Apology Letter to Finance

[bottlenose]

A buddy of mine actually submitted this to finance in his efinance voucher. To be fair, his voucher from his deployment, which he returned from almost a year ago, has been rejected 10 times. Yes, 10 times. He is fed up, as some of the reasons for rejection have been absolutely ridiculous. Some of them were legit but it has gotten to the point where he has had enough and wanted to send a message. Note: He is well aware of the potential back lashing, but doesn't care.

To whom it may concern,

The last time my voucher was rejected was because I failed to include details such as the

airports from which I traveled to and from for my post-deployment leave. I realize the information I left

out is very important and I apologize. So with this submission, I have furnished the requested

information. Unfortunately, however, I don't remember all of the travel details. I don't remember the

exact route I took from my address in Cherry Hill, NJ to the Philadelphia International Airport. I usually

take Route 70 to I-295 and cross the Walt Whitman Bridge into Philadelphia, but I don't recall how

traffic was that particular day. I could just as easily have taken Route 70 westward all the way to the Ben

Franklin Bridge and crossed there instead. There was most likely a stop at Wawa, and if there was, I

admit that I do not remember the address of that particular Wawa. Therefore I did not include that in

the travel itinerary. I do remember that my seat belt was firmly buckled and that I arrived to

Philadelphia International Airport safely. I also forgot which gate my flight departed from. Again, I

apologize for not remembering all of the details. It has now been nearly 10 months since this travel

occurred, so please forgive me for forgetting a detail here or there.

As for the flight from Philadelphia to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, there are a

number of details that I was never even aware of, thus I did not include them in the travel itinerary

either. For example, I am not exactly sure of the route the pilots took. If absolutely needed for the

approval of this voucher, I might be able to research the archives of past commercial airline flight plans

and furnish this information. I'm not completely sure archives like that exist, though, and if they don't, I

again apologize for the inconvenience. One thing I am absolutely sure of is that I ordered a coffee when

the flight attendants were handing out complimentary beverages. One cream, no sugar.

Please excuse my lapse of memory regarding these particular details. I reiterate these are just a

few examples of which I do not remember all of the specific details regarding this deployment travel

voucher. I know I have apologized several times already, however no amount of words can truly express

how sorry I am for not including all of the travel itinerary details in the original submission of this

voucher. I realize how inconvenient it must be to have not gotten the chance to pay me for this travel

voucher after 10 long months.

Sincerely,

xxxxxxxxxxxx

[Goblin]

It's not even really that funny. I can understand the frustration though

[snoopyeast]

After try 2, he should have probably just gone to finance. And, you know...be an officer.

ETA I'll be perfectly honest. Officers need to stop playing the victim card so much. Step up to the plate and lead. If something isn't going how it is supposed to, be polite and work your way up the chain. You'd be surprised and how far common courtesy goes.

Edited August 8, 2014 by snoopyeast

[Buddy Spike]

Is your friend a Fucking Nav?

[hispeed7721]

After try 2, he should have probably just gone to finance. And, you know...be an officer.

ETA I'll be perfectly honest. Officers need to stop playing the victim card so much. Step up to the plate and lead. If something isn't going how it is supposed to, be polite and work your way up the chain. You'd be surprised and how far common courtesy goes.

THIS. If it gets returned once, fine. On the second return, go and talk to someone face to face. There is zero excuse on his part (or on finance to be fair) for it to have been returned 10 times. AF members, officers in particular, need to stop hiding behind email and actually be ok with talking face to face when there is a problem. Theres nothing wrong with being firm (STS) when the finance dudes screw up but being a dick about it won't get you anywhere fast.

Our email servers went down for several days during the AFNET migration and it was astounding to watch the people who had no clue what to do when they couldn't "lead" by email.

[Spoo]

A buddy of mine actually submitted this to finance in his efinance voucher. To be fair.....

To be fair, your buddy sounds like a douchebag.

[bottlenose]

This was dealt with in person multiple times only to be rejected after finance telling him it was good to go.

[ThreeHoler]

This was dealt with in person multiple times only to be rejected after finance telling him it was good to go.

I'd be willing to bet if your buddy talked to the appropriate CC after the 2nd rejection that it would be solved right there.

Or, filing the voucher there in finance at the self-help computers followed by asking them to approve it right then.

I have yet to have problems with the finance office here...they have always been extremely helpful to me and fixed [most] of my pay and voucher problems right away.

[SocialD]

THIS. If it gets returned once, fine. On the second return, go and talk to someone face to face.

After rejection number 2, I just call the individual desks of the finance people (easier to do on Guard bases since you know them all personally), because they never answer the customer service number. Then I make them stay on the phone until I have them say my voucher should be good to go. Even then I've had them rejected...

What drives me crazy is that finance, even if it's their fuck up, can't just push it through after it's been rejected. Sorry, the guard is my second job and I won't have DTS access for 3-4 weeks. Just let them know my bill may become delinquent because I'm not paying the govt bill with my money because you fucked up.

[Cap-10]

After having finance lose some supporting documentation from my first and second submittal attempts after returning from a deployment, I returned with a paper hand receipt and I demanded the NCOIC sign as proof of receiving said documents...When he didn't want to sign, I asked for the OIC...nope...I then asked for the first ADO/FGO....he signed and the voucher was paid 2 days later...3 months after I had returned from the deployment.

Cap-10

Posted from the NEW Baseops.net iOS App!

[moosepileit]

60 day list I call the, "OG/Cc or Wg/Cc gets me paid list. No federally allowed credit impact til 210 days if you mind the package....

[Spaceballs]

I wonder how many bronze stars these finance guys have...

[ARIs 'R' Us]

After try 2, he should have probably just gone to finance.

Great solution, unless:

A: your base finance office doesn't have a help desk and only communicates via email.

B: your voucher can only be corrected by your losing base, while you're one ocean and 7 time zones away.

But still, get the Lt Cols involved. That'll fix the glitch.

Edit: I spell you're wrong because I retard.

Posted from the NEW Baseops.net App!

Edited August 9, 2014 by ARIs 'R' Us

[addict]

Customer service fails when a technician provides an explanation to anything that wasn't a 'why/how' question. I have used e-finance once in its current form.

DoD certificates, Java, SSL, HTML Compatability mode, a personal scanner, pdf printing.... oops just doing a voucher. Maybe a mistake gets made.

Edited August 9, 2014 by addict

[sky_king]

I'm waiting on a TDY voucher that is 72 pages long... literally.

[guineapigfury]

It took me 22 months to get reimbursed for a rental car once.

[Jaded]

He's more likely to get an LOR than results.

[17D_guy]

Our email servers went down for several days during the AFNET migration and it was astounding to watch the people who had no clue what to do when they couldn't "lead" by email.

I love those days.

[10percenttruth]

Our email servers went down for several days during the AFNET migration and it was astounding to watch the people who had no clue what to do when they couldn't "lead" by email.

It's also amazing how quickly the level of queep drops to near-zero. Coincidence??

[nsplayr]

May I suggest a little mild, shall we say, "planned downtime" of email servers Air Force-wide to flush out the real leaders among the herd of pretenders?

The may be a little too classically "bleeding-heart" for this crowd, but skip to 1:20:

There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part! And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop! And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it — that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!

Edited August 9, 2014 by nsplayr

[Napoleon_Tanerite]

Wow, such an opportunity for amusement, and instead this guy comes of as a whiny douchey toolbag. Now had he tried actually un-ass his chair and GO to finance like anyone trying to get paid would do, and they weren't there (a reasonable expectation) then a letter blasting them for being closed for training/SAPR/bullshit would clearly be in order. Instead, this guy comes off as a petulant little brat who didn't get his way. There are SO many ways to blast finance, and he blew it.

[bottlenose]

I guess you overlooked the post where I mentioned he dealt with it in person with Finance people multiple times, only to be told "it's good to go" then to be rejected shortly after. The last rejection was for asking him to list all the stops he made when traveling on leave. Is that even legit? If it is, fine...He apologized. Again, multiple times in person told that its good to go, for 10 months.

Edited August 9, 2014 by bottlenose

[SurelySerious]

I guess you overlooked the post where I mentioned he dealt with it in person with Finance people multiple times, only to be told "it's good to go" then to be rejected shortly after. The last rejection was for asking him to list all the stops he made when traveling on leave. Is that even legit? If it is, fine...He apologized. Again, multiple times in person told that its good to go, for 10 months.

It doesn't matter, it's still a bad approach.

[10percenttruth]

I guess you overlooked the post where I mentioned he dealt with it in person with Finance people multiple times, only to be told "it's good to go" then to be rejected shortly after. The last rejection was for asking him to list all the stops he made when traveling on leave. Is that even legit? If it is, fine...He apologized. Again, multiple times in person told that its good to go, for 10 months.

"Your friend" isn't nearly as funny of a wordsmith as he thinks he is. Dude sounds like a turbo-dork

[Gravedigger]

I would advise "your friend" to take some of the advice given in this thread to heart.

Despite what many think, finance Airmen don't typically go to work trying to fuck people over. They work with some really crappy systems that frustrate them as much as they frustrate everyone else. There are worthless Airmen out there in every AFSC, but I think you'll find that if you show a little humility, understanding and appreciation, Airmen will usually do whatever they can to help you. That's been my experience anyway.

Posted from the NEW Baseops.net App!