Herc130AV8R

Twice now ARPC (in conjunction with DFAS) has been over a month delinquent on paying out my aviation bonus. Still waiting on my last payment due July 13th. The aviation bonus is now paid in arrears on an annual basis and it seems like ARPC can't manage the process and proactively get folks paid on time. I signed a contract with the Air Force that they are not living up to. Are others having this issue? I'm trying to gather more data points for my next phone call to them. Thanks

Excargodog

Knew a guy back in the day (on active duty) that was coming up on a PCS and would be taking 30 days leave enroute. He also had a bonus coming due during that period.

He talked to his CBPO and they somehow got him paid a few days early.

In mid-leave and a couple hundred miles from any leave he gets a SECOND payment. He called Randolph who couldn’t confirm he’d ever gotten the first payment and was told to put his problem in writing and send it to the office that was the OPR for that. He did that and a week later got an apologetic letter for screwing up his bonus and a THIRD check. When he got to his new base the guy at the CBPO nominally in charge of this couldn’t find anything in the system, told him he was mistaken,and refused to take back the two excess payments.

More in sorrow than in anger, my friend cashed the two checks and bought long term CDs. A month or two later he got a frantic call from the guy at the CBPO who was nominally in charge of this wanting the money immediately and was told it had already been spent. They took $1000 a month out of my friend’s pay until it was paid back - essentially an interest free loan - while his CDs were maturing.

A military axiom: never ascribe to malice what might as readily be explained by incompetence.

Now that doesn’t get you paid, of course, but it isn’t the corporate Air Force that’s out to get you. It’s a big organization with a lot of moving parts and one of them appears to have effed up. Keep pinging them and they will eventually make it right. Pain in the butt? Sure, but you shouldn’t have signed on if you couldn’t take a joke.

crewdawg

Ha, eventually making it right has gone from the exception, to the rule. Based on the fact you call it CBPO, I'm guessing you've been out a few years, or maybe just around a long time lol. Getting paid for anything as gotten significantly harder in the last 6-9 years. My last voucher somehow took 4 months and my GTC getting cut off before it was paid out. Even that took a battle, and way more of time than it needed. It's tiring really, and people are starting to just say no thanks to TDYs.

Honestly, I'd give it the college try and it it continues, talk with the IG. Or call your congressman. Both tend to get attention and stuff fixed.

rickair7777

Way back in the day, a slight over-payment was subject to being recouped whenever they noticed it, even many years later... with interest for the government.

There were stories of folks getting garnished for hundreds of thousands decades after being over-payed a few thousand. Happened to retirees when something triggered a review of past payments. I think congress fixed that at one point, put a statute of limitations on the interest (assuming no fraud on your part).

Hobbit64

I just did this.... but after all the DTS drama, I wasn’t polite at all about the issue. I’ll miss the tdy fun, but being questioned on every little thing and treated like I’m working at a regional isn’t worth it.
By Felicia!

hindsight2020

You're not alone bud. I'm going on 80 days delinquent on the AvB payment for FY 18. DFAS pointed the finger at DPAA (ARPC section in charge of AGRs), and DPAA pointed it right back at DFAS.

The DFAS lady on the phone essentially gave me a false lead by suggesting they didn't have anything showing "in their system pending" and that I needed to re-address it with ARPC. Insinuating (which they would readily deny of course, if taken to task about it) that ARPC is the last widget in the chain to get an export pay action. That right there, was a straight lie just to get me off the phone, like a bad retail worker trying to get you off their face. And I found it of course, when I emailed ARPC back with that data point.

ARPC, rightfully so, got huffy and scoffed at the notion they are responsible for triggering the final payment action. They legitimately have no access to the financial records and pay export functionality for the DOD. That's DFAS's job. They [ARPC] argued they made the request via CMS and DFAS replied back with "already accomplished". That's DFAS boning it up wholesale, and lying about it. So from my perspective, DFAS is scoffing at their job and botching CMS requests for payment, and kicking them back as processed when they're not really doing it.

In fairness, ARPC admitted they overlooked my anniversary date since I've been signing only one year at a time, whereas most people sign for 3 and they put your name on "auto" when it comes to anniversary payments. So that accounted for 30 days late on the CMS case initiation.You may be in that group if you're a 2 or 3 year bonus signer, and ARPC is not putting the CMS cases in the system upon your anniversary dates. But the rest? Yeah that's DFAS not doing their job imo.

The folks at ARPC said to give them another week since they just pushed the CMS case AGAIN, and see what kind of response they get from DFAS. I should get an export pay (essentially an LES in mypay), if not, then they'll have to go VFR direct to DFAS. It looks like DFAS is just stonewalling individual members if they call directly. There's basically nothing you can do on your own to get them to pay you, you have to get ARPC to champion for you via their internal CMS thing.

It's always been a clownshow though, this DOD indentured servitude schtick. I serve my Country not because of the DOD, but in spite of it...

crewdawg

Smart! If only the ANG had listened to its people and got the big bonus for 1 year orders...

navigatro

sounds like a job for your congressional representative.

hindsight2020

Update for the OP, mine just paid, right at 90 days late. ARPC is the belly button, don't bother with DFAS.