Posted on 06/05/2017 11:15:13 PM PDT by 1_Inch_Group
No offense but I kinda doubt I’m going to remember to come back here and post my experience for making an online shopping order after Nov. 11; six months from now.
If it were today I could oblige your request.
Got more than enough of them. /s And surprised at the prices people are trying to get nowadays for them. I spend too much anyway.
As examples, I would point to the countless fast food restaurants operating on military bases with their own employees, materials and supply chains. Prior to their appearance, the exchanges ran their own canteens with their own employees, equipment and supply chain. While necessary until fairly recently, the system was downright Soviet in its offerings and has become more economically inefficient over time. Today's on-base franchises are contracted to pay a portion of their revenues to MWR, so everybody wins.
Exchanges and commissaries are just as antiquated and inefficient in today's economy, and there is no reason that private companies cannot deliver better for less. Large retailers (WalMart is just one example) have much greater buying power than all MWR activities combined, and have much more efficient logistical systems than the thinly scattered MWR system. The MWR funding that you rightly highlighted can be written into the contracts, just as it is already done with other private MWR vendors.
Here is another guiding principle: Whereas competitive businesses are constantly evolving in order to compete, government institutions perpetually resist efficiency and always devolve into fiefdoms for their employees. Count the double dippers at MWR and I'll rest my case.
Thanks for the response. You make excellent points about dealing with the MWR conundrum as well as addressing inefficiency through operating contracts. I was certain you understood MWR but wrote my reply to also inform the wider FR group that might not.
I never experienced anything other than AAFES running the various fast food outlets. I’m sure the franchises are the better choice.
BTW, on the issue of hearing loss, I have no problems there due to having a wife who was a speech/hearing therapist who regularly rode me about wearing my hearing protection. Additionally, my active duty time was on missiles with only training at Ft. Sill on howitzers and one week in West Germany as a safety officer for the two cannon battalions in the Group. When I left active duty, I went to a National Guard artillery battalion but it was 105mm and I was an officer so I wasn’t right on the firing line all that much.
Lucky you — every Marine 0802 Artillery Officer I know is deaf as a door nail! I was an 0302 Infantry Officer and lost a lot of my hearing to incoming arty, so I gained a healthy respect for the King of Battle from both ends. Semper Fidelis...
Got a good restaurant that offer 15% off. Always put it into the tip.
I’m verified also.
Sorry to bother you.
Pretty sure it’s for anything that places like the Navy Exchange, AAFES, etc....sells. Not for food/smokes/alcohol tho.
I don’t remember the Exchange being a super bargain overall...but it was tax free. Buying a car tax free would be nice, but I doubt they do those entirely online.
All you guys are probably right about the other options like Amazon et.al being better than what’s available thru AAFES. Worth giving it a look though, just a few more clicks to see for myself. ;)
Thanks for answering. Hubby signed up and they gave him a November date. I looked around the first one listed in the article and saw some good things. It would be a nice supplement to Walmart.com. We dumped amazon about a year ago.
Dumped Amazon a long time ago. Was a vendor there...would never do business with them again seeing how they treated the small businesses that sold on their site.
I was just now chosen to be a beta tester so I took a look around at prices compared to Amazon.com and found Amazon to be cheaper so while it's great to have this option; it probably isn't one I will use very often.
Hope this helps.
Helps very much - thanks!
Thanks we’ll see. Won’t use amazon.
I may have started your most recent with this one—maybe?
If you use Walmart.com you can get even cheaper prices than Amazon.com many times.
Yes been using walmart.
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