July 17, 2022 11:00am by David Farrar

Consumer vs Re-Stor

Consumer NZ’s product test and studies can be helpful for buyers looking to get the best bang for their buck.
But Re-Stor chief executive Grant Taylor says he believes the watchdog’s testing is flawed, and can damage the public reputation of a poorly scoring brand.

Of course. That is a feature, not a bug.

Consumer recently released its annual laundry detergent findings. It found Re-Stor Concentrated Laundry Detergent Sheets performed poorly. The product was rated lower than a wash with only water, landing it firmly on the “do not buy” list.

Consumer tested 55 detergents. The highest scoring ones got 91%, 88% and 74%. Ecostore which we use got 74%. Re-stor got bottom of all 55 with a score of 26%. Consumer test ten different types of stains for removal including grass, olive oil, tomato, baby food and blood.

Taylor said the brand had done rigorous testing itself, and gathered consumer feedback that had rated it at 4.5/5 on cleaning effectiveness.

Consumer feedback is not scientific. Many users won’t bother giving feedback.

He said the Consumer findings were “historically flawed” and it had misled the public with its pricing statements.
The company is now in clean-up mode – attempting to rectify the negative publicity.
“We’ve contacted Consumer to correct their outlandish comments immediately and will consider taking legal action.”

I have no idea what historically flawed means but I do not that “consider” taking legal action means they won’t.

Consumer NZ product test manager Paul Smith said it was standing by its testing, which was conducted in an independent lab.
“We have been testing laundry detergents for a decade and are proud to provide the results free to the public. We think it is important consumers have an independent source of information about the quality and performance of laundry detergents.”

Independent is the key. This is why I subscribe to Consumer.