Consumer complaint received 2025-04-16 00:00:00
Product: Debt collection — Credit card debt
Issue: False statements or representation — Impersonated attorney, law enforcement, or government official
Company: Army and Air Force Exchange Service
State: OK

Complaint narrative:
Understood here is your final corrected version, replacing any mistaken reference to XXXX XXXX XXXX, and keeping the facts fully aligned with your actual dispute history : -- - What Happened CFPB Complaint ( AAFES/ XXXX Filing ) AAFES is deliberately misleading consumers and the CFPB by operating both as a self-labeled collections department and as a disguised internal program that furnishes credit data while claiming it legally can not. They call themselves AAFES Collections, issue threats of Treasury Offset and referral to outside agencies, and design repayment notices that say COLLECTIONS across the top but they never include FDCPA-required debt collection disclosures. They give consumers a choice : sign a repayment plan with collections now, or be sent to XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) or Treasury, where penalties and wage garnishment will follow without court involvement. 

However, that same collections department when pressed turns out to be XXXX XXXX XXXX, an internal administrative unit with no legal disclosure of debt collection status. This deceptive structure allows AAFES to intimidate consumers like a debt collector, while dodging FDCPA compliance and pretending to the CFPB that they are not involved in collections or credit reporting. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I submitted a XXXX XXXX XXXX to repay my full balance. I requested confirmation and followed up daily by phone and email. Each call routed to XXXX, who refused to transfer me back to AAFES until the agreement was located. I received no written confirmation until XX/XX/XXXX by which point AAFES claimed my account had already been referred to XXXX. 

But in that XX/XX/XXXX email, AAFES confirmed that my account was still in their hands and had not defaulted meaning they misled both me and the CFPB. XXXX later confirmed that my account was not in collections and had been pulled back. Throughout this time, all communication came from AAFES, and no FDCPA-mandated XXXX transfer notice was ever sent because I was never actually transferred. 

Despite this, AAFES reported the account to Experian as : Charged off, XXXX days late, With no positive payment history, And falsely marked in partial repayment even though the agreement is to pay in full. 


When I disputed this, Experian confirmed that AAFES had verified the debt as not being a full repayment plan, which directly contradicts my signed agreement. In its previous CFPB response, AAFES claimed it could not furnish or correct data because the debt was out of their hands an outright falsehood. 

Then, within XXXX hours of me disputing the missing payment history, AAFES furnished new negative data ( XXXX ) to Experian their second time furnishing data while claiming they had no authority to do so. I then filed my first CFPB complaint. On the same day the CFPB forwarded my complaint to the companies, AAFES furnished my most recent {$200.00} payment to Experian a third act of credit furnishing while maintaining the lie that they were powerless. 

Their behavior is not just misleading its retaliatory, deceptive, and conducted during a federal investigation in direct contradiction to their own claims. Their CFPB response reads as if they had no access, while their internal emails, routing, contract binding my debt not to be sold or transfered, and credit actions prove otherwise. 

Meanwhile : AAFES routinely threatens Treasury Offset and warns that one missed payment will lead to additional collection fees, Their emails state they are from " XXXX, '' But never include FDCPA language like this is an attempt to collect a debt despite functioning as a debt collector. 

They have a long history of lawsuits using immunity of being part of the government collecting a debt to not need to follow FCRA or FCDPA and it's been upheld. However, lying in a federal investigation is not covered under the immunity. 


Attached are agreements, emails. You will see the history which was reported as XXXX back in XXXX after XXXX dispute and then the second is it currently with the same address, and contractually unable to change or sell to anyone else... same entity AAFES then removes all history on " today 's '' report. Yet, claiming they have no furnishing power. Then you will see they reported {$200.00} payment mid CFPB investigation while saying unable to furnish data.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation