insurance agent

tow truck driver

customer service representative

service technician

technician

AAA Washington

Spent 5 years working as a Fleet Technician. Personally, I loved everything about the job. I came in with many years of management experience under my belt but little in the way of automotive experience. I was advised to apply for a job at AAA from a friend of an at-the-time subordinate.

Interviewing is quick and painless and requires some very base level knowledge and common sense. The following interviews are fairly straight forward.

Training is fantastic and very hands on. You will spend little time in a classroom and most on the road in real world scenarios you will encounter on the job. I won't use names, but the people who are responsible for training you are top tier individuals both in knowledge and personality.

My day to day duties are what you would expect based on the many AAA commercials you have no doubt heard or seen. We receive a call from a member with a particular vehicle issue, we respond to said call, we complete the necessary service request. That is obviously over simplifying it, but that is more or less what you do for 10 hours a day. Our shifts are 4 days 10 hours with plenty of overtime opportunities.

Management are by far the best bosses I have ever had and genuinely care about the team. They will work with you on more or less anything so long as you put in the effort on your end.

My only gripe about the experience is that advancement is basically non-existent. If you go into this job with the expectation of moving up in the company, unless you plan to be there for literally decades, don't count on it. Seniority plays a major role in how and who gets what position or shift. While it isn't everything when a decision is made, it plays a significant enough role to keep moving up in the company out of reach for a good while. This wasn't necessarily a deal break for me as I had just come from a company where I more or less babysat grown adults and rather enjoyed my independence out on the road by myself being self accountable. 

All in all, it was the best job I have ever had and I am sad that I will have to leave soon as I will be leaving the state. If you are even remotely curious, I would strongly recommend putting in an application to see if it is for you. 

I worked here for about 4 years and I loved it. These people became my family and we were always there for each other. it was very comforting to know that if I ever had an issue I wouldn’t be judged but helped. They are very supportive and with being a single mother it’s very appreciated. The call center manager is amazing he’s funny yet serious when needed. If you ask me he’s the backbone to this entire company. Kinda like the dad of the company lol. I’d love to see him grow into a higher role! I believe he’d take this company to #1. 
 Leaving this company was very hard!  but his boss pretty much helped in my choice of leaving. I do not believe for one second that she cared About her employees she puts customers first and the employees are always wrong. she’d  constantly changes the way we did things sometimes without even discussing it with the employees of the call center so we could make corrections... then almost half of the call center  employees would get horrible scores because of that. In her words “ there’s no such thing as a perfect call find something wrong” There no balance with her. I don’t think the higher ups understand that there should always be a balance. When employees are happy they’ll give you the extra mile you want. I’ve watched good members of management leave because of her. And that’s sad. I guess maybe when the call center is empty they’ll finally see she’s the common denominator. Also the call center supervisors can be clicky and if they don’t like you it will be rough for you. I’ve witnessed this myself. Ooh and the ceo is amazing I do think he needs to open his eyes a bit more but other then that he’s awesome!

 But If you truly feel like you can ignore office politics then this is the job for you!

I cannot figure out why or how this company earns "best places to work" awards because they certainly do not deserve them.  If AAA Washington earns these awards, I cannot imagine what it must be like at other companies!

The compensation is lacking when compared to comparable positions with other companies.  Despite being a top performer in the office, my efforts were unrewarded with a $.28 per hour increase after my first year.  Sadly it was the same amount given to my coworkers who phoned it in (no pun intended.)

Lately management has made vain attempts at addressing a depressed workplace morale by establishing a "fun committee" when in reality all we want is recognition and a pay raise.  At the end of the day these attempts by management can be compared to putting lipstick on a pig---it's still a pig no matter how hard they try otherwise.  Management then gets upset when their attempts are met with resistance.  

A typical day on the job, answer the phone---repeat several dozen times.  Get yelled, be lied to several times over, repeat yourself thousands of times over.  This is a job where you are penalized if you go to the bathroom too many times and yet not rewarded if you go above and beyond.

The hardest part of my job is showing up.  Every time I drive into the parking lot and see the building I am immediately hit with severe depression symptoms where all hope in life dissipates.  The best part of my job is getting to leave when all of a sudden I become myself again.

Like other reviews, the training department is severely lacking.  I am surprised more people don't quit during training, it is that bad.

The only benefit are my coworkers.

When I first began working at AAA I looked forward to going to work each and everyday! I loved the diversity of the job and my team there was amazing! The company received accolades for several years in a row about being the "Best Place to Work" by its employees!  My manager in the beginning once said : " You will never have a manger as good as I am" and it was true! Management had a genuine interest in your success and though the compensation was a bit on the low side one was afforded other opportunities that made up for it.
Then everything changed! A new management regime came in, my manager went out along with a few other upper managers and things went downhill from there. 
The "new direction" that was often spoke of did little in the way of fostering employee moral. The compensation program leaves a lot to be desired (though giving credit where credit is due the benefit package was GREAT!) A scorecard that only a few achieved left many disgruntled over what was considered to be important. Exemplary customer service was not even a measurement but rather the selling of 12 or more AAA VISA's. In the short time that I was there the turnover was high. Local management provided little to the team concept that had been in place prior and was narcissistic and deceitful in style and character. 
If I sound bitter that is not my intent but rather to enlighten! I sincerely hope that AAA will get back on track with it's being considered "Best Place to Work"...( Ironically the employees are no longer afforded the survey to vote on their company) Currently, it leaves a lot to be desired!

After 25 very successful years in insurance, a job opening came available at AAA which seemed tailored to my skills and promised moving into a management position rather quickly.  But they were short a few Account Managers, so I volunteered to briefly help out/fill in for a couple weeks where needed as I was starting my own position.  Gotta be a team player, right?  A couple weeks turned into 6 weeks, then into 5 months with no end in sight, without ever getting into the position I was initially hired for.  My manager refused to hire anyone to fill the void and in getting no where with him, I eventually discussed the issue with his superiors, who merely reported me to my boss.  
That is the culture at AAA: obstinate and obtuse management who don't manage people well.  
They do Personal lines of insurance pretty well, but definitely do NOT put the client first, though they falsely preach that mantra incessantly.  Corporately, they are really inexperienced at Commercial lines, which I feel sorry for so many of their unsuspecting customers insured through AAA.  But many of their Commercial staff are knowledgeable, but lack the time to address accounts as holistically and professionally as customers assume any competent agency and would.

I have worked in a lot of call centers, but this one takes the cake on micromanagement. You cannot talk to your co-workers sitting next to you in between calls and they do not want to see you on your cell phone at all. I can understand if it is very busy and you are with a client, but in between calls? I have never worked somewhere where you couldn't converse quietly with any of your coworkers. Also, there is no sick time. If you call out sick, you are not paid from your PTO. Workforce says your sick time must be "planned" How do you plan to be sick? They pay for your property and casualty licensing (school, tests, fingerprinting, etc) So that is a plus. There is room for advancement, you can go into sales, leadership, IT, or customer retention. The pay is $18.00 - $20.00 starting off, but they won't pay you the $20.00 starting off, no advancement for a year.  You can park in one of the 3 parking lots or use their Orca card that is unlimited to commute. If you can get past their pettiness and constantly micromanaging your every move, then this would be a great place to work.

I loved working in the automotive department.  

It was unfortunate that AAAWA seemed to do everything it could to forget AAA is an Auto Club.  Few if any of their other lines would be around if it wasn’t for all the information AAA has on its members (contact info, years of membership, car types, preferred tow to shops…).  Those members sign up for roadside assistance, not because of the other lines of business.  I looked at the CEOs profile today…Her industry says “travel agencies”.  That sums it up pretty well.  Everyone knows AAA for being the Auto Club except AAAWA Management who prioritizes travel, insurance, or their politics. 

The highest paying jobs at AAA should be in automotive, but instead they were in a struggling HR Department, some newly formed social justice or marketing department.   The Automotive team has amazing employees who are left struggling to hire quality employees or to keep good employees because HR fails to value those jobs.   

AAA decided to venture into Commercial Lines of insurance so purchased an older agency located in the Westlake district of Seattle, on Lake Union.  The purchased agency used to have an esteemed reputation, but since AAA doesn't know Commercial Lines, it's shocking how poorly many remaining accounts are managed. 

Staff quotes:
- one Commercial Account Manager: "I just renew the policy 'per expiring' because I don't have time to 'do it right'.  I already work 60 hours a week and I can't keep up."
- from the head of the entire AAA Insurance Division: "I don't care if Commercial agents don't know what they are selling to customers.  We have all the Errors and Omissions coverage we need when they make mistakes".

Client quotes:
"Wow, you are the first agent that has ever called us in 15 years, and no one has ever tried to see how we can reduce our rates."  
"We just bought our Hair Salon policy and the agent didn't tell me that we could include Professional Liability for only $75 a year."
"Are you my agent?  We haven't talked to one for over 10 years."

Not only did AAA lose an employee but they also lost a couple members. I had to deny help to members all day long so it is not worth paying for a membership when they don’t have the fleet of service providers to help you. Every day there was another reason to deny service to members. No more shop-to-shop toes, no more tows from impound lots, etc. AAA leaves members stranded for several hours before finally saying that we don’t have a tow truck available so good luck out there! After several hours AAA might offer pay and apply back to AAA for a refund but that is now a last resort offering. Be a CSR here if you love not being able to help people and interrogating people so you can get enough information from them to then deny services. Heaven forbid if your stopped running six months ago in your driveway and now you are ready to get it towed to a repair shop to get it running again. AAA will deny the tow because it is not defined as an emergency since it has been sitting for a long time. I was able to find a much better job actually helping people and still working from home making $5.00 an hour more than I was making at AAA. 

Working in a call center during busy hours can be stressful, having back to back calls. I personally work slower hours though so it wasn't so bad for me. AAAWA provided nearly a month of paid full time training before putting us new hires on the phones, which helped with confidence once I did start the actual work. Many callers can also be frustrated or angry, both because they're in a stressful situation and because limited resources at AAA can cause delays in receiving service. You get used to it eventually but it was incredibly stressful and demoralizing for me at the start. Co-workers and supervisors understand this and when you need to vent, take a few minutes to relax, or need advice they don't hesitate to help. Also it is WFH so no need to waste time in traffic. Management is very supportive and has a focus on growth and learning from mistakes rather than disciplinary action. Everyone I met has a positive attitude and enjoys helping people as much as they are able. Overall a great place to work and would recommend applyinh here to anyone, especially those who are friendly and enjoy helping others 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Insurance agent 77 salaries reported	$28.70 per hour
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Technician 2 salaries reported	$27.83 per hour

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