*“Dear Member,
It’s not too late to renew your AARP membership online - if you act now. Visit us here to renew and your access to AARP benefits like these will continue without interruption…”
*
I’ve been getting these e-mails for the past couple of months. The problem is, my AARP membership doesn’t expire until next May. Are they counting on the possibility that my mental faculties are so deteriorated that, in a fit of panic, I’ll renew early?
It’s not like I have huge respect for AARP in the first place; I’m only a member in order to get occasional discounts for things for eyeglasses and hotels. So I’m not surprised they want to trick people into forking over their money before they have to.
The NRA is just as bad. A month after I received my membership info I started getting “offers” to renew my membership with them. I’ve received a renewal offer from them at least once a month.
Indeed. My employer switched from co-pay to deductable. Office visits went from 30 bucks to 75. Blood labs went from 25 bucks to 325 dollars?!? I received an insurance plan from AARP that sounded almost too good to be true.
Office visit? 25 bucks. X-rays? 20 bucks. My monthly coverage payment? 43 bucks. The kicker? I live in the wrong zip code.
I called AARP to find out how the policy got mailed to me in the first place.
“We’re not sure, but we’ll call you back with an answer.”
Those fuckers will be trying to foist their membership card off on me in two more years. I can hardly wait to tell them what to do with their card, and how little Astroglide they should use in the process.
It’s part of their business model. It’s an economic truth that money today is more valuable than money tomorrow. If they can get you to re-up before your subscription runs out they owe you content they haven’t produced but your money starts earning them interest and paying their bills today. Auto Insurance is the same way. You buy a policy for six months, they bill you in five installments. Basically they say you’re going to get a month “free” but on the sixth month(when your policy is still in force) you re-up and you get a second “free” month at the end of the new policy. So you pay every month for 10 months and you get months 11-12 “free.” Except on month 11 you begin the five payments for months 13-18. The “free” months keep on slippin, slippin, slippin, into the future. In the meantime the auto insurance agent has more of your money(a six month premium paid over five installments is a higher per-installment price than a six months premium paid over six installments) in exchange for promises of coverage in the future. They have a steady cash flow, which is important to businesses.
It’s everybody’s business model, from magazines to newsletters to virus programs. They start dunning you almost immediately for renewal, figuring (correctly) that most people can’t remember when their subscription expires. I always wait for the notice that says “this is your last issue”, before renewing. Usually get a better price that way, too.
My husband got an invite to join AARP around his last birthday this past November, trouble is, he turned 33. So not even close to the AARP age. Very weird.
I guess I’m missing something in the OP’s complaint. Most of the outfits for which I’m a dues-paying member offer discounts for paying the dues early. None of them lops off paid-for membership time if I send in my dues early.
I joined AARP several years ago, specifically to get the wonderful health insurance they advertised on TV with the phrase “you can’t be turned down.” What they meant was you can’t be turned down if you don’t have pre-existing conditions. How many seniors are in perfect health?
They weren’t offering a discount for early payment; they were attempting to scare me into thinking my membership was expiring.
Yeah, same here. I’ve been getting invites for several years now, as well as notices that there will be free hearing screenings in my area, (“so call now for an appointment!”), AND mailers discussing my Social Security benefits.
I’m 42. Thanks a lot guys–it’s not enough that I’m prematurely gray and that I started needing reading glasses before I was 40. I have to get mail designed for the Old Fart™ demographic, too!
Haha! So did mine about 10 years ago and the same age. Shortly after that, my newborn daughter received an invitation to open an account at E*Trade. We saved both letters and still give my 40ish husband a hard time about being such an old fogey.
That is nothing! I renewed for five years in 2008 and just received an urgent renewal notice even though I have 3 years left. This company is a complete scam. Not only do they take advantage of seniors with their renewals and bombardment of junk mail, there benefit offerings can be found much cheaper elsewhere.
My mother’s faculties have deteriorated to the point where we no longer trust her to deal with her mail. She’s liable to throw out important stuff and worry about crap. So she puts it aside, and my brother and I sort through it when we visit.
The one exception is pieces from the AARP. We’ve taught her to throw those out, and shred and burn them as well. She brags about it: “I threw out five pieces of crap from AARP last week!” People need to feel useful.
I’m not sure that things that aren’t businesses can be said to have a business model; AARP is a non-profit. AARP Services is a for-profit subsidiary. Member dues are collected by AARP; the health and life insurance stuff is done by AARP Services.
Here I assumed it’s because my husband is a “Junior” and thus is getting stuff that is supposed to be aimed at his dad. He also gets mailings about retirement homes, hearing aids, and mobility scooters. This has probably been going on since he was 30.
