AARP accused of hard-sell practices like those it warns about

In its newsletters and magazines, in congressional testimony and on its website, AARP warns seniors about deceptive direct mail and other dubious marketing come-ons as part of its mission to protect members from financial abuses.

But the huge lobbying group’s own aggressive efforts to coax seniors to join or renew their memberships also have drawn a burst of criticism this year.

Angry members say AARP’s barrage of solicitation letters and social media posts can mislead or confuse aging consumers, some of whom struggle with memory and managing their financial affairs. Hundreds have complained about getting false warnings that their memberships would soon expire, and at least some people have unwittingly paid for duplicate memberships.

The critics include Kathy Portie, senior editor of the Big Bear Grizzly weekly newspaper in Southern California. In January, she received a sponsored post from AARP in her Facebook feed that read: “Your membership is about to expire . ... ACT FAST — Time is running out.”

Her terse reply, mirroring the grievances of dozens of others who received the same post, was, “No it’s not. It is valid through 2020. So stop it.”

Wendi Fein fumes about the experience of her octogenarian parents, Ruth and Richard Schwartz. She said the two, who live in Nevada City have cognitive issues but, like many in their generation, pay their bills promptly without asking questions.

In January, Fein wrote to the Better Business Bureau about discovering that her parents sent in a check to AARP each time they received a mailing last year — five times in all. “Every time,” she said, “they paid the $16,” which covers a membership for two.

The extra payments have since been refunded, Fein said, and the organization was asked twice by phone to stop hounding her parents. Even so, she said, the couple received another notice and wrote out yet another check that would have been mailed if her sister hadn’t intercepted it.

“For an organization that’s primary goal is senior advocacy, their practice of multiple renewal notices is the antithesis of this goal,” Fein wrote in her complaint to the Better Business Bureau.

Over the past three years, more than 425 complaints have been received by the Better Business Bureau and consumer help websites, or posted as comments on AARP’s Facebook ads and online community forum. In the past three months alone, there have been more than 120 negative comments in response to AARP membership ads on Facebook. On AARP’s community forum, the renewal practices have been criticized as “deceptive,” “a waste,” “stupid” and “an obscenity.”

AARP declined requests by FairWarning for an interview with a senior official to discuss complaints. Via email, AARP spokesman Josh Rosenblum said AARP has discontinued some of the social media language that has been criticized. He also said members who complain about multiple renewal notices will get a single mailing 30 days before the renewal deadline.

“AARP is dedicated to listening to and caring for our 38 million members, but if an issue arises as it sometimes does, we take action to solve it and learn from it, which is why we have an A(plus) Better Business Bureau rating,” Rosenblum wrote.

AARP is only one of the many membership groups, publishers and charities that bombard consumers with letters or online communications. Their reasoning is that “sometimes, people don’t see it the first time,” said Ira S. Kalb, a marketing professor at the University of Southern California.

Still, Kalb said, an organization such as AARP has to be careful not to seem cavalier or irresponsible. “If it’s to provide you with good service and it’s time to update, that’s the positive side. If they’re taking advantage of elderly people, it’s not good . ... Their reputation is based on protecting the elderly.

Indeed, in its mission statement, AARP describes itself as a “social welfare organization” that “fights for the issues that matter most to families ... such as health care, employment and income security, and protection from financial abuse.” AARP’s publications over the past year have warned readers about “holiday shopping scams” as well as crooked car repair shops and technical support services.