AARP Services
reviews and complaints

My complaint is that I have only joined your medical insurance and I am getting phone calles that want my info over the phone about my numbers and I gave her my address that is all. She was foreign so her voice was hard to understand. If I have to deal with the India voice that I can't understand what am I suppose to do.? I didn't get this from my other insurance. i didn't get it from the man that came to my house to sell me the idea of changing to you. I want no more phone callsfrom foreign speaking people.

With a growing number of baby boomers aging into retirement and looking to make investments, a new wave of financial scams has plagued the nation's elderly.

An investigation conducted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, state regulators and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority found seniors falling prey to a myriad of tactics. One common tactic is the offer of a free lunch at seminars aimed at selling products; people are often told, however, that nothing will be sold. An investigation into these meetings prompted the Securities and Exchange Commission to hold a "senior summit" with the AARP to discuss investment fraud and abusive sales practices.
Still, four out of five investors age 60 and above got at least one invitation to a free investment seminar in the past three years, according to a recent survey by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation. The Canadian Association of Retired Persons found in 2005 that seniors lost about $2.5 billion annually to fraud and scams.

I received a mailing from AARP encouraging me to renew my membership and receive a FREE Travel Bag. I called AARP to find out when my membership expired, and was told in two years. I asked them why I had received this misleading mailing, leading me to believe it was time to renew my membership, and was told they want all of their subscribers to have the opportunity to get the FREE Travel Bag. I stated that this mailing was bordering on fraudulent, since most people will not call to check and see when their membership expires, and will believe that it is time to renew, thereby generating lots and lots of subscription money paid to AARP that didn't have to be paid. They noted the complaint and said they would take me off the list to be notified for membership renewal. I said they are supposed to be the watchdog for the senior citizens, and shouldn't be tricking the elderly into sending in money that isn't due. Didn't get anywhere with them but will not renew my subscription in two years when it is up.

There is an ad on the t.v . for a free cell phone, consumer pays only 10.00 a month if an AARP member.
I called. There is also a account bill as they say they have o check your credit, ask allot of questions, ...also asked for the last four numbers of my social security then all of my social security number.
i would give the whole number so the man said that since i have no credit (as I told him I only pay by cash or check as I am 76 years old and live on retired social security, he said they couldn't give me the phone or service.
something fishy there and i would suggest you people check this company your.
They could ruin your reputation etc.

Thank you.

Gail Grunert re: [protected]@sbcglobal.net

My Grandmother is a member of your service. Last night, while visiting she had told me about a bill that she has been getting for $192.00 repeatedly. She has had problems in the past with getting bills for reasons unknown to her, one of them was for $37.00 for dental coverage that she did not have. My grandmother is 94 years old, but she is still very much “with it” and pays her bills on time each month. I called customer service with her last night and no one can give me any reason as to why she owes this money?! The customer service rep (Amber) went back to 2009 when she thinks there were a few missed payments. Amber said that she would have the billing department send out a statement for 2009 and 2010 to show where the missed payments were. Now I get to go to my grandma’s bank to get her statements from 2 years ago and compare this for her since your company doesn’t have its ### together enough! Excuse my language, but I am getting to the point where I think your company is trying to rip of my 92 year old grandma. A: If you are going to bill ANYONE you better make damn sure you state exactly what it’s for. B: You should make damn sure your customer service reps know what it’s for. C: Don’t bill for issues that were 2 years ago! What kind of company takes 2 years to notice billing issue? What kind of company sends a bill, doesn’t explain why, and expects people to “just pay it”? How many old people are you taking advantage of?
Also my grandmother said that when she was having a billing issue in the past with the dental coverage, she said that each time someone was supposed to send a letter or a statement….that never happened. One of your reps told her to just pay it so it goes away. If I had known about this she would have never paid it! I want to let you know that my grandmother will not be paying that $192.00 until you explain and SHOW me proof as to why she owes that money. I have instructed her to pay nothing but her monthly premium of $54.00. I expect that I will receive those statements in 2 weeks or some sort of response. If not, than I will assume that you are in fact trying to rip off my grandma and I will find a lawyer.

We booked our 'discount' week at a hotel through AARP-Expedia online. After spending one night, the very nice desk clerk asked us if we had made the arrangements through Expedia/a travel agent or with a group for a specific reason? When we told her no, she informed us we were paying almost $200 more than their weekly rate for our 7 night stay that we booked online. So much for a discount! I will not use again.
PS- watch your car rentals as well. Same trip: when we picked up the car, they were going to charge us $300 for a car I got online for $190. We didn't figure it all out until we got in car and compared iPad online confirmation to receipt. Went back inside and heard, "this never happens". Needless to say, we waited until we got the same car for the cheaper price. But how many people do not pay attention? RIP OFF!

This happened to me today in south bend ind (Aspen dental) (One of many dentists aarp supposedly works with) as I was getting my teeth looked at.
The dentist office could not find who or where the claim was suppose to go after finding out the services are sub contracted out to other providers byaarp. Therefore I was refused serviced that the deluxe rider was suppose to cover.

I have had United Health Medicare Complete for many years .. when United Health kept aquiring smaller companies my plans were continually being switched on me without my knowedge or consent ..

The last switch is now with AARP Medicare Complete from Secure Horizons by United Health ... I have always had a PPO so I could use it on my travels, as I sometimes must travel out of state ..

First they messed up my plan by having me at a California address, which I never lived at .. then they messed me up by not getting me the card I needed, information I needed and so I had a few emergency services due to my condition of Multiple SClerosis ..

Now I fear they are messing up again .. I needed MRI's done as I had a relapse .. no problem .. but I now also need to start medication for the MS and my formulary has it as a listed item BUT the doctors need to fill out forms ? WHy, United Health, Secure Horizons, Pacific Care and AARP are all one company ..

There is no one "Brain" that connects my information .. I should not have to need approval for a medically necessary drug and am sick and tired of the screw ups .. when I call with my card, the Customer Service claims my Member ID does not exist .. Oh my God .. this is the same crap they pulled the last few years ..

Why doesn't someone investigate ? Or are you all filling your pockets from the money I pay for all my working life so I can get crappy service ?

AARP fraud, cheating seniors 8/3/2010

I booked four hotel rooms (Motel 6, in Lodi, California) on July 21, 2010 through the AARP Travel Center. It charged my credit card total $295. (Each room: $68 + tax $5.75=73.75 per night)

Strange enough, the AARP never sent to me via email a booking conformation, nor any sale slip or receipt. I downloaded from the web site a “cost summary”.

When our 8 travelers arrived at Motel 6 in Lodi, we found that the regular rate for rooms we booked is $49.05 ($45+tax 4.05). The manager of the motel said he doesn’t know why the AARP charged us $73.75. The Motel 6 has no business relations with the AARP, he added.

I called the AARP. It admitted that it has no relationship with Motel 6, but it booked through Expedia.com. Then I called Expedia.com. It said there is no any record or information about this transaction.

Our 8 travelers (all seniors over 70s) feel that the AARP has cheated us. Deeply disappointed and angry, we called the AARP many times asking it to refund us the difference of $196.20 ($49.05x4) it overcharged. But the AARP personnel, with bad attitude, refused to refund us. We strongly demand the AARP give us refund and apologize. We also advise all prospective travelers not to use AARP Travel Center’s service.

(In writing this complaint, we have all supporting documents).

James zhang on behalf of 8 seniors living in california.

The atmosphere at the Visalia, CA AARP Senior Employment Services was like that of a singles bar. Workers talking loudly to each other, or going out to smoke and gossip with the door open and smoke blowing right in the office waiting area!

They gave my mother a job one day and took it away from her the next. After having her jump throgh hoops for a week, they had her come in for an interview. "Just a formality, " they said. After "interviewing" her for almost an hour, they told her she didn't qualify for thier program even though they had been given all of her information a week in advance! How disappointing.

I was called by an AARP health care representative last year (or perhaps longer than that) and encouraged to join the AARP Rx plan ‘at no cost.’ I argued that I didn’t need another health plan; I was fully covered. ‘But this is FREE, ’ he said, ‘you won’t have to pay for a thing. It’s just added insurance for you.’ Aware that often, those things first advertised as ‘free’ eventually become not-so-free, I still maintained my content with what I had. He persisted. ‘Won’t have to pay for a thing, ’ he said. Clearly, he was on a quota. Eventually, I acquiesced.

Fast forward several months: I started getting monthly bills. I called. ‘I called. I don’t want this.’ I was told that I needed to pay one month’s premium. I said, I don’t think so; I never wanted this. More bills. I called. ‘I don’t want this; didn’t want it in the first place, never needed it, never used it. Etc.’ More bills. I mailed a letter off with the last one explaining my situation.

Today, I received a collection letter in the mail. My ‘outstanding’ bill was referred to a collection agency for non-payment. Ahh, NOW I see. The AARP isn’t that organization I was wont to think it was. It’s another money-making, bait-and-switch organization. What a disappointment.

Last August I signed up with the AARP Home and Auto Insurance Program and was very pleased with the coverage and premium that was being offered. I just recieved a bill for our new premium for our home owners insurance and it was increased by 23% for no apparant reason. No claims were filled. Never late on a payment. Execllent credit rating. I qualified for all of the available dicounts. Yet my insurnace was increased by 23%? I appears to me that AARP Home and Auto Insurance Program offers a "teaser" rate going in the first year and then hammers the consumer.

I contacted their customer service department and questioned this ridiculous increase. I was told that it was an "Industry standard" increase for my area. On further research I found that the average increase for my area was about 2.7%, a far cry from the 23%. I do believe that this is a dishonest business practice and that AARP need to start taking better care of their members by not promoting insurance companies that are obviously ripping people off.

After AARP's support of the Obama Care Health Plan I contacted AARP in writing and via telephone to cancel my membership since they obviously do not represent my best interests since anyone can clearly see that ObamaCare is not best for me or the country. Their support of this made their stance on the issue perfectly clear.

AARP never aske me or any other dues paying member what our position was on this issue. They took it upon themselves to decide for the memebership how we should think on this issue.

AARP did NOT cancel my membership and continues to send me Membership Renewal Information. This was my first year of membership and I will never renew. Since joining AARP I have gotten a barrage of mail selling every type of insurance you could possibly imagine. They send these marketing materials regularly under the guise of AARP. I have come to believe that AARP is nothing more than a mechanism to gather contact information to sell insurance. I do NOT want their insurance And, I do not want to be associated with the AARP organization or their political views.

I made an international reservation with an operator through AARP travel powered by Expedia. The reservationist misspelled my name but correctly spelled my wifes. I noticed this after receiving my confirmation. I contacted AARP travel powered by Expedia and after an hour on the phone they were able to correct the error. They also charged me $20.00 for this change.I feel that since AARP Travel powered by Expedia made the error that they should pay for the change.

I corresponded with Expedia. They were no help in resolving this problem.

Also very hard to understand repersentives.

Recommendation: when making airline reservation do not use Expedia or AARP Travel

I signed up for the aarp secure horizons Complete choice plan 2 which states on Medicares web site "any doctor' can be used. Further, the manual states "any doctor who accepts medicare' can be used. In reality, doctors will not accept this if they are not in their ppo network. This is deceptive. When you call them to inquire, they start by telling you again you can see any doctor. When you tell them your doctor refuses to take this, they then tell you "any doctor who accepts their plan and terms'. Don't get caught up in this deception. Lots of Advantage plans are lying about this. Humana actually states this up front "any one who will accept their plan".

I have been trying to get a "Rental Home Quotation" from AARP, where I already have my Auto and Home Insurance already. Unlike all other insurance companies, they refused to give a quotation over the phone but wanted me to complete an actual application that was received from them via U S mail after a week and I sent the complete application the next day and did not receive any response and hence called and they say they did not receive the forms by mail. I suggested an e-mail or fax to speed up the matter, but they refused it saying they operate even for a simple quotation of home insurance only VIA MAIL, in this computerized age of 21st century, where you can practically every thing, let alone a quote via e-mail or internet! When I wanted to complain about this, they have no actual phone contact of public relations officer that the attendant would not divulge (great secret!) nor there is any e-mail form of complaint and asked me to "write" a letter. They may have no work other than opening mails and responding after a month via mail, but I have better things to do than running to the post office and affix stamps etc in this internet age!

My Mother died Nov. 13th, 2009 under the impression her life insurance would pay . She
had paid 8 years but it is for 10. Mom was Bi-Polar and lost track of finance sometime.

After she went to the hospital in August 2009 I was not aware of this insurance and the monthly payment was not paid.

Mom went on to a nursing home then the last days in hospital Nov.9, 2009. In a panic
the next day she ask me to check insurance and catch up if needed.

She died unaware the $4, 140.oo paid in 7yrs and 8 months left her policy invalid on her
death.

This is the policy but if considering the different types of life insurance, please research
terms of each so your blood money will take care of you and yours.

Mom was cremated as the pauper she was and I now will always be

Joy R. Baldwin, left behind with broken heart