while you have some valid complaints....

[usaf_wife]

Hello - I too am an AF spouse, living in Germany, and I know of the hard to come by items that you want but never see in the stores. I know how hard it is to buy clothes for the kids that are not GumBalls (by far the worst - they shrink 2 sizes after you wash them or just fall apart after 1 wearing) and I know how upsetting it is to want that one toy that was in the flyer only to be told "we don’t have it in stock"...the difference is I USE to work for AAFES as an RA (ReOrder Associate) So I have some understanding as to why things are the why they are.

I am sorry but I don’t ever recall paying $50 for a pair of Levi's (as has been stated in one of these posts) - and that's all I wear. Unless you are in the hefty size you are going to pay for the extra material! Levi's are standard at $29 to $36 - depending on the style and whatnot. So if you want to make a valid point there - don’t inflate it! You are getting one heck of a deal since you will pay close to $50 at Sears or Pennys.

[usaf_wife]

Now - clothes seems to be a hot topic here. I will start with what I do know. GumBalls, DeCoded, Passports, PBx and a few others ARE AAFES BRAND. They have to carry it whether it's crap or not. Do you not think that they don’t see the rack full of clearance items marked down with all of those particular items on it? Do you not think that the sales show that they are doing horribly? Do you think that AAFES wants to loose money by marking them down 50% - 75%? Only to have them still NOT sell? Another thing - The brands that AAFES carries vary because of the stores. Some stores just can not get Tommy or Nike. Why? That goes back to the buyers and those people that sit in the little cubicles back in Dallas. It's not up to the softlines manager or even the store manager. If you want to complain - start there - with Dallas. And cussing and calling names wont get you anywhere. Your best bet is to write an adult letter, stating why you are unhappy and why you think whatever is unfair.

Other items. Yes - being in Germany has big disadvantages. It takes 6 - 8 weeks to get items over here. If it doesn’t get ordered in time (which is usually up to the computer or again the buyers - once in awhile the RA will have to manually place an order) then you wont see it hit the warehouse at your store. Why is it that way? Well there's this little body of water called an OCEAN that makes it hard to get things here overnight. And everything has to be sent on a pallet - you just cant order 1 of something you have to order an LDU (lowest distribution unit) which could be 3, 6, 12 or even 24 before it will be sent. Now - in most cases the distribution centers (DDDC or known as Dan Daniels) (which btw is located in Atlanta and carries most of the items that will not expire and if they do have an expiration date its far off) might have only a few of a particular item - for example...trampolines. They were hot this summer and everyone wanted one for some reason. I had manually placed an order for the LDU (10) on Friday (which is the ordering day for DDDC) and waited until the following Wednesday to see if it had been pulled (or in other words - if the warehouse had the order and was going to fill it) - and it was still in start status (meaning that they 1 - either didn’t have any to send or 2 - other orders before mine were filled first and I would just have to wait) I placed a manual order for almost 2 months before we were told that AAFES was no longer carrying that particular trampoline. Bring on the mad customers. Whose fault was it? Of course mine because I didn’t get them in....WRONG! It was either the buyer for not telling us that there was a new SKU to order from or the warehouse - which it's not the warehouses' responsibility for telling us stuff like that. In fact there is no way to check to see if the warehouse even has any particular item in stock. And it's first come first serve when it comes to filling orders. I may have a VERY anxious customer who NEEDS that trampoline in 3 months - Yeah ok - but there are 10 other stores out there that have had an order out for 4 months now...take a guess at who is going to get the trampoline? It works that way with every store. (Excluding Walmart - you can not compare AAFES to a Walmart. AAFES is not in anyway a monopoly like that chain).

[usaf_wife]

Now you say that AAFES is supposed to cater to you - the military member and spouse. Yes - they do. You may not like that they don’t carry your particular brand of shampoo but at least they do have some other options for you to choose from. You could be stuck over here buying everything off of the economy right? And lettme guess - if you need something, socks or whatever...what do you do? Do you go to EBay to buy them or do you drive down to the BX/PX and buy them? 

The complaints about customer service are valid. It's hard to find good workers these days. But when they pay them next to nothing compared to the LN's (local nationals) you probably wouldn’t be so chipper. And to have to deal with rude customers who think that the store and it's associates should bow before them and cater to their every need is just plain dumb. I have received way better service from and AAFES employee then I have ever received from any Walmart associate (with exception to their greeter - and I only use Walmart as an example since everyone here likes to compare with that store) While there is room for improvement - there is with every store.

I do agree with the 'world wide price guarantee' - that's not true. And I also don’t like how they will advertise the up to $10 price match, no questions asked, but that doesn’t apply to the stores in Europe - it has to be an item you find on aafes.com or the centric mall sites (like that is going to happen - those sites are sky high!) or you have to bring in a local add - which again - not going to happen. What German store carries American brands? Let alone with the Euro rate - that's dumb! So if you find something (lets say a toy) on walmart.com for $7 cheaper then what they sell it for at the PX they tell you "we cant compete with online prices because they get the item for less then we do so they can sell it cheaper"  ...ok, lettme think about that. If I were to go into a Walmart store I can pretty much bet my right arm that it will be the same price in the store as it is online (unless it clearly states ONLINE ONLY) That's my rant....

I just wanted to clear up some of the reasoning as to why. Seems like you were only getting half of the why so hopefully I was able to give the rest. Being in Germany you cant expect to get everything that they have the in States. And really - the fault doesn’t belong to the store itself - it belongs to those that sit at a desk everyday typing away - thinking that they know what should go where and how much when in fact they have never seen the store or listened to what the customer wants. Who knows - they may just be doing what they are told to do. Maybe the fault lies with the President of the company - have you tried contacted him/her? If your voice is not being heard with "Max" then go to his boss - and keep going until you get the answer you are looking for. If you really want to make waves - do it the right way.

[TheFreud]

Hi USAF, and welcome.
First off, I know there is a big problem in Atlanta and Dallas. The one manager I found atAAFES who gave a crap about helping me out finally got ahold of some jackarse in one of these places (after my calling him weekly with an increasingly sharper tone in my voice) and found out that it one one of these retards who screwed up. My suggestion? Clean house with the Dallas and Atlanta offices.
As far as the socks thing? You bet your arse I go on eBay and buy them (Every day of the week and twice on Sunday)... Kids clothes, socks, underwear, shoes, pants, home decor, fabric for sewing...  Especially my clothes, like bras, as I don't think that becasue I have a large rack that I should have to wear ugly, ill fitting, unflattering beige bras- even DD's like pretty, bright, screaming-red lacy numbers and matching undies for those special nights....

I did write a well worded and adult letter to AAFES regarding my complaints on the clothing matters. (You can find it also posted to this forum.) I got back a letter of bull-puckey,that started out with a half-arseed apology- not to me, but in a "Sorry you feel that way" kind of attitude. It said we DO have DD bras, and if we don't, check our online store. It was signed "Max". I checked the online store and found a pitieous collection of over-priced merchandise. And a note to the buyers- Bras that are designed for small breasted women- even if you make them bigger- do not fit large breasted women. They just are not designed to carry a set of tits; they are made for mosquito bites. I even made a few clothing line suggestions such as Delta Burke or JMS... I am quite sure that the idea made it to someone's desk in TX or GA and was quickly filed in the trash can. Did Max call and check up? See if he could get a ball rolling? Probably not.

If AAFES wants to play a game of "Don't blame me, blame them"... Perhaps you and your uppers should run for political office. It is always someone else's fault, isn't it? Well, those dinks in Dallas and Atlanta started somewhere- most likey as sales arseociates a long time ago- and they got their attitude of "let it be" from somewhere. Someone needs to stand up and stop making excuses and empty apologies. Someone has to take the intiative to fix it. Change is possible, if you are willing to stand up and say "That is not good enough, let's try it this way.", instead of "Oh. Okay, I guess that's the way it is." Stop parseing the buck.

[usaf_wife]

I totally agree with you - they should stop passing the buck - but unfortunately that's the way it is.  The little man really doesnt have a voice, trust me I have been there!  And There is only so much the store manager can do.  There's always someone else higher then them that has the final say. 

My best suggestion - keep writing those letters!  Heck - write them to Congress!  If someone there gets a letter stating how bad things are for us in the military overseas, someone will say something.  You will be amazed.  A little letter can go a long way.