Auto Club of Southern California Reviews

Pros

Potential to move to different departments
Training for more knowledge
There is longevity within the company
Potential for great bonuses

Cons

Very micro managed
No one does anything for you unless it benefits themselves
To many goals, make a person feel like a robot
Many people who is in a leadership role should not be in that possession

Advice to Senior Management

Have a heart,be considerate. You might be upper management but if you do not compensate the people for the hard work that they do and all you do is take take take you won't have a job either. Is the people who are working the floor that keeps this company running. Treat them as a human being and many people should not have the position that they are in. We need new eyes with new perspective, times have changed and so should the leaders.

Pros

I've been in sales for many years and with Auto Club for many years. I produce at a high level, winning awards, trips etc.... The compesation for the top 20% is good...not great but good.

Cons

The more you produce the more miserable you will be. Don't expect to work a mere 40 hr week and make money. There is a tremendous lack of support you get on exsisting business. Since you're not getting residuals this will be discouraging. There is also an accuracy bonus which can affect roughly 40% of your pay. This bonus will be given when you first start and in most cases taken away as soon as you hit 90 days. Good luck getting it back. I belive only 10% of sales will hit that 98 or 97% mark of perfection. If your producing at a high level it's even harder. This is because there is a whole department devoted to taking that money. It's very profitable for the company to not payout that bonus. The turnover rate for agents is very high we see them come and go. Always very discouraged and even if you make it past your first year, you rarely see an agent last beyond 3 years. They will tell you thier thinking about giving residuals back, but just ask yourself have you even know a company to take away pay and give it back?? NO....The AAA name and rep is good for thier members, but for there employees not so much. Don't let the non-profit fool you.

Advice to Senior Management

Why bother they won't change

Pros

Benefits, Paid Training, AAA membership, Interacting with insureds in person.

Cons

Management, trying to generate as many auto policies as possible by spinning off kids to their own policies when its not in the families best interest to do so! Expect to work 50+ hours a week. etc

Advice to Senior Management

Stop talking down to your employees and learn how to motivate people!

Pros

Excellent benefits, good working conditions, tons of " lifers"

Cons

Not in tune with the 21st Century

Advice to Senior Management

Get A Clue

Pros

Stable Company, pay is good for mindless work.

Cons

They clearly care far more about the members well being than the employees. Micro Management is a joke.

Advice to Senior Management

Give employees credit where credit is due. Allow them to use vacation time that they have earned.

Pros

Great opportunities, exciting challenges and great team

Cons

Extensive hours, time away from work hard to come by

Pros

Auto Club has been through the ups and downs of many turbulent decades and times. It's 110-year history shows than it can weather any storm, and has even done very well in years when other competitors have done poorly.
Stable
Well-respected
Co-workers feel like family
Many career and transfer opportunities
Growing in mutiple states
Great benefits, perks, and facilities

Cons

Extrememly conservative company
Some of the sales systems are ancient

Pros

Job stability, AAA membership is good value

Cons

1st rule, it's aways someone else faults
2nd rule, consultants are commodities

Advice to Senior Management

Learn to treat your employees like your AAA members

Pros

The people and the reputation of the company are first class. It has a good track record in a tough environment. It is growing.
Compensation and benefits are good--didn't suspend 401 like every other company, etc.

Cons

Right now it is the growing uncertainty about all of the mergers in AAA. Don't know how concerned to be about the future. So far it has been OK. But I have a relative who works for AAA in the Bay area (well she did until she was laid off recently after 14 years) and they were taken over by a smaller AAA in the East ?? (don't understand that) and now they are laying off hundreds of people with no explanation. They are going to close a lot of offices.
I thought our offices are Busy?? What is the future??

Advice to Senior Management

If there is a game plan , it would help to know. If it has to stay confidential maybe better understanding if we have a different approach than whatever the others are doing. Can we be taken over?

Pros

Top tier insurance company. I would buy from them in a heartbeat. They are honest, respectful and handle claims with speed and integrity. From a consumer point of view, and awesome company.

Cons

I really hope they read this...I love Auto Club, but it is one of the hardest places to work on the planet.
Now, about the job...This job is technically commission only, however in effect due to how the comp works you are probably never going to make less than $1k/mo. However, the system is set up in a fashion that the successful agents literally need to work 50-70hr./wk to make their goals. While you get leads that walk in the front door, you have to share and take turns with everyone else in the office. Goals are HARD (non-negotiable), in that if you don't make your goal for a few months, even if off by one, then you will be put on report. In my office, the total goal for the month was evenly divided by the number of agents - new agents are expected to produce the same as those who have been there for 5 or more years. There are no renewals. To be clear, "you do not build a book of business" at Auto Club. This is sad in that the insurance industry was built upon the foundation of lifetime renewals allowing a person to work like a dog for several years then enjoy a milder pace to be able to spend time with family. The Auto Club system is only designed for you to work like a dog for years, in fact forever...there is no let up, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. While some things certainly get easier with time, the pace never let's up.
In offices w/Saturday hours, you are required to work pretty much every other weekend. If you have the sales floor that weekend it's not a bad deal, but if you are doing backup or CSR duties in effect your put your time in for free while at the same time missing family activities. Add to that the typical long week and late hours and in effect you are giving yet another piece of your family time to the company for little if no compensation.
Paperwork is colossal as you in effect pre-underwrite all your apps before submission. A huge portion of your comp (up to 175%) is reflected on your ability to accurately underwrite the policy. While most companies require field underwriting, having been in the insurance industry for 20+ years, I can tell you that what Auto Club expects if nothing short of perhaps 80% of the duties of a typical home office underwriter. While this is certainly their prerogative, it of course takes valuable sales time from you and turns your job into an info gathering nightmare.
As you make mistakes, your compensation is adjusted down, not for the pay period or the month but for a rolling 6 months! You screw up in January and by July your compensation could be less than half with the exact same production. Only "perfection" for the next six months (and lot's of overtime) will dig you out of this hole. So now, you work incredible hours for as little as 50% what you were a mere six months prior, with no hope until the rolling 6mos finally catches up with you assuming you've been perfect.
The adversarial role of underwriter vs. sales is compounded with "audits" of your submissions, becoming the proverbial club used to destroy your commissions. Underwriters in the home office are "audited" too, so while they may at times want to cut you a break, they have their own skin to save as well. While Auto Club's lawyers are quick to point out that the compensation you lose is only "bonus" compensation, what they fail to tell you is the base comp plan is not a livable comp structure given the clerical duties required, and more importantly, your mistakes WILL put you on report as well as affect the compensation of everyone else in the office including your manager. So, the reality is, while technically not required, it is for all practical purposes a requirement of near perfection on all application submissions or you and everyone else will pay the price, and if not corrected you will lose your job. Finally, even though you are on straight commission, you are a W2 employee. You are not free to come and go as you will, in fact, during duty rotations, there will be days you come in and get zero leads but spend your whole day doing CSR duties as assigned. Never mind the fact that you are only paid for sales, the system will take you out of sales 2- 3 days a week while you contribute to the CSR duties for the office.
Compensation can be very good, upwards of 125k for top producers, and first year you should be able to make 70k or more. However, given the stress of the environment, the lack of freedom & overtime in order to achieve these results, many do not stay for the long term. Burn out and stress is a BIG factor. Stress leave is a way of life.
All in all, it is frankly a sweatshop. In order for you to do your job, overtime is a given, deception is the norm and the pressure to produce outweighs all other human considerations. Positive corporate culture may exist at the home office, but the sales offices are crushed under the weight of the corporate pursuit of profits, at what is ultimately the agents expense

Advice to Senior Management

I loved working at Auto Club. I loved the office I worked in and the people, but the system is not for me and apparently by your attrition rate, not for many. I think you grossly underestimate the power of the sales person and view it as an order taking position. While there are certainly those cases, the vast majority of sales are in fact "sold" because of the direct efforts of the sales agent. If it were simply an order taking position, why not hire people on salary and keep the extra profits?
With all the great public good will and perception of Auto Club, it is a shame that those who work there in sales loathe their jobs but usually make just enough money to feel like they have to stay. It is sad for me even to write this and I truly do not wish to burn any bridges or cause harm, but I hope that someone takes a look at your "true" corporate culture of blood sweat and tears and does something to reform it. The saddest part is, and I guarantee it, you will "never" hear any of the above from anyone currently employed because frankly the corporate culture does not foster the trust in the system that they won't be ostracized for speaking out. I am happily employed elsewhere so I truly hope this makes a difference.