Tabla de contenidos para October 2023 en CHOICE

The online food ordering and delivery service DoorDash has gone a little heavy on items that were not on the menu – namely a heaping helping of unwanted texts and emails. And it has cost the company a pretty penny. In August, the California-based DoorDash paid a $2 million infringement notice to the ACMA after being caught sending over a million texts and emails that easily met the definition of spam. DoorDash sent more than 566,000 promotional emails to customers who had unsubscribed, and more than 515,000 texts without an unsubscribe option to prospective delivery drivers. “DoorDash is a large business conducting high-volume marketing so there is no excuse for non-compliance,” says ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin. “This is a further warning to all businesses that engage in email and SMS…

At just 11.5mm, the 15-inch MacBook Air is reportedly the world’s thinnest laptop. It’s also comparatively light, weighing in at 1.5kg. But there’s a lot of computer packed into that light and thin chassis. Measuring in at exactly 15.3 inches, it’s significantly smaller than the recently released 24-inch iMac, but it is arguably big enough to function as more than just an on-the-go device, and instead replace your desktop altogether. Since many people now work in two or more locations, portable yet high-functioning devices like this may become increasingly popular. A REAL LOOKER After its dimensions, the next you’ll notice about this MacBook Air are its speed and the quality of its screen. This is a result of Apple’s much-hyped M2 chip, which boasts an 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU and…

The Australian corporate regulator says home insurers are failing customers around Australia when it comes to handling their home insurance claims, particularly after major weather events. The ASIC report reviewed data from more than 218,000 claims lodged between January and March 2022 from six major insurers and found poor practices across the board. The six insurers – who cover 63% of the Australian market – are Suncorp brands, Allianz, Auto & General brands, IAG, QBE and Youi. “An insurance claim doesn’t have to be handled perfectly, but it must be handled well. Our claims handling review found good practices and poor practices across all six insurers. We identified five areas where insurers can and should make immediate claims-handling improvements – consumer communications, project management, identifying vulnerable consumers and complaints, resourcing…

Poor quality and circulation of air in our homes can have a negative impact on our health – exacerbating symptoms for people with allergies and health conditions such as asthma and other respiratory issues. It could be affecting your sleep, or causing headaches or minor and even major health irritations. Asthma Australia says triggers include indoor air pollution from cooking, gas or wood heating; mould and damp; and pests (such as mice, cockroaches and dust mites). We spend so much time at home – living, working, sleeping – that it’s worth ensuring that our personal spaces aren’t making us sick. Here are some tips for some things you can do to improve indoor air quality for a healthier home. Cooking Warnings about the health implications of cooking with gas, particularly…

Want to save cash while you save the planet? Start looking into solar power and you’ll soon be bombarded with online ads from installers making all sorts of enticing offers. “Zero-cost solar” and “almost free” are just some of the claims we’ve seen. Their sales pitch refers to the money you can save with the ‘solar rebate’. It’s not technically a rebate (we’ll get into that later); it’s a subsidy payment under the federal government scheme that helps reduce the upfront costs of installing a solar power system. Before you grab one of these seemingly red-hot deals, we urge caution. The details of national and state-based rebates can be confusing, and it pays to be wary of pushy salespeople promising unrealistic savings, or claiming the rebate is running out. Here…

There’s no doubt that we Australians love our pets. There are currently an estimated 28.7 million pets in Australia and we have one of the highest pet ownership rates in the world. Of course, love isn’t always enough. To care for our pets, we need to set aside money for food, routine procedures, and unfortunately, often treatments for injuries and illnesses. Bills for major surgery and treatment can run into the thousands of dollars, and there’s no Medicare for pets, so you’ll have to foot the bill. And of course you just can’t predict when your pet will get sick or hurt. Pet insurance is one way to buffer yourself against unexpected vet bills, so you don’t have to weigh up whether or not to go ahead with surgery or…

Unless you’re hoping to make money betting on appliance racing, you want to make sure you keep your washing machine in tip-top shape, and use it properly so it doesn’t scoot across the floor when off-balance. Movement aside, it’s also nice when you can just pop clothes in, press a button and come back to them perfectly clean, with no weird marks or detergent residue. Luckily, washing machines aren’t that complicated, so learning how to maintain one and deal with simple problems will help you improve its performance, extend its life, and may even save you a lot of money on repairs. Scrud is more likely to build up if you only wash in cold water and if you don’t use enough detergent Marks left on clothes The blotchy marks…

The CHOICE small appliances lab tackles hundreds of pieces of creased fabric every year to discover which irons and steam stations make this household chore easier. But a good performing iron or steam station is only part of the story – ease of use is also a factor in our recommendations. Keeping your clothes smart and wrinkle-free can be tiring, especially if your iron is poorly-balanced. And if you’re frequently placing it into a vertical position to avoid scorching or to move your clothes around, the repetitive action can put a strain on your wrist. One innovation designed to solve this issue is an iron that doesn’t need to be kept vertical when not in use. Cordless irons don’t perform as well as models with a constant heat source The…

Our long-serving rogues’ gallery of dodgy ads, toe-curling typos and misadventures in marketing, as sent in by you – our tickled, angered and bewildered readers. And thanks to the timeless shonkiness of so much advertising, you’re always spoilt for choice – so keep ’em coming. Email high-quality unedited photos to hardword@choice.com.au. This month, thanks go to Michael Keys (Skim over), Alex Risk (Making a meal of it), Julie & Glen Symons (Magic mushrooms) and Bob Westmacott (Totally wrapped). MAKING A MEAL OF IT Great if you’re a panda. With coeliac disease. SKIM OVER Reduced fat, more Australianness. MAGIC MUSHROOMS Pricing that makes sense? It’s all an illusion. TOTALLY WRAPPED Well that would solve your Christmas shopping. ISSN 0009 496X. Print post approved 100000729. Wholly printed in Australia by IVE Group,…

Recently, we’ve seen a growing number of suspected scam websites advertised on the social platforms Google, Facebook and Instagram. When you click through, many of the websites look almost identical to official websites, but have some tell-tale red flags such as steep discounts and URLs that are slightly different to the legitimate URL. We believe that digital platforms need to do more to combat these scams and should have strong protections in place to protect consumers. If you’ve seen any suspect ads on these platforms, we’d like to hear from you. Share your experience with us by emailing campaigns@choice.com.au, , and you’ll be helping us show the government that digital platforms need strong consumer protections to ensure that people using their services aren’t being targeted by scammers. If you suspect…

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has joined with eleven international privacy watchdogs in raising concerns about data scraping on social media platforms. Businesses can currently use data scraping to amass detailed information on millions of social media users, and sell these to other businesses or even to malicious actors. The joint statement affirms that personal information on publicly accessible sites is still subject to privacy and data protection laws, and that social media platforms are obligated to protect users from unlawful data scraping. The OAIC also referenced their investigation into Clearview AI, which CHOICE has previously called out for scraping more than three billion user images for their facial recognition database. It’s encouraging to see the OAIC and regulators abroad drawing attention to the importance of privacy…

Fertiliser suppliers have agreed to amend their contracts after the ACCC followed up on concerns that some agreements were unfair. “We initiated an investigation after receiving complaints that fertiliser suppliers were using contracts in a way that could disadvantage farmers,” ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh explains. The competition regulator says it identified potentially unfair contract terms in several agreements, including clauses restricting a buyer’s rights to raise issues about defects with goods, and giving the supplier the right to unilaterally vary the quantity to be delivered to the buyer. The ACCC says all the suppliers it followed up with as part of the investigation co-operated and changed the contract terms to address its concerns. A term in a standard form contract may be unfair where it creates a significant imbalance…

ASIC has taken popular investment platform eToro to court, alleging it breached design and distribution obligations and hasn’t acted honestly and fairly. The regulator says the service’s target market for its contract for difference (CFD) product was too broad, and its test to see if customers were suitable to use it “wholly inadequate”. A CFD is a contract that allows someone to speculate in the change in value of an asset, such as foreign exchange rates, stock market indices or commodities. It’s considered by ASIC to be “high-risk” and “volatile”. “Our message to industry is that CFD target markets should be narrowly defined given the significant risk that retail clients may lose all of their deposited funds,” says ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court. ASIC claims that between 2021 and June…

HEPA filters are extremely effective at trapping very fine dust and allergens such as pollen and pet dander. If asthma or allergies are part of your life, here’s why it can be worth looking for a vacuum cleaner that includes HEPA filtration. What is a HEPA filter? HEPA stands for high-efficiency particulate air. These filters are made of a dense weave of fabric that can trap the tiniest of particles – even microbes like bacteria and viruses. These tiny particles, especially fine dust, pollen and pet dander, can trigger allergies and asthma. Vacuums equipped with HEPA filtration are excellent at catching these invisible irritants. The vacuum’s bag or bin traps the pet hair, dirt and larger dust particles, and blows the air back out into the room through the HEPA…

When CHOICE partner, Super Consumers Australia, talked to Australians about what they needed to plan for retirement, one of the key questions people had was: ‘How much do I need to retire?’ After extensive consultation, Super Consumers Australia developed targets to give people a ‘rule of thumb’ on how much superannuation you need in order to maintain your living standards once you’ve finished working. There are two sets of numbers: how much you need to have in superannuation, and roughly how much income you’ll have each year when you’re retired. This income comes from both your super and the Age Pension. These targets assume you own your home (more on this later), and that you spend down your superannuation rather than trying to live off the interest. Super Consumers Australia…

Carpeted floors or decorative rugs can add warmth to your home, but the occasional spill, smudge or stain is inevitable, especially if you have little ones running around. While carpet stain removers probably aren’t something you’ll need to use frequently, you should have a good product ready to go in your cupboard so you can act quickly when a stain strikes. If your carpet needs a deep clean or you need to tackle old stains or ground-in dirt, you may need to consider a professional cleaning service, or hiring or buying a carpet shampooer. We put carpet stain removers to the test to see how they tackle some of the most common stains, then we put them up against two home recipes and even plain water. In other cleaning product…

One of the most common dishwasher problems is when it won’t drain. Opening the door to a swampy soup of detergent and food particles can be annoying, but ick factor aside, it’s usually an easy (and fast) fix. In fact, sometimes it just takes the dishwasher equivalent of turning it off and back on again. Many dishwashers have a reset feature which ends the cycle and pumps out the residual water. Check your manual for how this works on your model and give it a try – it might solve your problem. If not, then you’ll need to roll up your sleeves and drain the water out by hand. Easy steps for draining a dishwasher 1 PREPARE THE DISHWASHER Get ready to drain your dishwasher by first removing any dishes…

Considering that around half of the robot vacuums that crawl their way around the CHOICE small appliances lab these days also have mopping capabilities, our experts decided it was time to rate how well this function actually works. If you’re considering a model that mops as well as vacuums, our new test will be of interest to you. The results are published alongside our longstanding carpet, pet hair and hard floor performance tests, but they don’t contribute to the overall CHOICE Expert Rating. To test mopping we spread stains around floorboards including coffee, red wine, a mud mixture, soy sauce and jam Most robot vacs with mopping functionality have a microfibre pad which is moistened using a small water tank at the base of the unit. The way the appliance…

Have you ever found it hard to cancel a subscription? Maybe one you don’t even remember signing up for, or that promised a free trial? Or have you tried to contact a business’s customer service department only to find it impossible to speak to anyone? These are just some of the dodgy business practices that are unfair, but probably not illegal, under Australian Consumer Law.Many other jurisdictions – like the EU, US, UK, and Singapore – have laws that protect consumers against unfair tricks and traps, but Australia does not. As cost of living pressures mount, people in Australia continue to lose time and money to these unfair practices. Instead of a dodgy race to the bottom, let’s rebuild trust between businesses and consumers. It’s time for the government to…

Some dental surgery can be done either in the chair at your dentist’s practice or in hospital under anaesthesia. (Wisdom teeth extraction is one example.) If you opt for the dentist, you may be able to have a portion of the fee covered under your extras health insurance policy, if you have a suitable level of cover and have served relevant waiting periods. However, if you opt to have dental surgery as an in-patient in hospital, you may find yourself facing additional out-of-pocket costs. Your hospital policy may pay benefits towards your accommodation or anaesthetist, but you can only receive benefits towards your oral surgeon’s fee if this is covered under your extras cover. What this means is you’ll use your hospital cover for the hospital admission part of the…

Cleaning products aren’t exactly the most exciting thing to spend your hard-earned cash on, and with the cost of living climbing steadily higher, you may be looking for some ways to cut back on your cleaning spend. Or perhaps you’ve got funds set aside to invest in a shiny new stick or robot vac in order to make those dreary cleaning jobs easier, and you’re considering which model to buy, or whether those purchases are really worth the cash. “If you want your floors clean, save your money and just use a plain old bucket of hot water” CHOICE experts have reviewed a range of popular cleaning products and appliances in our labs so we can give you the low-down on the cleaning products that deserve to be knocked off…

Cleaning the filters on your air con, dryer, dishwasher, vacuum and other appliances isn’t the most thrilling prospect, but if you like saving money, get excited: investing a little bit of time keeping them in good shape will pay off in the long run. Not only can it reduce your electricity bills, it’ll also help you avoid unexpected costs like technician call-out fees, replacement parts, and even having to buy a whole new machine. So you won’t see the money in your pocket immediately, but your future self will thank you for your efforts. Plus, the more often you clean your filters, the quicker the job will be each time – so not only will you save money, you’ll also save time. Here’s an appliance-by-appliance breakdown of the problems a…

When Gold Coast retiree Ken received an email from his regular bulk-billing doctors’ clinic in June saying that they had started a rewards program, he wasn’t particularly interested. But after reading the email promoting the program, one line left him outraged. “Non-members will be charged a private fee to see a GP,” the email said. The Our Medical chain operates around 33 medical, dental and radiology clinics across the east coast of Australia. The business is raising the ire of some patients who say they are being forced to hand over their personal data through an app and rewards program, or pay extra fees for appointments if they refuse. She was told there would be a $90 out-of-pocket fee if she chose not to sign up to the app “I…

It may come as a surprise, but laundry detergent accounts for at least 50% of the total cost of running your washing machine. This means that switching to a cheaper product that can deliver the same (or even better) results could save you a lot of money in the long run. Many of us fall into the trap of buying the same product on auto-pilot, or simply picking up whichever one is on special at the supermarket. But with so many detergents to choose from, it’s worth doing your research to find out which product you should be spending your hard-earned cash on. Beware changing formulas We test laundry detergents every year, and we’ve found the same product often scores differently from year to year. Our testing conditions and methodology…

Ceramic cooktops may not be able to compete with their induction counterparts when it comes to heat-up speed and response to temperature changes, but they do offer the same sleek cooking surface that is easy to keep clean. We also find that they perform well in general and we’re even starting to see more models with features similar to those you’d usually only see on induction cooktops, such as automatic switch-off, boost, auto heat-up and stop and go. If you’re looking to make the switch from gas but aren’t up for the cost associated with switching to induction, then a ceramic cooktop is a great option to consider. How to clean a ceramic cooktop Ceramic cooktops are usually easy to wipe over, and we’ve been pleased to notice more models…

Chief Executive Office Alan Kirkland (CEO), Alana O’Sullivan, Gabriel Jones Commercial & Finance Louise Austin (Director), Tristan Ye (Director), Edward Mao, Daniel Sun, Kelly Yang Campaigns & Communications Rosie Thomas (Director), Rafi Alam, Erin Barton, Kate Bower, Shaina Cabusi, Katelyn Cameron, Jordan Cornelius, Antoinette Dyce, Daniel Herborn, Jim Hook, Andrew Kelly, Brendan Mays, Yelena Nam, Xavier O’Halloran, Julian Peters, Rebekah Sarkoezy, Bea Sherwood, Alexandra Söderlund, Cameron Stewart-Baker Data & Technology Tony Harrison (Chief Technology Officer), Waqas Bajwa, Matthew Barry, Aurelien Calixte, Marcus Cheng, Graham Cox, Bohdan Dubik, Camilo Forero, Ian Fraser, James Green, Andrea James, Farrukh Khan, Audrey Lenain, Rong Liu, Simon Miller, Ehsan Razavi Nejad, Wahida Nusrat, Steven Peralta, Deepa Kartik Coimbatore Prakash, Wilma Robinson, Samir Sadikhov, Corrine Shipway, Mitch Thompson, Peter Vien, Michelle Walker, Ben Watson, Darren Weir,…