AAFES Working Double Time to Correct Inadvertent Charges

  • Published
  • By Stephen K. Robinson
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs Office
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Numerous transactions at Army and Air Force Exchange operations are experiencing a double whammy no one saw coming; a processing error resulting in duplicate charges on credit and debit card transactions.

"Shoppers who swiped their cards anytime between Aug. 7 and Aug. 9 at an AAFES facility are strongly encouraged to review their statements to see if they are impacted by this issue," said AAFES' Chief of Staff Col. Virgil Williams. "If a customer finds a billing anomaly, no action will be required on their part as we're working to correct inaccuracies on their behalf."

Scores of associates from AAFES' Information Technology and Finance and Accounting teams are working around the clock to remedy any and all erroneous charges created as a result of the processing error.

"Due to a processing error, some customer credit/debit card transactions dated 7-9 Aug 10 were duplicated. This includes Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover cards. Corrective action has been completed for all of the Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express transactions. Customers should see these corrections in their respective accounts in the next 24 hrs to 2 weeks, depending on the type of card used," Russ Hinrichs, Edwards Base Exchange general manager, said.

"We're putting all the resources we have towards doing the right thing for customers affected by this unfortunate turn of events" Colonel Williams said. "If there is an overdraft fee as result of a duplicate charge, we're going to fix it. Our priority is to take corrective action as quickly as possible and return customers' accounts to the exact state they were prior to this glitch."

"We here at Edwards have been affected too," Hinrichs said. "I do not know how many customers here are affected, but, Headquarters AAFES has corrected the problem and has taken corrective measures to prevent it from happening again," Hinrichs said.

The processing error that produced duplicate charges affected AAFES locations worldwide. Depending on the type of card used, corrective action could be visible to the customer anywhere from 24 hours to a couple of weeks.

"The timeline is subject to a number of variables," Colonel Williams said. "Regardless, we want exchange shoppers to know that every possible measure is being taken to eliminate any additional charges and rectify any concerns created as a result of this processing miscue."