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...

[Tomsowa]

Well, I haven’t found the magic solution yet. At 4:30 Pacific time today I tried to win the Starbucks instant win. The system wouldn’t even let me play it.  WTH?  I just tried it at 10 am and it let me .... and of course I didn’t win.

SORRY NOT TODAY.... ON an endless replay loop in my life .....

[WesleyB545233]

I know how you feel.  I have been trying to win something for almost a year and not one win.  Seems like some members win multiple times and others never win.  What do we need to do to be in the winner's elite group?

[Tomsowa]

My ongoing "SORRY NOT TODAY" string has reached 545 failed attempts at the Instant Win.

My other hunch is that some economic concerns have hobbled the actual number of wins awarded by the company that manages the rewards program. Certainly, it might be a tougher economy for that firm -- don't really know yes or no. Winning seems to be in short supply, based on this thread. Something is behind that. Or am I a conspiracy nut?

[mi4090]

I've tried numerous times over the last year to no avail.  Last instant win was in 2019.

Could I be added to complaint list to receive an instant win?  Thanks😊

Marylin

[HokiePoq]

@mi4090   Sounds like a plan to me!  You were encouraging in the beginning when I didn't win anything for months and you got some $50 ones back in the day of the weekly wins.  We need to hear that AARP has looked into the integrity of the system.

[MichelleM50204]

I can't speak to any problems with the system or bots or anything else. I can say I am a paying member and have won instant wins multiple times (7 or 8 in last 6 months) as well as one of the sweepstakes. My dad (also a paying member) has never won an instant win but did recently win a sweepstakes. Just wanted to let you know that there are real members like us who are winning some rewards.

[BeachGirl23]

Thank you, Michelle. I am so glad to hear this. 

I participated in the sweepstakes for years, always the maximum number of entries and never won. I no longer do sweepstake entries. But I am happy to hear your dad won one.

[MichelleM50204]

Wow... So many questions... So here goes...

I generally max out the points I can accumulate in a day. I play any instant wins and sweepstakes that I could possibly use (there are some stores that don't have locations in my area or that I would never go to). I don't know about the changes to the system or when they occurred but I won my first instant win in October...the very first time I tried it. I have won at different times of the day but noticed that I seem to be more likely to win at night. Hard to say if there's anything to that since I've won 7 or 8 times in over 1000 tries. Most of them were last year but did win one both this month and last month.

As for the sweepstakes, yes I got my prize. Not to brag or anything, but I won $1,000 so I had to fill out tax forms and stuff. Even called AARP to see if it was real...but they don't manage the sweepstakes. The company that does isn't very good at communicating so I emailed them a couple times to see if they got my forms, etc. which they did respond to. Got the check via FedEx about 6 weeks later (required a signature). My dad just won this month so not expecting to have received it yet. The email address I used for the sweepstakes is customercare@helloworldfulfillment.com. The reply came from fulfillment@helloworldfulfillment.com.

Hope I answered all your questions and that this helps. Good luck!

[HokiePoq]

@MichelleM50204   Wow is right!   You have had amazing luck.   Congratulations!   Maybe your Midas touch will rub off on the rest of us.

[MichelleM50204]

I hope so!

[shamit]

I would also like to know if you received your sweepstakes win and when.  And has your father received his sweepstakes win.  A person posted on the Technology Forum under About Our Community that they won a sweepstakes and hadn't received it and it was passed the 10 weeks that they were told it would arrive.  My husband supposedly won a January sweepstakes and his email said he would receive an email to track the gift card which he would receive in 8 to 10 weeks.  Well on Friday it will be 10 weeks and he has heard nothing.  

I supposedly won a February Sweepstakes with the same information about an additional email and receiving it in 8 to 10 weeks.  I wonder if it will happen.  I am only at 5 weeks since being notified, so only half way there.  But it makes me wonder if I will receive it.

[11320cs]

@MichelleM50204       I think we would all like to know what time of the day you play.  You have won multiple instant wins.  I have tried to vary times when I play all seven, but have had no luck in trying that.  Someone mentioned trying a few in the am and a few in the pm, etc.  That has not worked for me either.  Nothing.  Please, what time of the day do you play?  

[JoLo49]

@11320cs   After the change for the Instant Daily Win to last 7 days,  there are now 7 times more chances to play for each gift card during the week, but less chance to win.  Six months ago, the odds were better when 100 of the same gift card was offered in a single day, and each person allowed to play once per day.   Now with 7 different gift cards offered each day, there are more entries for each gift card during the week.  The odds are not in our favor to win.  I would be interested to know if @MichelleM50204 won more of her gift cards before or after the change to 7 days.  I have not been able to win any gift cards since the change went into effect no matter what time of day I choose to play.  It's almost impossible to win!

[HokiePoq]

@JoLo49   Exactly the same with me.  I did win occasionally before the change.

[HokiePoq]

Well, I took advice given and lo and behold I won a $10 Instant Win Barnes and Noble in the wee hours of Sunday morning.  I was thrilled to see that confetti for the first time since October.   

But no email has come for me to redeem.  

Can anyone advise how to contact the rewards program to fix this?  

Maybe karma was getting me for complaining, lol.

Thanks in advance.   I cannot get the admins tagged for some reason.

[rednexsrus]

Hi HokiePoq, according to Terri its Rewards Help Line 

866-451-6305 M-F 7am-11pm

Good Luck

[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! 😉