By Kate Harvey
Writer | Kaituhi
Even Consumer NZ staff make shopping mistakes sometimes – here are the things we wish we hadn’t bought.
Bag covers that packed it in immediately
Standing at the front door, ready to embark on our family holiday, I was so proud of how organised I was. Inside our suitcases, everything was packed perfectly in packing cubes. Our passports were in their own little silicone cases. And the suitcases themselves looked cute because I’d put pastel-coloured covers from Kmart on them. A genius idea, I thought, because our black bags would no longer look like all the others on the carousel. And if a zip happened to bust, everything inside would still be contained.
As we walked down the driveway to catch the airport shuttle, it became clear I’d made a mistake. The covers kept slipping down and covering the wheels of the suitcase – so we’d be pushing them along and they’d just stop rolling. We repositioned the strap thinking we must have put them on wrong, but nothing stopped them from slipping. We got the bags on the plane but once we got to Aussie we decided the covers weren’t coming home with us again. At $15 each, it was $45 wasted.
I asked my workmates to share their own bad shopping decisions. Here’s what they said.
Stick vacuum that sucks
Treiah Raquid, Consumer’s digital experience designer, wishes she hadn’t got caught up in the moment and bought a cheap Kmart stick vacuum. “It was an impulse purchase when my partner and I were moving in together and buying everything we needed at Kmart. In hindsight, a very bad idea,” Treiah says. “It runs out of charge after two seconds, and when the rechargeable battery dies for good, you can't replace it, so you just have to throw the vacuum away.”
Don’t make the same mistake as Treiah! Kmart stick vacuums perform poorly in our tests, but it is possible to get a good stick vacuum for under $350.
Chicken that’s not so cheap
Sally Sexton, our human resources advisor, recently realised how much extra she’s paying for chicken breast when she grabs the Woolworths 3 for $20 packs. “I don’t know where my head was because it works out to more than $20 a kilo, which is a lot more than paying about $14 a kilo for chicken breast at Pak’nSave. My fault for not checking the weight!”
There must be a lot of people who feel the same way as Sally because just as we’re getting ready to publish this, Woolworths has announced the deal is no longer.
Unit pricing can help you save at the supermarket – it helps you not have to do any tricky maths in your head to work out what the cheapest option is.
3 appliances that lost their shine
Aneleise Gawn, senior advisor – legal and policy, has made the mistake many of us have made – buying a fun gadget for the kitchen that after a few uses ends up in the back of a cupboard. “I bought a Kmart waffle maker and it was a one-hit wonder. We only used it once or twice and then it just gathered dust in the kitchen. I sent it away with my daughter when she went flatting and now I think it’s gathering dust in her kitchen.”
Miranda Greeley, consumer services and office manager, has had the same experience with her Ninja Creami. It’s not that it’s bad – it’s just that it’s one of those things you stop using. “The noise is intense, which is a bit of a put-off. It’s also big so takes up a lot of space in my pantry. For the few times a year I use it, I don’t think it was worth what it cost. That said, I do intend to use it more this summer.”
For Dianne Long, our research and insights analyst, that neglected purchase is her Nutribullet portable blender. “It’s gathering dust in that far corner of my cupboard that I can only see from my tippy toes. I should have just got a benchtop blender and a travel mug.”
If, like Dianne, you’re in the market for a benchtop blender, we can help you find a good one you won’t regret buying. Check our reviews of 23 benchtop blenders.
We’d love to know what purchases you regret! If you’re a Consumer NZ member, let us know in the comments and save us all from making the same mistake!
