On July 1st 2005 I moved to Pensacola, coming from the town of Crestview, about 80 miles away. When I moved, I changed banks and obtained a Master Card debit card, with my new address in Pensacola.
On August 6th, I went online and ordered two pairs of shoes from Aafes ($49.95 each). One was a pair of Birkenstock sandals, coming from Europe. The other was a walking shoe named "Boston, " coming from somewhere in the USA.
A few days later I checked my order status in their site and said that both shoes had been mailed August 8th. After two weeks, I realized something was not right, so I called Aafes customer service. The man on the phone said for me to give it time. Two days later I got the sandals, which had been mailed through regular US postal service TO MY OLD ADDRESS in Crestview. I had a forwarding address card on record with the USPS. At that time I realized why it had taken so long for my order to arrive.
I immediately called Aafes and asked them why they mailed to my old address, when I had clearly entered my new billing address, new ship-to address, and new credit card information? The gentleman said that the address they used was what was in my file, he said I should change my profile. He said they would notify UPS about the address for the other pair of shoes.
Well, the next time I called Aafes, they said my item had been delivered on AUGUST 11TH to my old address, by UPS! The lady suggested I travel 80 miles, about 1 hour and a half to go ask the person living at that address for my package.
I immediately called UPS and asked them to place a "return to sender" order on the package. UPS people went three times to that address and the person there said he/she didn't have the package!
Now, anyone reading this would say, "that was your fault." That is what Aafes says, that I entered the old address in my order.
But, that is not the case.
I made sure I entered my new information in the order, because it was the first time I was going to order to this address. I checked twice, before clicking the button to confirm my order, that the address on the order was my new address, and the debit card number was for my new debit card.
Apparently the website processed the order using the address I had on file - but used my new debit card to charge for it.
And this is the proof that I entered my new information: anyone who has ordered in their site can tell that if the billing address doesn't match the address on the debit card the transaction doesn't go through. My address on my new debit card HAD TO MATCH my billing address, in order for the credit card company to approve the transaction. Which it did.
Now, is it my fault that they mailed it to my old address when I entered my new address in the order form? I received no flags while filling the order form.
Now Aafes does not want to give me a replacement, credit, or refund. I lost my $49.95!!!
That amount may not be too much, but what really gets to me is the way that Aafes has handled it. For two weeks Aafes customer service people hung up on me when I called them, and they stopped answering my emails.
I know computer programming, and it is obvious to me that there is a flaw in the way their website scripts process the information in the orders. Proof of that is that about two years ago I was billed for someone else in Illinois.
I feel ripped off! Aafes stole my money, and won't owe up to me, a customer of over 28 years.
I have notified the Better Business Bureau, but I do not have much faith in the outcome, since Aafes is a huge company and I am but a tiny small customer.
God be!
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