Garage closure leaves motorists in a jam

[unhappycamper]

Garage closure leaves motorists in a jam
By Scott Schonauer, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Tuesday, September 25, 2007


KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — When it comes to services and American amenities, few bases in Europe can compare to this area, the U.S. military’s largest community outside the United States.

There are three movie theaters, spacious commissaries that could compare to grocery stores in the States and exchange stores that offer more variety than most overseas installations. But the one thing the community does not have, and most other bases do have, is an Army and Air Force Exchange Services-run automotive garage. The area’s lone AAFES Car Care Center stopped fixing cars about three months ago.

While the center brought in more than $230,000 in sales through the garage and parts sales in fiscal 2007, the store and garage lost about $7,000 due to costs, AAFES spokesman Lt. Col. Dave Konop said.

Rick Talbot, AAFES general manager for the Kaiserslautern military community, said the cost of labor and equipment is among the main reasons they and military commanders decided to shutter the garage this past summer and only sell parts. Local self-help garages run by Morale, Welfare and Recreation also cut into business, Talbot added.

~snip~

That might be a surprising explanation to many customers who went to the garage to get work done on their car. Last winter, customers had to wait more than a month to get winter tires installed on their vehicles because of the demand.

The garage has had a reputation of long waits for work to be done, from tire installation to routine tuneups.


Rest of article at: http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=49012



uhc comment: Another sign of the * cabal's policies. Divert every penny from anything not war.

I wounder how many 500-lb bombs we can buy with that $7,000?

Support Our Troops, my ass.