Consumer complaint received 2026-03-10 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — Store credit card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers — Didn't receive advertised or promotional terms
Company: Army and Air Force Exchange Service
State: OH

Complaint narrative:
On XXXX XX/XX/XXXX I sent an email to the Army & Air Force Exchange Service ( AAFES ) Credit Program Department requesting that Servicemember Civil Relief Act ( SCRA ) benefits be applied to my account as I have been an XXXX XXXX XXXX member since XXXX XX/XX/XXXX and had opened up a line of credit with their company, approximately around XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, prior to the start of my XXXX XXXX service start date. On XXXX XX/XX/XXXX I received a response from the Army & Air Force Exchange Service ( AAFES ) Credit Program Department stating that my request had been denied due to me not being deployed to a contingency operation or other forward areas in an overseas ( foreign country ) location. After responding to the company 's email that same day, stating that I had not found any resource online that requires a member to be deployed or in an overseas location in order to receive SCRA benefits, I was met with another reason for my benefits to be denied, this time due the statement that I had not incurred any debt prior to the start of my XXXX XXXX service. Although I was positive that I had opened my account prior to the start of my XXXX XXXX start date and had incurred debt, I then attempted to request SCRA benefits under XXXX XXXX Revision code that would waive the above requirement, but was yet again met with a denial of my request for SCRA benefits, this time due to the claim of sovereign immunity for the AAFES establishment since it is a federal entity. In frustration for receiving three different claims as to why I was not eligible for SCRA benefits, I decided to wait a few months before requesting benefits again in the hopes that a different member would review my request. Then, on XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, I sent another request for SCRA benefits to be applied to my account to the same department and received a notification on XXXX XX/XX/XXXX that my request was again denied due to sovereign immunity and the claim that I had not incurred any debt prior to the start of my XXXX XXXX service date in order to be eligible for SCRA benefits. At this point, I called the AAFES customer service department to request bank statements be emailed to me prior to the date of XXXX XX/XX/XXXX ( the start of my XXXX XXXX service date ) and received a response within days with statements attached showing proof of a purchase of {$850.00} on XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. On XXXX XX/XX/XXXX I submitted a formal complaint against the AAFES Credit Program Department, more specifically the same individual who I had been in contact with the entire time since requesting SCRA benefits, listing my complaints and providing email transactions and military records showing my dates of XXXX XXXX service along with the banking statements I had been provided listed above. Additionally, I gave them the professional courtesy of information them that I had filed an online complaint utilizing the DoJ website. After requesting a response within 30 days from a member other than the individual I had been in contact with, it wasn't until XXXX XX/XX/XXXX that I received a response from the same individual who again stated that my request for SCRA benefits had been denied due to the fact that I was not deployed to a contingency location at the time of request. At this point in time I responded informing them that I had again never found anywhere in my research that deployment was a requirement for SCRA benefits to be applied to my account and informed them that I would be seeking assistance from sources outside of their company to assist me in my request.

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