The military pay system is very dynamic. Unlike most civilian companies, your pay, and things that affect it, change continuously. In the past 14 years that I've been in (10 of which were not in finance), finance hasn't had the best reputation with military members. Our career field is constantly working on how best to manage the systems we are forced to use and provide the best customer service possible. Here are some things that you can do to help yourself.
- File your travel voucher within 5 days. This is on the back of your orders and is considered a Direct Order; however, it's not enforced. The majority of complicated pay cases stem from individuals not filing their travel vouchers within 5 days. You can't help the long part of rejects, slow finance response times and actual processing, but you can help your portion which is filing the voucher. Filing your travel vouchers w/in 5 days reduces pay debts and travel card delinquencies and also ensures you are receiving the correct entitlements.
- Don't suffer in silence. If you're not receiving the answer or service you think you should from finance, then ask for an NCO, the flight chief or the OIC (a.k.a. the Financial Services Officer). Don't abuse the junior enlisted technician or you may create a negative response for that technician and will increase poor customer service. Regardless of what most people think, most finance personnel want to help customers. Don't leave finance feeling like your problem is unresolved.
- Know our regulations. Most people say, "Why do I have to know your regulations? That's your job." That is very true, but it's your pay. No one cares more about you getting paid correctly than you. Our military pay comes from appropriated funds, which means it's taken from taxpayers and given to us by Congress. This means the money has to only go to what's it authorized for. So, unfortunately for many customers, if a military pay technician tells you the wrong answer, the government will still seek collections in the form of a debt. It sucks that the military pay technician gave the wrong advice, but you still owe the money back. The most common regulation cited for all services is the Joint Federal Travel Regulations (JFTR) for military and the Joint Travel Regulations (JTR) for civilians located here: http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/travelreg.cfm
- Be persistent. Due to various reasons, some finance can control, some we can't, resolving your pay issue may be a lengthy, laborious and complicated process. Be persistent, but professional, with finance to ensure it gets resolved. Don't just fire an e-mail and forget and hope it gets resolved. Get a positive ID on the corrective action. If we say it will pay out in 5 days and on the 5th day it doesn't, give us a call back.
- Leave constructive feedback. If you have constructive feedback, please give it to us. Use whatever method your local finance has for customer service feedback. We can't improve unless we know what to improve. If you had a positive experience, please leave that feedback too. Nothing is more motivating than the Commander receiving a thank you note due to a positive customer service feedback.
I was a customer like you for 10 years before crossing into finance, so I bring those experiences with me and we, at least in the Air Force, are doing everything we can to get back to the basics and give the best possible service we can. We need your help to ensure you're doing your part to take care of your finances and focus on the mission.
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