The Corner Penthouse

Back in September, I enrolled in an Aetna health plan because I was hoping that it would help me find a dentist in my area that offered the Nitrous Oxide gas. I won't get into the issues that Aetna is causing with that. Instead, I want to focus on something else. The Aetna plan comes with some extra benefits, including the Aetna Rewards program which rewards members with gift cards for completing activities, such as getting a yearly physical or getting vaccinated. You know, stuff I normally do. However, there is a MAJOR PROBLEM with the program: The gift card e-mails that are sent out are formatted like spam, and I am having a hard time getting Aetna to re-send a $100 Best Buy gift card that was deleted with the 100+ spam message I get each day. Read on to find out more...

A few weeks after I started being an Aetna member, I found the Aetna Rewards section on their website and noticed that I had already completed the three activities being offered. (The image below show all activities completed as of this writing, totaling $175.00.)


All filling out the forms giving the information for the activities I had already completed, I went through the process of cashing out my $100 rewards balance for a $100 Best Buy gift card. Best Buy is one of four retailers I could get gift cards for. The other three are CVS, Home Depot, and Kohls; all stores that I don't shop in.


The process for cashing out ("ordering a gift card") is pretty simple. While I did not do screenshots of my October 25th cash out, I did document every step of cashing out for a $25 gift card on December 15th. The first step is selecting one of the four retailers shown in the previous screenshot. You are then given the option to receive an electronic gift card via e-mail or a physical gift card via snail mail.


The next step is to choose the amount of the gift card. You can get the card for the entire amount of your balance, or a smaller amount.


Then you'll verify your e-mail address.


Success!


After going through this process, I expected for it to take a few weeks to get this $100 Best Buy gift card since it was the first card I ordered. Several weeks went by and I never got the $100 Best Buy gift card. Honestly, I figured that they weren't going to send it, so I never gave it another thought.

Six weeks later, on December 7th, an Aetna representative called me to conduct a Health Assessment survey. At the end of the survey, the rep told me that I would be getting a $50 gift card for completing this survey. I chose a $50 Best Buy gift card. The rep told me that the card would be coming from @vcdelivery.com and that it would likely go into my spam folder. Sure enough, 24 hours later I found this in my spam folder:


That message looks EXACTLY like spam! I get over 100 spam messages a day, and most of them are false claims that I won various "rewards". Even Gmail looked at that message and deemed it "spam". Had I not already deleted most of my spam that day, I wouldn't have noticed this spam-like e-mail sitting amongst all of the others in my spam folder. If the Aetna rep didn't mention "vcdelivery.com", I wouldn't have thought that this "You've Received A Reward" message was anything special.

You will also notice that the gift card e-mail makes no mention of Aetna at all. It would be very easy to think that this email was not related to the Aetna Rewards program.

A week later, on December 15th, I decided to cash out the $25 balance I had for completing a few more activities. About 20 minutes after I "ordered" the gift card, I received it in my inbox. (At this point, I set up a Gmail filter to ensure that all messages from @vcdelivery.com would never be sent to spam.)


It was now that I realized that the $100 Best Buy gift card was sent directly to my spam folder on October 25th, where it was deleted with the 100+ other spam messages sitting in there. The Aetna website, as you can see in all of the screenshots above, NEVER mentioned that it would be coming from @vcdelivery.com and NEVER mentioned that it would look like spam. I was fully expecting for the gift card to come from an @aetna.com address and to, you know, NOT look like spam.

I figured that it should be really easy for Aetna and/or Incomm (the company that runs VCDelivery) to re-send the same $100 Best Buy gift card that was sent to me on October 25th. By sending the same exact card, both companies would know that I'm not trying to scam them out of an extra $100 card, because had I used it already, re-sending the same card would not benefit me at all. You would think that re-sending an e-mail would be a real simple thing to do.

I started first by calling up Aetna at 1-866-409-1221 and 1-855-335-1407. Here's a bullet point list of the three calls I made over a week and a half period, and the names of the low-level representatives I spoke to.

• 12/10/2022 @  2:20pm - spoke to Kinesha - She told me that she will submit a Status Check, which could take a week. I should get the $100 Best Buy gift card via e-mail, which will be the same one originally sent on October 25th. After waiting a week and not getting the gift card, I called Aetna again.
  
  
• 12/18/2022 @ 12:30pm - spoke to Angela - She put me on hold several times while she "waited for assistance". She sees that the $100 card was sent out on October 25th. She put in a "request" with the escalation team. I will get a response in 7 business days. Since I wanted to use this gift card to buy holiday presents for my family, and it should be really easy for Aetna to look through my records and re-send the e-mail, I called again two days later.
  
  
• 12/20/2022 @  2:25pm - spoke to Vernesha - After being on hold for five minutes, she said that all she can do is put in another "request". As my last two calls proved, a "request" is useless, and I told her that. I asked if she could re-send the gift card e-mail, but low-level reps can't do a simple thing like that. She said that they always tell members to check their spam folders for the gift card e-mails, and I told her that the Aetna website I used on October 25th never said any such thing. It should, but it doesn't. Since the folks at Aetna know that the gift card e-mails are formatted like spam, I asked her why they use a company (InComm's VCDelivery) that creates messages that they KNOW will be detected as "spam". She couldn't provide an answer. She said that their system shows the $100 gift card e-mail as "delivered", and as such, they won't re-send it. Well, that's a horrible attitude to have when this whole problem is all their fault!

Unfortunately, when I call Aetna, I'm stuck speaking to low-level representatives who are, seemingly, looking at the same Aetna website I can access myself and can't do much beyond the basics. They refuse to transfer me to someone higher up, which doesn't help.

Since I wanted to use this $100 Best Buy gift card to buy holiday gifts for my family, I needed it immediately. In an effort to get it now, I even reached out to InComm. I sent e-mails to NetworkEngTeam@incomm.com and support@vcdelivery.com, the latter of which created a "Service Inquiry" from giftcard.support@vcdelivery.com. I even sent e-mails to all contacts on InComm's Contact Us form. I have yet to receive a reply from any of these e-mails.

I really don't understand why re-sending an e-mail is such a difficult thing to do. I'm sure the original gift card e-mail is in Aetna's and Incomm's records. I'm not asking for a new one, just the SAME one that was sent directly to my spam folder on October 25th. This whole situation is all Aetna's fault. There is ZERO notice on the Aetna website that the gift cards will come from @vcdelivery.com (and not an @aetna.com address) and that the gift card e-mails will go to the spam folder because they are formatted like spam messages. Aetna should make things right. If they do, I will update this article.

[UPDATE - 12/21/2022]
Since I didn't get anywhere talking to the low-level representatives, I decided to take the matter to the corporate office. I'm taking a two-prong approach to that. First, I sent a physical letter to the Aetna corporate headquarters (151 Farmington Ave., Hartford, CT 06156). I also called the Aetna Corporate Contact Center (1-800-872-3862). I spoke to an employee named Wendy, who transferred me to a representative Supervisor named Jojo. She saw all of the notes from my previous calls to the reps. She sent an "escalation e-mail" to the escalation team - something I thought one of the previous reps already did - and said that it could take five business days to get a response. At this point, I know that I won't get that gift card re-sent to me before December 25th, which is a bummer, but I hope that all of this effort will get that $100 Best Buy gift card re-sent to me, period. I also hope that by making this problem public, and bringing it to the attention of the corporate office, will help institute changes that will prevent this from happening to other Aetna members in the future.

[UPDATE - 12/28/2022]
At 7:21 PM, I received a surprise e-mail from noreply@vcdelivery.com with the subject "A Gift from" and a sender name of "Best Buy". Although the e-mail still didn't mention Aetna or Aetna Rewards, I had a feeling that this was the re-sent $100 gift card from October 25th that I have been trying to get re-sent for the past few weeks. I opened it up and, yes indeed, that's what it was.


I clicked the link and retrieved my $100 Best Buy gift card, which I used immediately to buy some belated holiday gifts for my family.

I am so happy to finally have a positive resolution to this matter. I don't know if it was the multiple phone calls or the physical letter that got the job done, but I'm glad that something got it done. It would have been nice if I didn't have to make such a concerted effort, but Aetna and InComm/VCDelivery made things right, and that's all that matters in the end. 2022 ends on a good note. Thanks Aetna and InComm.

[UPDATE - 1/28/2023]
The Rewards program has undergone a big change for 2023. No longer are you limited to just four retailers when cashing out. In addition to Best Buy, CVS, and Home Depot (Kohls is no longer an option), you can now also get a gift card for Macy's, TJ Maxx, Starbucks, Subway, Darden, and Kroger. I had to look up Darden to find out that it's the parent company of the following restaurant chains: Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Yardhouse, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze Island Grille, and Eddie V's Prime Seafood. (I only heard of the first two restaurants.) Kroger is a supermarket that doesn't have stores here on Long Island, New York. (They're also one of the few supermarkets that Aetna's Food/OTC Benefit Card works in.)


Interestingly, there were a few quirks of the cashing out process that I did not experience last year. When I was selecting how I would like to receive my gift card, the "Email" option now said "(up to 1 week)" next to it instead of "(within 24 hours)". The e-mail with the gift card still came in 20-25 minutes like last year.


Actually, I should say e-mails, as the system would not let me use my $100 rewards balance on a $100 Best Buy gift card. The drop-down list maxed out at $95.


I had to cash out for two cards in the amounts of $95 and $5 in order to get the full $100 gift card. Thankfully, BestBuy.com has no problem applying multiple gift cards to a single order.

[UPDATE - 1/10/2024]
The Aetna Rewards page was just updated for 2024. Unfortunately, both of the changes are a downgrade from last year. There are five activities I could do for a total of $135 in gift card(s). Last year, there were three activities for a total of $150. Unless more activities are added later in 2024, the program now gives $15 less.


$135 is still a great amount to be given for activities that I would have done anyway. Sadly, cashing out for a Best Buy gift card is no longer an option. Last year, there were nine stores you could get gift cards for. This year, there are only five: CVS, Home Depot, Subway, TJ Maxx, and Albertsons.


Besides Best Buy, we lost Macy's, Starbucks, Darden, and Kroger.

• I don't usually shop at CVS unless I really have to, such as when I have a coupon (assuming they'll allow it) or when I had to spend my OTC benefits last year before they expired. I certainly can't imagine what I would spend $135 on in the store that I couldn't also buy with the Food/OTC card there or elsewhere.

• I guess I could get $135 worth of food from Subway over a dozen visits, but I absolutely detest the Subway in Valley Stream due to the Coupon Nazis that operate it.

• I only go to Home Depot once in a blue moon when I need a hardware item that I can't get elsewhere; and rarely do I need a hardware item.

• According to Gyft.com, T.J.Maxx gift cards are "redeemable at over 3300 T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Homesense and Sierra stores (in the U.S. and Puerto Rico) and online at tjmaxx.com, marshalls.com, homegoods.com, and sierra.com." That's great if I were into clothes and home decorating, but I'm not. I don't think I've ever purchased anything from any of those stores.

• There are no Albertsons stores in New York, so they might as well not even be listed as an option.

There is no good solution here. Of course, I could just ignore the benefit, but that would be a waste of $135 that could have some use. I suppose I could give the gift card to a friend, though the people I know don't really shop in these stores, either. Since Best Buy will stop selling physical home video media really soon, it really would be great if the Rewards program offered gift cards for Amazon, Walmart, or Target, the three biggest retailers in the United States.

[UPDATE - 3/13/2024]
Matthew from Aetna called me on March 11, 2024 at 2:53pm to get me to do the health survey in exchange for a $25 gift card. The Caller ID says he called from "USER 860-996-7299". I ignored the previous two calls from that number on March 5th and 7th. Knowing that they no longer had Best Buy gift cards, and that what they did offer was not very useful to me, did not make me in a hurry to do any of the Rewards activities, such as the health survey.

After I completed the survey with Matthew, he transferred me to Kim at Aetna Member Services, who put in the request for the CVS gift card. I don't usually shop at CVS, but I sure as hell will not give any business to the Coupon Nazis at Subway, and no other gift cards are even remotely usable to me (most of those stores aren't even in my state!). Anyway, the call with Kim ended at 3:08 PM. I received the gift card e-mail the next day, March 12th at 8:48am (seventeen and a half hours later). The gift card e-mails have been updated since last year to look less like spam, and now carry "Aetna" branding on them, though they still come from noreply@vcdelivery.com.


I also did the remaining activities on the Aetna Rewards site, so in total, I had $160 in CVS gift cards to spend. (The $25 for the health survey was counted TWICE! I got a gift card for it from the phone call, AND $25 for it was added to my account balance.) I had no clue exactly what I would buy with such a large amount in a store that doesn't carry much stuff I would actually buy. I ended up buying stuff to give away to friends and family, as seen in this photo.


The CVS order came out to a little less than the $160 I had in gift cards. Since the balance was less than $5, I was given the option to get the balance in cash back. I opted to get the $3.13 in cash so I wouldn't have to worry about having a gift card balance to use up. This is the first and only time a gift card offered me the chance to get the low balance in cash.

I'm not sure if I would bother doing this again in 2025, no matter how many times people from Aetna hound me with calls to do the health survey, if Aetna is not going to offer Amazon, Walmart, or Target gift cards. Cards for any or all of those stores would be much more useful to me than CVS.