European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 21, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 a the stars and stripes letters cafes Gas Price report elicits Sharp response thank you for your enlightening to say the least report on cafes Gas pricing procedures. It was a Surprise to find that cafes adds 50-cent markup to each gallon to meet Overall profit quotas for cafes Europe and that fuel would be 23 cents per gallon less if stateside cafes pricing policy was applied. Heaven help us if the rationale that the higher Gas prices still provide a reasonable value when compared to the local Economy should spread. Id hate for the commissary to get wind of it. A less kindly description of the policy might be Price gouging or a what the traffic will in a not convinced that the policy benefits lower ranking soldiers and airmen and their families a As cafes contends a by allowing lower prices on other necessity items. I suspect that most soldiers families have cars out of necessity and that automobile fuel is a major expense. Cafes fuel pricing policy should be similar to that used in the states. If a Cash cow is needed move All tobacco sales from the commissary to cafes and Price those items to provide Quot reasonable value when compared to the local if not tobacco other luxury items. If neither of those then with the 23 cents id save on every gallon of Gas i can afford to pay an extra Nickel for toothpaste. Brig. Gen. Robison appears to be open to suggestions having said in the article that it there a a a general consensus that the Price of Gas is unreasonable it could be lowered. Now that we know the reason Why we re paying higher prices for Gas i Hope patrons use cafes customer comment orms and record that consensus. A William e. Beyatte Nellinger West Germany v pc 1 read the Story three times sure that i was mistaken. But no it is True. First let me congratulate stars and stripes and its staff. I realize it is easy for a brigadier general and a High ranking is employee to Tell us that cafes Gas is a a reasonable value a but what about the Soldier who makes less than a Quarter of their pay pays significantly More two to three times for insurance on his vehicle and is constantly fighting a Battle usually losing with the foreign Economy How do you explain this policy of overcharging them us for Gas by Over 25 cents per gallon if the Navy Exchange system can manage to implement a no profit system of gasoline sales in Italy i urge the Hierarchy of the army and air Force Exchange system to take some lessons. In closing i urge All fellow members of the european command affected and offended by this policy to take up pen and paper As i have to write their respective congressional representatives. I guarantee that if you do so the thousands of complaints made by you the people affected will make a difference. A chief warrant officer 3 . Turner Stuttgart West Germany i was appalled but certainly not surprised to read your recent Story concerning the cafes Price of gasoline in Europe. Appalled since cafes is constantly telling us what a Savior it is to us government employees a not surprised since i have friends in new Orleans who daily pay 19 to 21 cents a gallon less for Premium unleaded despite the fact that they Are paying Federal state and local taxes As part of the Purchase Price. The City sales tax in new Orleans incidentally is 10 cents on the Dollar. With that sort of difference i am not sure i want cafes doing me any favors. And study carefully a fest alleged justifications i. A a number of Field exercises Cost us in mall for comforts in the Field for men in uniform but i think the picture i saw during reformer of the Soldier sitting on his Bradley drinking a soda and munching on a whopper was a bit much. 2. A one of the Best deals in with a 21 percent profit on 7 percent of the total cafes european sales you bet your hippie its a Good Deal. The question of course is for whom 3. A the Money goes to the mar i for one happen to think the mar program is essential to our presence in Europe. But in Case cafes Hasni to been paying attention a reduction in our european presence is already under Way. Logic would have you believe the mar program would need less Money with less people a not More. But alas cafes and logic Are not necessarily synonymous. 4. A you can to compare us with stations in the United Why not the stars and stripes did and uncovered the startling fact that the a company store concept is alive and Well in Europe. Now 1 know cafes has All sorts of justifications and rationalizations for this Alice in wonderland approach to a realistic approach to the Price of a product. And in a sure Well hear them Over and Over and Over. I am always comforted As they did in your report and have repeatedly done in response to other complaints by the fact that cafes is always right. In the real world it s the customer who is right. Now if cafes will just explain Why i recently bought a bicycle shirt for $20 no tax Only to learn from my son that he bought the very same shirt at a Denver department store for $9.95, including tax. I Hope this explanation is More sensible and convincing than the one about the atrocious Price of Gas. A name withheld Kaiserslautern West Germany i would like to make one additional Point. This profit by cafes really amounts to an unfair taxation of a necessary product for people who live off Post to pay for facilities and programs they use less than anyone else. Because i live about 25 Miles off Post i buy substantially More gasoline than anyone living on Post. Thus i pay substantially More Money into the cafes profit Kitty than anyone living on Post. The cafes commander says that this extra profit goes to pay for mar activities on Post. Yet who has the Opportunity to use these facilities and programs the least the person living off Post. My family and i cannot afford either in time or Money to come to the Post to use these facilities on a regular basis unlike those who live Only a Short walk away on Post. Ironically one of the reasons i cannot afford to come in is because of the High Price of gasoline. Thus we who live off Post suffer a double penalty. One of the things i have heard justifying the Cost of gasoline and other goods is that we get a Cost of living allowance cola yet Why is cola the same whether one lives on or off Post those of us who must live off Post buy More items off the Economy and suffer More under the unfair gasoline pricing practices of cafes. If mar needs More Money to operate reduce the cola for on Post residents to pay for mar activities. Another option would be to Start charging user fees. This option would be fairer across the Board. On Post residents can use their cola Windfall to pay these fees. But done to penalize those of us who live off Post to pay for Burger Kings Bowling alleys gyms where we can to even get a locker and youth activities we can scarcely afford anyway. A name withheld Vaihinger West Germany Well it seems cafes in its infinite Wisdom has put the Burden of its operations Cost on those least Able to afford it. Who must live off base and buy gasoline in order to come and take advantage of All the wonderful functions mar offers Why lower ranking enlisted personnel of course. So lets inflate the Cost of fuels to take All that extra Money that would otherwise be spent foolishly. With All of the emphasis on making fir Grams self supporting Why not let held deployments pay their own Way then fuel prices could be lowered to everyone a Benefit. A George Perkins Ramstein a West Germany it was stated that Brig. Gen. Thomas w. Robison and his staff receive an earnings target retained earnings quota and then this group establishes a Price Structure for cafes Europe goods and services. He was quoted As saying a we look at prices every month to make sure we Arentt charging the customers More than we should. And to make sure we Arentt losing he went on to discuss the a Burger King that costs him a Quarter every time be Sells a Burger because of the labor wage rates in Aviano lastly it was written that a gasoline is the Cash cow that covers these another article from that same Day cited that a in Italy tax free gasoline coupons Are available and prices Are about 25 cents lower than at cafes elsewhere in the logic behind this reasoning escapes me. Whereas i am sure negotiations and restrictions imposed by different countries result in different Price structures i find it hard to understand Why. Since All pay Scales Are fixed in the military operations which lose Money at isolated Sites Are paid for by soldiers who in Many cases have no Access to Burger Kings or cafes facilities other than a mall Shoppee or Burger bar. I will agree with the writer who stated he was a tired of All the letters from people who were worried about the wrong things like shopping malts Heaters Etc. We Are Here for a larger purpose. I do not write to submit a bid to have a theater or Bowling Alley or gymnasium or commissary or Gas station or Buniger King at my Cavern we have none of these. My Point is a simple one. All soldiers make sacrifices and work hard. My Days Are generally from 5 30 . To 8 . I earn my pay just like the next Guy. 1 would request that this month when the general and his staff review the prices they follow the Lead of Congress and others mandating base closures and getting rid of wasteful excess. This month when they decide How to Best support that Burger King in Aviano i recommend strongly that they do so like the rope supports the hanged Man. A capt. Matthew duly Mainz West Germany i found your special report on cafes big earnings on overseas Gas sales very interesting. However the thing that interested me the most was the photo of the Rhein main Gas station. I do have a question concerning the photo. By what authority is the Driver of that German registered Ford escort with German License plate clearly visible filling his Gas tank at an cafes Gas station or would that question be better directed to the Zoll amt customs in Hannover a James r. Rodehorst Lindsey air station West Germany editors note a master sgt. Dayton p. Strickland customer relations he cafes Europe replies this is about the response we expected. Obviously if we had written the Story we would have Given it a different slant. For example the stars and stripes chose to emphasize the a huge profits cafes Europe makes on gasoline. Instead we would have pointed out that the extra 9 cents a gallon it costs you Here Over our stateside prices sets you Back less than $4 a month based on the average consumption rate of 42 Gallons a month. Also we would not have compared cafes to a the crumbling communist systems in the East i mean really give me a break. Suffice it to say that we Are compelled to make a profit we Call it earnings to support essential service operations which Are natural Money losers and to also provide Money to the army and air Force to pay for the construction and operation of activities not funded by Congress. Maybe you done to feel a need to support the troops on training exercises and in Remote locations and maybe you done to feel a need to support the morale welfare and recreation fund but the fact is that is our Mission. The thing to keep in mind is that cafes does not operate independently and does not exist to serve itself. We exist to serve you. We receive continuous input from Community advisory councils. Our prices and operations Are reviewed quarterly by the cafes Europe Exchange Council which is comprised of senior army and air Force officers and cos in Europe. We report through our commander to a Board of directors comprised of senior army and air Force officers Andros and we Are watched Over by the House armed services committee. Well stay open to different ideas but we done to believe our gasoline prices Are excessive. Meanwhile we have our i marching orders. If and when those orders Are changed we will obviously adjust by the Way Usa eur regulation 600-17 outlines provisions for certain German plated vehicles such As rental cars to Purchase cafes Petroleum pals t am 16 years old and togolese. I enjoy playing music dancing playing soccer travelling Coll citing Stamps and Reading. 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