Choice (Chippendale, Australia) articles from July 2003

Choice (Chippendale, Australia) archives from July 2003

The decreasing value of health insurance.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... On page 14 you'll find the results of our latest survey of 133 hospital insurance policies. While our Best Buys aim to help you choose a policy that covers what you need at a reasonable price, we're increasingly concerned about the falling...

Peanut allergy treatment on the horizon. (choice cuts).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... For countless people around the world, even trace amounts of peanut in food can cause a fatal allergic reaction. A new treatment has just been unveiled that may make this a thing of the past. The June issue of CHOICE Health Reader reports...

Got a real estate SAGA to tell? (choice cuts).
July 1, 2003... CHOICE is investigating consumer satisfaction with real estate agents' services. If you sold or bought a house (or unit, townhouse, etc) through a real estate agent within the last two years, we'd like to hear about your experiences via our...

Want to work for choice? (choice cuts).(job available at Choice)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... If you live in Sydney and are looking for part-time casual work that's both interesting and challenging, CHOICE and CHOICE Online could have just the job for you. We're looking for someone to assist in checking data and reports for...

Real tomatoes? (choice cuts).(truss tomatoes more expensive)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Why are truss tomatoes more expensive than other types, ponders the Austrian magazine Konsument. After all, you might think harvesting costs should be lower since they're picked in trusses, and you pay for the stems as well. The magazine...

Wins for consumers. (choice cuts).(Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's ruling on two products)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... In our washing machine and dishwasher articles we've mentioned in the past that manufacturers' claims (for the amount of washing or number of place settings their machines can fit) are sometimes stretched, resulting in better energy and water...

Let us get the best deal for you. (choice cuts).(Choice magazine offers service to find best price)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... CHOICE Shopper is a no-cost service we provide to personal CHOICE subscribers. Here's how it works: call us on 1300 360 655 (9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday, wherever you are in Australia) with the full brand and model details of the...

Dangerous yoyo ball. (choice cuts).(toy could cause strangulation)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The yoyo ball looks innocent enough: a brightly coloured, soft, rubbery, jelly-like toy ball with a 25-30 cm elastic strap with a finger loop attached. When a child puts their finger through the loop and throws the ball, it's supposed to return...

World consumer snapshot. (choice cuts).(new weedkiller and prawn peeler)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... NOT SO NIFTY NEW PRODUCTS The Dutch consumer magazine reports on a weedkiller promoted for its ergonomic and environmental benefits: a gas-operated wand that lets you burn away weeds without having to bend down or use chemicals. Excellent...

Community groups rate top 100 companies. (choice cuts).(Reputation Measurement to undertake analysis of top 100 Australian companies)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Reputation Measurement, a private research company specialising in corporate reputation and social performance research and analysis, has brought together a group of 21 community organisations to assess Australia's top 100 companies in terms of...

Credit card fraud warning. .(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2003... Last September a person got hold of our credit card number and obtained nearly $2000 in goods and cash advances. We still had our cards, and police suspect the thief may have obtained our details from discarded transaction slips in merchants'...

Too many PINs to remember. .(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2003... With my latest credit card statement, I received the bank's updated guidelines for card and password security, which lists seven steps cardholders must take to protect their PIN and six ways in which one mustn't attempt to record it....

Cancel your card in time. .(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2003... For some years I've had two extra credit cards for overseas travel, in case my usual card doesn't work at a foreign ATM. Now that banks have introduced annual fees on these cards, I decided to cancel them, but just as I was about to do so, I...

Thumbs up!(examples of good customer service)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... * Roy Fenderson, via internet, encourages others to negotiate with appliance manufacturers when problems arise shortly after the warranty's expired. He did and saved himself around $90 for a service call that Miele agreed to pay when his...

Are you being served? Food costs have risen by 13% since our last survey--so why have prices in a few supermarkets gone up 18% or more? (Survey: supermarkets prices).
July 1, 2003... IN A NUTSHELL * If your supermarket has local competition, where you shop isn't likely to make much difference to what you pay. * A few individual supermarkets showed increases in the cost of our grocery items much higher than...

You asked ... (food bites).(marbled meat contains saturated fat)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... A subscriber who'd attended a cooking demonstration recently emailed us because he heard a well-known Australian chef say that marbled beef contains no saturated fat. Unconvinced, he wrote to us to check. In fact, 'marbled' just means the...

Everything old is new again. (food bites).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... A disease well-known to our grandparents could be making a comeback. Iodine is an essential nutrient and once plenty of people were deficient in it. They developed the most visible sign of iodine deficiency, goitre (an enlargement of the...

I'll have my bugs, with white wine chaser. (food bites).(does white wine help to prevent food poisoning)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... We've all heard about the studies that show red wine is good for us--all those valuable antioxidants, you know. Now, US researchers have come up with a study that might give white wine drinkers a boost. Following up on the anecdotal...

Sick of hospital insurance? Shocked by premium rises and benefit changes? Take stock and use our latest Best Buys to find a policy that suits your needs and budget. (Report: hospital insurance).
July 1, 2003... Like many health fund members, earlier this year Jodie and Craig Thomas received a letter from their insurer informing them that the cost of their hospital and ancillary cover had increased. While the average increase was 7.4%, Jodie and...

What's wrong with the health system: the answer is a complex mix of government policies and corporate priorities. What needs to change? (Report: health system).
July 1, 2003... Two big questions face anyone worried about the health system in general, and private health insurance in particular. How does government policy affect the community overall--including the 55% of Australians who don't have any health cover? And...

Backphone follies: cool looks aren't so stylish without a good bass. (Test: headphones).(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... Headphones with a strap designed to go around the back of your head are generally called backphones. The idea is that they're easier to wear when exercising, wearing a bicycle helmet or just getting around than more traditional headphones with...

Off-the-plan can go off the rails. (hip pocket).(new home-buying tips)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Sonia Lloyd of Sydney wants to warn other people about one of the problems you might encounter when buying property off-the-plan. "I entered into an off-the-plan purchase two years ago with an understanding it would be complete by July...

What goes up ... keeps going up. (hip pocket).(bank fees)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Did you know Australian households paid $2.7 billion in bank fees in 2002? That was an increase of 17%, with around a third being paid out on housing and personal loans. Another third of those fees were taken from our deposit accounts. The...

One small step for financial planners. (hip pocket).(Financial Planning Association forms consumer taskforce)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Congratulations to the Financial Planning Association (FPA) for forming a consumer taskforce to assist with its reform program. The Australian Consumers' Association (publisher of CHOICE) has agreed to take part in the taskforce, along with...

Deposit account transaction charges of the major banks ($). * (hip pocket).(Brief Article)(Illustration)
July 1, 2003... DEPOSIT ACCOUNT TRANSACTION CHARGES OF THE MAJOR BANKS ($) * Fee 1995 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Account servicing (per month) (A) 2.00 3.50 3.75 3.75 3.75 5.25 Fees per excess ...

From the pumpkin patch ...: it's a cold winter's day, you're hungry and don't feel like cooking--how about a steaming hot bowl of ready-made pumpkin soup? (Pumpkin soup).
July 1, 2003... There's nothing quite like a bowl of steaming hot soup to warm you up on a cold day. Vegetable-based soups are a good choice from a nutrition perspective--add a bread roll (without loads of butter) and you've got a complete meal. But gone are...

Should you make the energy switch? Most Australian households are now able to choose who they buy their electricity and/or gas from. But is a change worth the hassle? (Energy providers).
July 1, 2003... Most Australian households now have the power of choice about which company they buy their electricity and natural gas from. You're no longer stuck with a retailer depending on where you live, but can shop around for the best offer. The...

An indoor barbecue? Are the days of sizzling your sausages using your oven grill or frypan over? (Test: 'health grills).(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... If you watch daytime or late-night TV, chances are you've seen some of these so-called 'health' grills advertised as the ultimate in low-fat cooking. In fact, there's very little difference between using one of these grills and your oven grill...

Mobile phones: feature-packed, but does the phone itself work well? (Test: mobile phones).(Buyers Guide)
July 1, 2003... Despite the marketing hype for new functions such as built-in digital cameras or even video cameras, making phone calls is still what most people use their mobile for. Our latest test of mobile phones shows how well they do it, and reveals that...

Cheap vacs: proof that you don't need to pay more to get a good performer. (Test: vacuum cleaners).(Buyers Guide)
July 1, 2003... Vacuuming's still a chore, but the good news is that you don't need to spend a fortune to buy a cleaner that does the job well. We tested some of the cheapest models we could find on the market--11 barrel and two upright models. The...

Recalls & bans.(consumer product recalls)
July 1, 2003... Nowadays there are so many product recalls we may not be able to print all of them in CHOICE. For comprehensive recall information go to the Federal Treasury website: www.recalls.gov.au. If you don't have web access, call the Consumer Safety...