealth Bank was singled out over $270 million in fees charged to 2.2 million low‑income customers, with Choice criticising its refusal to issue bulk refunds.
- Responding to the scrutiny, CBA cited paused fees for eligible concession customers plus about $25 million in goodwill payments to roughly 87,000 accounts.
- Temu was rebuked after Choice reported all 15 button‑battery items it tested failed Australian safety standards and after a hoodie later found noncompliant burned a Queensland child.
- Energy retailers were called out for rolling out cheaper plans under identical names to existing offers, with Choice estimating customers missed about $65 million in annual savings.
- HCF drew a Shonky for closing its Premium Gold policy to new members and introducing an almost identical Optimal Gold product priced 34.6% higher, which the fund says complies with rules and applies only to new sales.