impossible to win instant awards

[Tomsowa]

I'm deeply distrustful of the whole Rewards operation.

For one, I've gone through more than 400 consecutive Instant Wins and won nothing. NADA.

And why is that?  Anyone explain that?

And what about finding out some general information on who's winning the rewards sweepstakes? Is there any attempt on the part of the provider/operator or AARP Rewards to give out some information that explains there are real people winning the sweeps?

AND why can't the provider of AARP Rewards provide me a running total of my cumulative entries into a sweepstake? It used to do that, provide a running total on all my entries, but now it doesn't do that.

As always, I'm deeply skeptical of the people running this thing...

[MichelleM50204]

No email had happened to me before. Just call them and they will resend the email. You can also click the chat button on the website. I've done that too.

[JoLo49]

Congrats @HokiePoq on your Instant Win.

[Tomsowa]

Well, that shows there are some winners. But man, it sure does seem very chaotic and difficult. I’ve submitted close to 780 straight Instant Wins without a whiff of success over the past 15 months.

[Tomsowa]

How many points to you use or redeem per day @MichelleM50204?

It’s a rare thing, in my experience, to win that many instant wins within a short span. 

Sadly, I don’t feel comforted to hear about your experience on AARP Rewards. It further cements my belief that whoever’s running the system isn’t running it fair and transparent.

[BeachGirl23]

I did a visual scan of the instant winner's list yesterday which can be seen at:

http://winlists.helloworld.com/245438_IW.pdf

This list appears to have a rolling timeframe. It is now reporting winners between 12/31/20 and 3/31/21. I downloaded the file and searched for the names which stood out to me in February when I reported to @AARPTeri repeated winners - at that time some had winnings up to 20 times in the 3 month reporting period which at that time was Nov 11 to Feb 10. I reported this to her on Feb 22. Since then (period of Feb 11 to Mar 31), one of those repeated winners won 9 more times, 3 others won 6 more times. Miraculously, one which won 20 times during the period of Nov 11 and Feb 10 has only won 2ce between Feb 11 and Mar 31.  

If this sounds **bleep** to anybody out there, I'm a retired systems analyst with a degree in Math. So besides being old and like a dog with a bone, numbers and patterns are my thing!! 

I do not know how these people keep winning. I realize that there might be multiple people with the same first name, same first initial of the last name so perhaps these are not the same people winning but the very uniqueness of the first names followed by the first initial of their last name is how they stood out to me. I expressed my suspicion to @AARPTeri that somehow they were gaming the system and was hoping she could run a report on the instant winner file to confirm what I had found and perhaps see how this was happening with the wins. Clearly something is not right. Every time they win multiple times, one of us loses.

Like you, I had not won in well over 6 months. THEN, the day after I reported my findings to @AARPTeri, I won an instant win. Coincidence? Right. I did search the current file for my first name followed by the first initial of my last name and the current file says I won 3 times. I did not so clearly somebody else shares my name (very common) and the first initial of my last name (my last name is so common we may well have the very same full name). 

Hopefully I have not thrown a monkey wrench into our ability to see the Instant Winner's file. I just really want it to be fair for all the participants. Perhaps there should be a limit on the number of Instant Wins a person can get in a given month just as there is a limit on the number of points only items one can get in a month. Just a thought.

[HokiePoq]

@BeachGirl23   Thank you for the analysis.   I think going back to listing home town would help as well.    The thing with bots or whatever is rigging this system, is that they can use any number of email addresses.   To clean it up, it would have to be members only, town listed, etc.   Non members are eligible and one per person might not help  if it's a bot doing the damage.    No "real" cards going to real addresses, no town listed or address tied to winners, no membership requirement make it easy for crooks.   The seven day period made it difficult for the average person to win.     It sure didn't hurt the crooks.

[garyfish49]

Another excellent analysis by BeachGirl23, following up on her Feb. 2021 post in another thread which first revealed to us the issue of multiple Instant Wins by the same few people (apparently). I also appreciate the astute commentary and suggestions by HokiePoq.

To address the problem with Daily Instant Wins, I propose a couple initial actions to be taken by Admin to help restore confidence and satisfaction among users of the AARP Rewards program. First, Admin should promptly investigate the apparent pattern of repeated multiple wins and report on their findings (including number of Instant Wins by members vs. non-members) here in this discussion board. Second, Admin should restrict participation in the Daily Instant Wins (and Points-Only Gift Cards) to MEMBERS ONLY. After all, dues-paying Members are the ones that keep AARP going with our annual membership fees, donations, and other purchases.

That's my $0.02

[garyfish49]

A brief update on the extreme rarity of Daily Instant Wins for nearly all of us who play every day: Within an hour of when I posted my comment above, I scored an Instant Win on the $10 Bass Pro Shops gift card. This was only my 2nd Instant Win since October 2020.

That's gotta be a coincidence... right?!?

Weird...

[BeachGirl23]

Right. That's the exact same thing that happened to me when I reported my findings in Feb. My mother always told me 'the squeaky wheel gets the grease'. 

I sincerely hope these are just coincidences. But I am so happy you finally won!

[Tomsowa]

Well, good luck to everyone and if complaining makes you get a win, who am I to complain?

But if that's remotely true, that a complaint leads to an Instant Win, that's yet further proof this is a rigged system.  This is not transparent and honest. I'm trying to conceive of some collective protest or reaction by users that could force AARP to address this issue. I'm going to think about it for a week. AARP simply doesn't confront the issue head-on, trusting that no one will squawk or complain about it...

[garyfish49]

I have yet another update concerning our collective quest to get to the bottom of the wide disparity in the frequency of Daily Instant Wins. Just minutes ago I scored a $10 Kroger Instant Win gift card... this is just 2 days after I won a Bass Pro Shops GC shortly after expressing my frustration here on this discussion board about not winning during several months of daily playing. 

I'm at a loss to explain this. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, so I guess I have to attribute it to the luck of the draw. But still... I continue to have some lingering doubts about how level the playing field is.

Onward.

[JoLo49]

Congrats on your two wins @garyfish49 !  Add me to the list of complaining people, and I hope to win an Instant Win soon.  I didn't realize non-members were allowed to participate in the Daily Instant Wins.  The odds of winning an Instant Win are slim to none!  The rewards program should be exclusive to paying AARP members, otherwise, what is the incentive for non-members to become paying members??   I hope AARP will re-evaluate how the rewards program is being run and managed.  There have been more "take aways"  since the program started.  JMHO

[11320cs]

Likewise, I didn’t realize non-members could win Daily Instant Wins.  No wonder it is almost impossible to win one.  Someone can watch one video or complete one quiz and enter all seven Daily Instant Wins.  I guess it could be a member or non-member, but how is it fair for non-members to have the same chance to win as members of AARP? 

[k142667b]

Well add me to the list of complaining people! 😉

[SandyWeissent]

Add me, too, to this LONG list of complaining people.  This now feels like a total scam operation. Ugh. Where's the honesty gone from our Greatest Generation?

[JoLo49]

I agree, there is something fishy going on if someone is lucky enough to win repeatedly  20 times in a 3-month period and then continue to win multiple times in later months.  Statistically, this would be highly improbable.  I haven't won any Instant Wins since the change to 7 days because the odds of winning is so much lower now.  I hope AARP will investigate to ensure these repeated wins are really legitimate wins.  Limiting the number of monthly daily wins would be a good start.  Thanks @ BeachGirl 23 for investigating and alerting AARP admin. 

[Tomsowa]

It seems that list is maybe bogus? Thanks for the post. Good one, BeachGirl23.

I don't trust the company behind all the rewards. AARP switched the firms a few years back. It looks shady and nontransparent, in my view.

[ridgeviewfarm]

400 consecutive Instant Wins?  That's all?  I figure I do at least four a day, every day, and I've gone over a year without winning anything.  That's over 1,400 attempts!  I've asked this question before without answer:  When it says 100 cards, is that per eight days, per month, per year, forever,.....?  I'm guessing the latter.

[HokiePoq]

@ridgeviewfarm   I'm pretty sure it's per week per item.   There was no change in the number of instant win rewards, just leaving them up for a week to extract more points from the system and/or to make it look like there were more rewards.  The winners' list shows that I'm pretty sure.   You have the record for losses so far.  I did win some before they changed it to give you less chance of winning....and perhaps before bots took over.  I just suspect that given the info that was linked previously. I have no way of knowing except that the odds of one or more individuals winning multiple times are very small.

[garyfish49]

There has been a lot of dissatisfaction and suspicions aired on this discussion board about the Daily Instant Wins, going back over a year. There was a series of revealing posts on this topic in late Feb. 2021 which can be accessed at the following URL (beginning with the 2nd post):

https://community.aarp.org/t5/Earn-Activities/Daily-Instant-Win/m-p/2190045#M45

FYI, an "official" list of Daily Instant Winners (first name, last initial) from Dec. 31, 2020 through March 31, 2021 is available at:

http://winlists.helloworld.com/245438_IW.pdf

[11320cs]

I also think it is pretty much impossible to win an instant win.  I would like to know how the computer generated winning times works.  Does the computer pick pick around 14 wins in one day for each of the seven wins?  Or does the computer pick 50 in one day for a certain win such as an Amazon card?   Or, maybe the computer picks all 100 in one day.  Do they spread wins throughout the 24 hours or are all the wins in an eight hour period or some other period of time?  I doubt that it would help me win an instant win if I knew more about how the computer generated times actually worked, but it might give me an idea as to why I am not winning.  I did win some instant wins before they changed to the seven days.  And I have never won a sweepstakes and I generally enter sweepstakes everyday with the maximum entries.  Unlucky, I guess.

[JoLo49]

It seems to be more difficult to win since the change of each Instant Win to last for 7 days.   I agree with HokiePoq that there may be something going on if someone is lucky enough to win repeatedly.  AARP tech support should investigate if these are legitimate wins and that no fraud is going on.

[HokiePoq]

@Tomsowa   I have not won anything since the change to make them last a week, not a day.   Everyone is seven times less likely to win, i think.    And then there's the issue of the same entity winning repeatedly.   Someone called our attention to this a while back.   I say entity because I don't think a single individual would be that lucky....a bot more likely.   With email "cards" rather than cards mailed to a real address, it made fraud easier.  With rewards being electronic, it's my opinion that they need to be members only.   That way an address would be linked to the winners.  City and state should be listed on the winners' lists like they used to be.   Hello World has rolled out the welcome mat for fraud compared to the last operator.

[BrandonB608299]

Instant win games are based on random computer generated winning times, so my strategy has been to play at different times on different days and occasionally even spread out my daily entries (i.e. play 2 out of the 7 entries in morning, another 3 in the afternoon and the remaining 2 in the evening etc). I've had some luck doing that. 

The rewards program could definitely use some improvements, but IMHO it is still relatively generous and being run with integrity. 

[k142667b]

I've not won anything since Oct 2020.  Before that I did win a few instant wins, $15 at Lowe's and B&N and $5 at Amazon and Land's End.

[nancyian]

I think so many more people are playing that decreases your odds of winning.  Besides, I believe that non-members can also play. 

[k142667b]

So far this year 1.25MM points used on instant wins and sweepstakes, Zero wins.  Fingers crossed on the April results...

[gloriamic7]

I am also very frustrated with the system. I thought it was me. I stumbled onto this thread and now realize that I am in the same boat with everyone else. I actually stopped playing as it felt as though my account was flagged. 

I hope things change going forward so everyone has a better chance of winning. If not, maybe they should go back to the way it was before.