When incompetence becomes indistinguishable from a scam
INCOMPETENCE MASQUERADING AS A SCAM #1:
Expedia-AARP.com sent me an email offering a 10% discount for a hotel stay. Book before 12/31/25 and stay anytime before the cutoff date in 2026. I booked a 10-day hotel stay -- but there's nowhere to enter the coupon code (PACKYOURBAGS) on the reservation or payment page.
I attempted to resolve this with their chat representative. She referred me to the "terms and conditions" page which plainly states that there's a link to click on the reservations page to enter the coupone code. There is no such link. There is no option anywhere on Expedia-AARP.com to enter a coupon code when booking a hotel.
INCOMPETENCE MASQUERADING AS A SCAM #2
Harford Insurance offered a free travel tote in return for requesting a quote and providing an email address. I did so several months ago. No travel tote. This is low-level, used-car-salesman level lying.
MY RESPONSE:
My AARP membership renews next month. I've turned off automatic renewal. Easy way to eliminate incompetence masquerading as scams from my life.