My Biggest Complaint About American Businesses Who Refuse U.S. Military Personnel Overseas

I have been on active duty with the USAF for almost 23 years. I have been on duty outside the continental US for the last 6 years. I absolutely love being able to shop online for items from back home that I could only get via mail order in years gone by. However, there are still a lot of American businesses who REFUSE to do business with me because they will not ship to my government issued Postal Service Center address at the U.S. Post Office on the military installation where I am on duty.

I’ve been told that they will not ship to an APO or FPO box because UPS will not deliver to the address. Well DUH! No they won’t, but the U.S. Postal Service sure will! Why can’t they make an exception to policy, and ship via the USPS?

I’ve been told that their shipping software will not recognize “AE” as a valid state code — AE is the state code issued by the USPS for all personnel assigned to duty locations throughout Africa and Europe. This was changed from “APO, NY” (New York) to “APO, AE” back in the mid 1990s.

My conclusion in this instance is that their software sucks. I’ve also been told that they will not ship to an APO or FPO address because they can’t validate the address provided. I PROVIDED MY ADDRESS! Is this NOT validation enough?

My general conclusion is that there are a lot of uneducated business owners out there losing on their bottom line because they’re IGNORANT to the fact that are are millions of expatriate Americans around the world who are U.S. government employees receiving their mail from back home via APO / FPO USPS addresses. Their employees refuse to ask for an exception to policy because they’re afraid to lose face with the boss, and so they lose out on profits. Or, they’re employees are just too lazy to ask …. It’s probably my biggest complaint, so thanks if you read this and give a rat’s @$$….

Oh, and by the way, THANKS to all the TRUE AMERICAN businesses out there who DO have a clue, and WILL serve those of us who serve to ensure that American liberties and freedoms endure for an eternity! Have a nice day!