In its newsletters and magazines, in congressional testimony and on its website, AARP warns seniors about deceptive direct mail and other dubious marketing come-ons as part of its mission to protect members from financial abuses.
But the huge advocacy group’s own aggressive efforts to coax seniors to join or renew their memberships also have drawn a burst of criticism this year.
Angry members say AARP’s barrage of solicitation letters and social media posts can mislead or confuse aging consumers, some of whom struggle with memory and managing their financial affairs. Hundreds have complained about getting false warnings that their memberships would soon expire, and at least some people have unwittingly paid for duplicate memberships.
The critics include Kathy Portie, senior editor of the Big Bear Grizzly weekly newspaper in Southern California. In January, she received a sponsored post from AARP in her Facebook feed that read: “Your membership is about to expire. … ACT FAST – Time is running out.”
Her terse reply, mirroring the grievances of dozens of others who received the same post, was, “No it’s not. It is valid through 2020. So stop it.”
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In January, Fein wrote to the Better Business Bureau that she had discovered that her parents sent in a check to AARP five times after receiving mailings last year. “Every time,” she said, “they paid the $16,” which covers an annual membership for two.
Longtime AARP members Ruth and Richard Schwartz, pictured in their Nevada City, Calif. home. Their daughter, Wendy Fein, said they sent $16 membership payments to AARP five times after receiving mailings from the organization last year.
“For an organization that’s primary goal is senior advocacy, their practice of multiple renewal notices is the antithesis of this goal,” Fein wrote in her complaint to the Better Business Bureau.
Over the last three years, more than 425 complaints about membership solicitations have been received by the Better Business Bureau and consumer help websites, or posted as comments on AARP’s Facebook ads and online community forum. In the last three months alone, there have been more than 120 negative comments in response to AARP membership ads on Facebook. On AARP’s community forum, the renewal practices have been criticized as ” deceptive,” “a waste,” “stupid” and “an obscenity.”
AARP declined requests by FairWarning for an interview with a senior official to discuss complaints. Via email, AARP spokesman Josh Rosenblum said AARP membership cards include expiration dates. He said the group has discontinued some of the social media language that has been criticized. He also said members who complain about multiple renewal notices will get a single mailing 30 days before the renewal deadline.
“AARP is dedicated to listening to and caring for our 38 million members, but if an issue arises as it sometimes does, we take action to solve it and learn from it, which is why we have an A+ Better Business Bureau rating,” Rosenblum wrote.
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AARP is only one of the many membership groups, publishers and charities that bombard consumers with letters or online communications. Their reasoning is that “sometimes, people don’t see it the first time,” said Ira S. Kalb, a marketing professor at the University of Southern California.
Still, Kalb said, an organization like AARP has to be careful not to seem cavalier or irresponsible. “If it’s to provide you with good service and it’s time to update, that’s the positive side. If they’re taking advantage of elderly people, it’s not good. … Their reputation is based on protecting the elderly.”
That’s where AARP has gone wrong, critics say. In a recent email, Portie told FairWarning that “AARP is supposed to be an organization that protects seniors from scams, but I feel it’s hypocritical when they practice such questionable marketing tactics themselves.”
“Why can’t they say ‘Is your AARP membership about to expire?’ rather than ‘Your AARP membership is about to expire.’ Simple fix, right?”
Kathy Glaspy, 81, a retired accountant from Norwalk, Ohio, raises similar grievances.
“I have 3 memberships now and still get notices saying my subscription is about to expire,” Glaspy wrote in a comment on an AARP Facebook post.
Asked in a phone interview how often she gets renewal pitches, Glaspy said “too often,” and laughed. “I got another one just the other day telling me it’s about to expire – and I’m waiting for them to say it has and I’m going to … ask them which one, because there are just too many.”
Once known as the American Association of Retired Persons, and still mostly focused on members age 50 or older, AARP is a giant among membership groups. It also wields clout in Washington and in states across the nation. The annual $16 membership charge provides subscriptions to the organization’s magazine and newsletter as well as shopping discounts.
AARP declined to say how many people might have inadvertently paid for multiple memberships. (Full disclosure: My wife and I recently discovered that we have had two dual memberships for several years. We recently received multiple warnings that one was about to expire, even though we paid for a five-year renewal on the other membership last June.)
AARP’s January Facebook post warning people that their memberships were about to expire brought a flurry of protests. While AARP says its renewal alerts on Facebook begin 60 days before memberships are due to expire, many of those who complained said they had been inundated by AARP’s mailed notices far earlier.
“You obviously have my address where you send a half dozen prods, requests, orders. And postage is not a problem for you,” responded Agnes Schaefer of Livingston, Mont., on Facebook.
“I’m 92 and never know if I will make it through to the next year. However, after six months, I start getting mail saying my membership is about to expire,” Schaefer explained in a phone interview. “You can write and ask them not to and you’re completely ignored. I’m furious with those people.”
This AARP post on Facebook in January triggered a burst of criticism from consumers who complained about the “Your membership is about to expire” wording. One AARP member, Kathy Portie, replied, “No it’s not. It is valid through 2020. So stop it.”
Even though it gives AARP its highest rating, the Better Business Bureau reports receiving more than 400 complaints over the last three years, with roughly 40 percent concerning excessive mailings or similar membership issues. The BBB said its grading formula takes into account such factors as the number of complaints, the size of the enterprise and its responsiveness.
When it comes to questionable marketing tactics by others, AARP takes a firm stance. In its mission statement, AARP describes itself as a “social welfare organization” that “fights for the issues that matter most to families — such as health care, employment and income security, and protection from financial abuse.” AARP’s publications over the past year have warned readers about “holiday shopping scams” as well as crooked car repair shops and technical support services.
AARP officials have also testified in Congress about misleading mailings that target seniors.
“The Association has had a longstanding interest in the issue from both the legislative and consumer perspectives,” declared then-AARP board member Betty Severyn, at a 2001 hearing before the Subcommittee on Social Security of the House Ways and Means Committee.
“Many of these mailings exploit the sensitivities and vulnerabilities of older Americans, their faith in the government, and their concern about finances,” said Severyn, who died earlier this year. “AARP believes that all citizens should be educated about and receive adequate protection from fraudulent, deceptive and misleading mail.”
Clarification: An earlier version of this story did not mention that AARP membership cards include expiration dates.
I have been an AARP member for about 10 years and perhaps because I renew for 5 years at a time, I have not received an overabundance of mailed offers. I simply renew with the first renewal reminder and they stop. Perhaps, AARP is overly aggressive in its attempts to retain members that don’t renew or considering canceling. Whenever I stop a subscription to a magazine (which is frequent, since most are online), I do get a barrage of we want you back offers, so AARP probably isn’t much different. If that’s the case, they might want to tone it down.
I take advantage of the hotel and rental car discounts, which save me the member fee many times over. The newsletters are interesting, and they have valuable info on their website. I also appreciate that they advocate for senior rights. I realize that they take advertising in their newsletters, magazine, and website to support their organization, but very few organizations don’t.
AARP is a political organization that I refuse to join or support. If you don’t join, after a few years they will stop sending junk.
AARP renewal notices include a fake card that looks like the real card, except they do NOT have the expiration date on them.
So when member opens up renewal notice, the card DOESN’T HAVE expiration date on it.
All members get one renewal notice 6 months before expiration of membership, then another notice is sent 2-3 months before expiration. Some members, not all, will get notices every month from 6 months till expiration date, which is a lot.
BUT THERE ARE OTHER NOTICES AARP ALSO SENDS OUT: AARP also sends out something called Membership Order Form which goes to all mailboxes. It is considered “advertising mail” and can’t be stopped. So someone who is paid up to say 2023 might get this in their mailbox.
Some of these mailers even have a clear window on them just like a bill.
Another mailer is the “Renewal Commencement Form”, which also goes to all mail boxes, is an advertisement mail and can’t be stopped. Can you see how the wording would make someone think they have to renew?
The mailers don’t include the phone number to AARP.
Some members have insurance with AARP so they can get very anxious about their memberships expiring as their insurance often is tied to the membership.
Sometimes members or non members get invoices they didn’t ask for or don’t remember asking for, and it is unnerving for them. These will say 1st notice, or 3rd etc… and the wording is rather severe.
Yes, AARP puts the expiration date on the permanent card, but the fake cards in the notices do not have the expiration date.
I work for a call center that takes incoming calls for AARP. The majority of the calls that I take involve exactly what you are referring to in your article.. Deceptive mailings telling members that their membership is about to expire. Those of us who are answering these calls often have what is called a “star offer” that we have to offer to the member on all of these calls, even if the member is calling in to complain about renewal notices. Most of the “star offers” are asking the member if they would like to renew or if they would like to be set up on automatic renewal. A lot of these members have memberships that are good anywhere from a year out to six years out or more. If we do not offer the “star offer” then we are written up for insubordination and can be terminated for not making the offer. We sympathize with these members and all of the mail they are receiving to renew their membership. Obviously the name and email address I am giving below are fictional as I do not want to be terminated from my employment
My first and to be only AARP membership caused an overwhelming blast of spam of every type — phone, post, e-mail. Tiny fine print on their website allowed me to unsubscribe from this junk. Now they are spamming my 19 year old grandchild. AARP membership did nothing for me. As RD Blakeslee said, AARP has become self-serving trash.
A self-serving insurance selling outfit, not representative of senior’s interests anymore.
They used to enclose prepaid mailing envelopes with their incessant mailings, so at least you could tear up and mail back their garbage,but now you have to dispose of it with the rest of your trash.
Thank you for this article. I just went through this with my mother, who received the same “your membership is expiring” letter. No, it’s not expiring for another 18 months. AARP should be required to say in its letters WHEN the membership is expiring. It’s so surprising to me that this group, which has good Medi-gap insurance (although price keeps rising), would jeopardize its reputation with this bush-league practice of over-solicitation/dishonest letters.
I have complained about this more than once. I’m ‘only’ 66, so I’m still able to keep my finances organized, but I’ve been concerned about those who cannot and send money even when they are completely paid up….and now this article confirms this. I have sent back the duplicate billings with notes asking them to stop sending these until our membership is truly due in March … obviously no one reads these notes!!! We are tempted to not renew our membership next year because of this and because we VERY SELDOM use their benefits.
Thank you for this article.
I agree that AARP ought to be holding themselves to a higher standard, but laws regarding both junk-mail (e.g. solicitations through the mail) and telemarketing need to be beefed up and given teeth.
The telephone companies shouldn’t be allowing “Liz” the robo-caller to be spoofing numbers on Caller ID or to be calling me repeatedly when I’m on the “Do Not Call” list. (I trust I am not the only one that she calls multiple times every week.) They are technologically complicit in such illegal behavior and should be held accountable.
The junk-mail industry is similarly dependent on technology and is aided and abetted by technology companies that should be brought to rein. The technology companies’ role in this does not fall under free-speech protection. They are selling data that should not belong to them. They acquire it through theft, fraud, and coercion. If I used any of those three methods to acquire something from someone on a street corner, the police would arrest me. Why shouldn’t these companies held to the same standards?
I imagine that AARP’s problem is that they contract for subscription services. The fact that this behavior is the industry standard is probably the reason that they end up being associated with it. The service being offered to AARP and others is not free-speech and thus should be throttled by regulation. There has to be accountability.