I don't know what the people at Choice Australia are smoking but their latest claims that the Apple iPod is one of the "shonkiest" products sold in Australia this year is pure publicity seeking.

The decision by Choice to award Apple a gong in their latest awards puts the credibility of Choice Australia well and truly on the line as organisations like JB Hi Fi, Harvey Norman and the Apple dealer channel are reporting little if any problems with the iPod.

Choice said it had received several complaints about iPods having cracked screens, faulty batteries and problems with sound production as well as difficult ties when it came to getting them repaired. Choice did not return any of SH calls when we called them seeking the names of any one of the so called people who have complained.

A spokesperson for online CE web site Digital Home said "We have sold hundreds of iPods and have only had one complaint in 18 months". Rutland Smith the General Manager of IT for Harvey Norman said "The claims by Choice surprise me as we have no problems with iPod returns and we sell thousands". A Harvey Norman store Manager in Sydney said "This is a pure beat up. The iPod is as solid as a rock with litttle if any returns. we have more returns on LCD TV's than iPods".

The industry average for the failure of IT products worldwide is 2% the failure or problem rate for the Apple iPod according to Apple Australia is significantly less than 1%.

According to Apple Australia marketing director Rob Small every iPod complaint has been handlled by the Company.
He said "When we first had problems with the iPod Nano we gave every customer who complained a brand new product. We have met all our obligations and I do not believe that there are any complaints with any Fair Trading organisation in Australia re Apple. If Choice supplies us with the names of all the people who they are claiming has a problem we will contact them and resolve their problems or concerns".

He added "All our research shows that we have a very high level of customer satisfaction. Any customer who has a problem can return a product via Australia Post"

 Choice, which has a reputation for wild claims, slammed the iPod at an awards ceremony held at the NSW Art Gallery today. They also named 9 other products as being Shonky. They were.

Oxygen4life Oxygen Therapy in a Bottle. Ten millilitres a day of the product's "bio-available oxygen" purportedly "enhanced quality of life".

 Nuk Starlight Silicone Soother, a dummy that was considered a choking hazard for children.

Life Miracle's Magnetic Laundry System, which featured two magnetic balls that you put in your washing machine instead of detergent. They cost $80.

Choice said: "Washing with balls and plain water had about the same cleaning effect as washing in plain water alone. Why you'd want to add $80 worth of magnetic balls is one of life's true miracles. "We've received a number of reader stories of horrified parents finding their distressed baby with the dummy fully in their mouth," Choice said.

Choice said: "Or you could breathe - which is widely regarded as the best way to take in oxygen. The product cost $55 for a 250 millilitre bottle of de-ionised water, Atlantic sea salt and bio-available oxygen.

- Seagers Gin and Tonic with a squeeze of lime. Sounds quite good, except there is no gin in the ready-to-drink can. There is vodka instead, which kind of makes up for it except for the fact there is no quinine [which makes tonic water "tonic"] or lime either.

- Mean credit cards. Choice said eight major credit card providers were playing nastry tricks with interest rates on their customers.

- Lean Cuisine Purely Fish range. The only thing this product was lean on was its fish content - just 48 per cent.

"To call your product "Purely Fish" is so fishy you're asking for a Shonky," Choice said.

- Black And Gold Meat Pie. When is a meat pie not a meat pie? When it has 25 per cent meat content. This one had just 17 per cent, "which is not only shonky, but un Australian," Choice said.

- Aldi Mezzo MWM7 and Homemaker HMWM7 washing machines. These two washing machines cost less than $400 but Choice said they were the worst they had seen out of 30 when it came to actually cleaning clothes. But it did note that "at least the machine is very gentle on clothes".

-iRobot Roomba robot vacuum cleaner. Choice said this gadget, designed to vacuum your house by itself, was almost useless on carpet, ridiculously slow on hard floors and annoyingly noisey.

"But what really made us doubt was its dirt redistribution feature: when its small dirt container starts filling up, every time it bumps into a wall or other obstacle a little heap of collected dirt falls out again," Choice said.

Ironically none of the organisations slammed by Choice subscribe to Choice or were major International brands like Apple.