Servicemembers question AAFES fuel costs

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Servicemembers question AAFES fuel costs
By Jennifer H. Svan and Travis Tritten, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, October 4, 2008

In fiscal 2007, when market prices shot higher than wholesale costs, the Army and Air Force Exchange Service generated a gross profit of nearly $7.5 million on Japan fuel sales.

But it’s still not feasible for AAFES to take a temporary loss on fuel, AAFES officials say.

"AAFES’ mission is to provide quality merchandise and services at competitively low prices and to generate earnings which provide a dividend to support MWR programs," said AAFES spokesman Master Sgt. Donovan Potter. "Selling a product for less than it costs to procure and provide would be inconsistent with the mission." Last year, AAFES returned $232 million in dividends on sales worldwide, officials said.

But some customers don’t buy it, arguing that if AAFES can raise prices to keep pace with market trends, there shouldn’t be a restriction on lowering prices.

Neil McCrea, 30, a U.S. contractor at the Shariki Communications Site in northern Japan, said he’d always heard it was AAFES’ policy "to be compatible" with what’s going on in the States.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=57872