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Consumer advocate CHOICE has warned Australians off dud products from major retailers this End of Financial Year Sales (EOFYS) season.

The list of six duds from CHOICE’s exclusive lab tests includes products from major retailers such as Kogan, JB Hi-Fi and The Good Guys.

“End of Financial Year Sales are marketed to us as one of the big opportunities to pick up a bargain,” says CHOICE writer Alice Richard.

“But it’s worth remembering that this is the time of year that retailers try to fob off the dud products collecting dust on the shelves. CHOICE is releasing some of our exclusive lab results to help you avoid End of Financial Year Sale duds. No matter how cheap these products may get, they’re just not worth it.”

The Kogan EasyClean R10 Robot Vacuum KACOMROBVCA scored an abysmal 30% overall score in CHOICE’s lab test and The Good Guys is selling the FFalcon 40F1 Television which scored 58% – dead last in a test of over 40 televisions.

The FFalcon television is supposedly “priced to clear” at The Good Guys at $298 – the original price CHOICE tested the television at. The television also sells at JB Hi-Fi for $298.

“Cheaper brands promote themselves as offering alternatives that perform just as well as more premium products, but when we get these appliances in our labs for testing they’re often really inconsistent,” says Richard.

“Sometimes we do indeed see budget buys that can outperform more expensive ones, however sometimes, like with some of these Kogan products, they’re just not worth your money and will likely just end up in landfill before too long.”

Other products that appear in the list include an Omega dishwasher, Beko fridge and Haier washing machine. Read the full list at choice.com.au/EOFYS20

CHOICE is Australia’s non-profit consumer advocate and is celebrating 60 years in 2020. 

CHOICE is one of only 2 consumer advocacy organisations globally to operate its own independent labs to test the quality and safety of products.