Auto Club of Southern California Reviews

Pros

Stable company
Reasonable pay
Reasonable working hours
Pretty good benefits
Company with a long heritage
Multiple product lines
Some carpool reimbursement - yes that's all I could think of

Cons

The down-side to a company with a long heritage is that the company hasn't really progressed as much as it should. The CEO comes from an old-school business background and the company believes in using fear and intimidation as motivators, rather than any actual encouragement. There are a lot of people in this job that are lifers, but most of those people stay in middle management. Overall, it's a high stress environment with management that's always looking to point a finger at fault, rather than build a team environment that works together towards a solution. Also, they are very behind the times from both a technology perspective and culture.

Advice to Senior Management

I honestly think that you would need to bring someone in from the outside or bring in some new people on the senior management level to give them an honest assessment. You have great talent there, don't chase all of the younger generation away by limiting opportunities. Believe it or not, people will work harder for a company they respect and treats them well then one that kicks them down.

Pros

The travel business has changed so much but here there is still a focus and support for the travel business. The members are great to work with. We have good systems and product.
The pay is based on performance and the benefits are good.
Overall pretty decent.

Cons

The workload can be heavy and there is a lot of analysis before new staff are added. The AAA is changing rapidly and there is concern about what this means for the future.

Advice to Senior Management

We love that you are committed and supportive of travel. We need more training and familiarization trips. It would be nice to have more recognition events.

Pros

Benefits, salary, and work life balance.

Cons

far behind in system technology.

Pros

It is a very stable company which has been in business for over 125 years with a billion dollar surplus.

Cons

The workload is very imbalanced. The efficient employees carry the workload of employees who have been there for over 10 years who are from the old school and not techically savvy. The information systems are still in the 70's they need to be updated and so is their dress code which is still so formal in this day & age for all jobs and positions.This company still prints every report on paper and does not believe in using only soft copies. Very infexible and rigid work schedule.

Advice to Senior Management

The information flow is only one way, from top to bottom and there is one rule for Management and one for the rest of the workers. Management is out of touch with the real world and very inaccessible and processes need to be less bureaucratic & more practical. If changes are not made only the employees who have been with the Auto Club a long time will remain since they will not be able to adapt to changing business environment since they only know the archaic and static environment of the Auto Club.

Pros

I just received this years bonus and again we are getting great financial recognition for a company that is strong and doing very well. The constituents, members, vendors, officials all hold us in highest regard.
Benefits good and great career opportunities

Cons

It is going to be very hard to sustain the performance of the last few years. So the future maybe tougher.
The company operates in many states and given the bad cost and political environment in California, it will eventually move thousands of jobs out of California.

Advice to Senior Management

more communication about the future

Pros

-Average benefits package
-nice HR staff
-close to major freeways (405 and 55)
-many of the non-executive employees are really nice

Cons

If you are looking for a career, this is not the best place to be. Management, especially senior management, often overreacts to small issues, putting everyone on the defensive to make sure they aren't blamed. Some executives are very negative towards employees.

Promotions and recognition often aren't a result of hard work; they're usually doled out based on how good you are at praising your superiors.

I wouldn't recommend the Auto Club to any of my friends

Pros

Good benefits, agents have lots of flexibility in time management, Free AAA membership.

Cons

Corporate communication has become a joke. The corporate bureaucracy is nearly impossible to access - you never know from day-to-day who is handling an issue.....takes 5 calls to get someone to answer a payroll questions.

Pros

The company has a great reputation outside of the company. That was the reason I was excited to come here. Great benefits and they still have a pension, though they've begun to scale back. If you like wearing a tie and working with old technology, this place is for you.

Cons

Unfortunately, the management is mostly from within. There are people who have been at the company their whole lives and have no idea that management is different outside of the company. They spend most of their time looking for someone else to blame and covering their asses so they can't be blamed. All that energy should be put into trying to solve problems.

Advice to Senior Management

Take some management classes, read management periodicals, learn how to manage. In addition, begin to learn how to take responsibility and quit trying to blame everyone else. It would be far more productive. and beneficial to the company.

Pros

Outstanding benefits. Company still has a pension plan, but it's not as good as it used to be.

Cons

Most of the management has been there for decades and does not know anything about progress in management practices. Old IT systems, poorly maintained facilities.

Advice to Senior Management

Get some new blood! Old execs need to retire already.

Pros

Amazing benefits. PPOs are like $25 per pay check including dental. There is advancement if you do not mind moving to OC otherwise you will be stuck in the district office until you die.

Cons

Lack of advancement. Salary cap in a district office for DMV employees is about ~36/40k. If you want a better job you have to move to the OC thats where the corp office is. If you want a promotion they will most likely move you out of your district office and move you to a different one.

If you work for the travel agency they keep raising your goals even when they lunched their own corp travel agency website, they made the agents compete against it.

If you work for the insurance side, there is good money but they keep adjusting the commission to the point where you do not make any money. When I left we had agents making 200k when they adjusted the commission to the new system the same agents were now making 75 to 100k (still a lot of money but thats half of what it was)

Advice to Senior Management

There are a few "good old boys" who are left around that don't actually know what the office does, they just keep handing down instructions from corporate not understanding that they must change with the times. such as how can you expect your travel agents to make their goals if you keep increasing them, even tho the travel business is all going online. In addition you create a travel website and expect your agents to compete with your own site.

Regarding the DMV side. They need to understand that every year there are more and more people who begin to use AAA for their DMV services. This means you need to increase staff. This is not a very difficult concept to understand. If you don't do not expect your customer service numbers to stay the same!!!! The reason people HATE DMV is because of the long waits. AAA now too has long waits thus it too will become HATED! Like I said not a difficult concept but you do not, always, have the smartest people at the wheel.

T. McKernan in 2003 took away the Member's rights to vote for individuals who serve on the board of directors. AAA is a 501c status and is a member ship based organization and Thomas took away the members right to vote. There are no other rights that the members have. And even though its a NON-PROFIT they will not release the details of Thomas' salary.

Every few years Thomas goes out and buys another auto club. He bought
Hawaii because he likes to vacation there, same goes for the others. There is a personal reason behind every club that he has purchased!