Buyer Beware!!!

[GregoryM47416]

Buyer beware when using the AARP Rewards site for Gift Card Purchases!!!

I recently became an AARP member (Oct '24) and made my first purchase from the AARP Rewards Gift Card site on Wednesday 11/6/24. I purchased three AIRBNB gift cards, with a value totaling $1500 and total cost to me of $1425. At the completion of the online purchase I received the confirmation that the transaction was successful that it could take up to 1 day to receive the digital gift cards. I did not receive the gift cards that same day and waited 24 hours before I began the process on 11/7/24 of contacting Customer Support for Assistance. I completed the steps in checking my Spam folder where no email was diverted to my spam folder.  I confirmed that my CC was charged the $1425 immediately upon completing the online gift card purchase. When I reached the 1st customer service rep, I was told that "there is a problem with your purchase order and I will need to send a request to our escalation team" I inquired as to what is a "purchase order issue" and he noted that he can only see this verbiage in the system and wasn't sure what this meant. He noted that it could take 3-5 business days for someone to contact me and assist in resolving. I explained that my purchase was intended to cover an upcoming trip that we had booked through the AIRBNB site and the purchase of the gift cards was to cover an upcoming final payment due on 11/8/24...which is today. Subsequently I spoke to three additional customer service representatives (one a supervisor) within the same dept., but each time was told that my transaction was encountering a "Purchase order issue."  I asked when was their system noted that was a purchase order issue and was told by the supervisor that this verbiage is not actually in the system...they do not know what the issue is and my only course of action is to wait for a reply from the escalation team....as of this note I have not been contacted by anyone.  Please note the below before purchasing as well as renewing or becoming an AARP member.

* There are numerous comments noted on these community pages for the very same issue that date back many months. This is a known ongoing issue with their site with no company acknowledgment that the issue has been resolved.

* When contacting AARP Rewards Customer Service regarding and issue with not receiving digital GC, representatives are scripted to use the verbiage "There is a problem with your purchase order", when in fact there isn't anything noted in the AARP system that shows what the issue is.  The only time an AARP is aware there is an issue is when you contact them and make them aware. It is not ethical to tell a member this when in fact they do not know what the issue is that caused the problem. 

*Once an issue is noted and assigned a case# by AARP Customer Service, you will go into a waiting mode with no options other than waiting on an email explaining what your call to action is.  

* I would not recommend using the AARP Rewards site for larger $$ gift card purchases, particularly those that are tied to a very specific merchant.  

* My experience as a new member with a first transaction has been extremely poor.....BUYER BEWARE!!!

[Karyn8]

 I'm baffled why you'd spend $1475 for a $1500 dollar purchase. That's not much of an incentive to me.

[GregoryM47416]

I mistyped…it was actually $1425 for $1500 in gift cards. 

[RussellP197074]

Here we go again.  I posted the reason for this issue many months ago, but nothing has been done to resolve it.  I went through the same issue.  What I found was, that the credit card I was using for payment did not have the same name as the name I was registered to AARP with, the difference being one having my middle initial and the other not.  The problem is not with AARP, but with the company they contracted with to run their rewards program a few years ago, when they went through a major overhaul of the Rewards program.  It's called "Hello World!".  The only solution for the user is to test your purchasing with a small amount until you find one of your credit cards that works before you make any large purchases. 

[RussellP197074]

I'm hoping this major update that is being worked on right now is to go back to the old company that managed the rewards system.

[AARPConsumerCare]

@GregoryM47416 I'm terribly sorry to hear about the frustration you've experienced using the AARP Rewards program to purchase those gift cards. Please know that orders missing sufficient information to ensure the order is valid and orders that encounter payment issues may take longer to resolve. I invite you to review the complete AARP Rewards terms & conditions on our site here: https://www.aarp.org/about-aarp/rewards-terms-and-conditions/?cmp=SNO-LITHIUM---&socialid=1519640160.... You can expect to receive an email once our Consumer Care Ombudsman team reviews your case. I appreciate your valued membership in the AARP family and I hope that you give the AARP Rewards program another try once your account is back on track. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you need anything further.  - Janelle M.

[GregoryM47416]

Janelle - Thank you for your response.  However, I do take issue with your comments.... "Please know that orders missing sufficient information to ensure the order is valid and orders that encounter payment issues may take longer to resolve" 

Neither item noted in your response above are issues with my order!  In fact, I recieved a confirmation notification at the end of my purchase that stated "Your order was completed successfully." In addtion, payment was confirmed with my cc company that the payment was made to "AARP Rewards 601 E Street NW 866-451-6305 20049 DC USA" as the merchant of record. Furthermore, your Customer Service Team confirmed that the transaction was completed successfully and then noted that they have encountered multiple issues with GC purchases through the Rewards site.  

This is clearly an issue within your process/system and procedures that negatively impacts the members of AARP.

Please note as of the time of this response it has been 2 days/48 hours since I purchased the GC and @ 36 since your customer service team sent a "Urgent" request to your escalation team asking them to reach out to me....I have had no response via email or phone!  

[ShaneH379835]

did you ever get this resolved? I just ordered Airbnb gift cards and they have no arrived and like you need them to pay for a stay we were trying to book last minute. I feel like this was a huge waste of money. 

[GregoryM47416]

This has not been resolved!  As I noted above, this issue was "escalated" by the front line Rewards customer service team last week. On Monday of this week, 11/11, at 5:15 pm, I received an email from the Consumer Care Ombudsman Team, stating that they were escalating the issue to the AARP technical team. The email also contained a link to the AARP Rewards terms and conditions. I responded to the email asking for them to cease the pursuit of my issue and that I have contacted my CC company and disputed the charge as the GC were never received.  Yesterday, Tuesday 11/12, I received another email at 5:15 from the same team, stating that my email was forwarded to the same AARP technical support team.  As of this note, I have not had any other contact from AARP. Minimally, this is extremely poor customer service, coupled with business practices that fall well short of the expressed commitments AARP conveys to operate within when dealing with thier members.  

[AARPConsumerCare]

@GregoryM47416 I'm so sorry this has not been resolved yet. Let's take a look at your Rewards account and escalate again if needed. Please send me a private message with your full name, complete mailing address and email address. You may need to enable your private messages, here is an article with steps to do that: https://aarp.info/47hWcl7.  - Janelle M.

[ShaneH379835]

thanks for your response. wow thats truly unbelievable, and like you said terrible business practices. I will definitely be disputing the charge as soon as it posts since my 24 hours is almost up and I doubt they'll ever show up! best of luck 🙂