call center representative

customer service representative

procurement analyst

claims adjuster

data analyst

Roadside Protect

The Good:

RP's customer service representative role is more complex and challenging than a lot of call center jobs.  That means if you are motivated to do well, you can learn a lot of transferable skills that will ultimately help you get a job elsewhere.  RP has accounts in different industries, so the job is varied and less repetitive than similar jobs.  Working at a call center gets you office experience, so it is more likely to land you a "professional" job than other service jobs like food service and retail.

The Bad:

New agents at RP are rushed through a brief training on how to handle the company's simplest roadside accounts, then promptly thrown out on the floor to start taking calls.  They are later called back into the training room for even briefer trainings on the more complicated accounts.  How soon they're trained depends on how busy it is at the time they're hired and how bad the understaffing is.  During the summer typically agents are trained so quickly they are put in the queue for the difficult accounts before they've gotten a grasp on the simpler ones.  RP does not care whether its agents can handle the calls they receive; their business model is based on keeping hold times short, which means they simply want the calls answered.  New agents are overwhelmed and stressed.  Customers often become irate because they can tell the person they’re speaking to has no idea how to help them.  Unsurprisingly, a lot of new agents quit. 

People who are promoted to management have no training or support.  As a result, a lot of employees promoted are demoted or "step down" within a short time.  I estimate the turnover among management is at least 50%.  Those who stay in their management roles often have questionable performance and qualifications.

A combination of incompetence, carelessness, and mean-spiritedness creates a poor work environment for employees.  If you are an employee who is actually dedicated and motivated, you will always feel obligated to put out fires caused by clueless or careless people, but you will never be thanked for it.  Management will ignore that you exist except possibly to make a mean comment to you every once in a while.  Many of the people in management have big egos and take pride in putting down the people beneath them.  They do not believe in treating employees with basic respect.  Cliquishness, backstabbing, verbal abuse, etc., are rampant behind the scenes.  Management has no interest in supporting and retaining employees.  The company prioritizes disciplinarianism over leadership, with managers whose jobs chiefly consist of yelling at, warning, demoting, and firing people.

RP does not reward employees based on performance, only based on favoritism.  That means if you work hard and learn to do your job well against all odds, chances are you will be ignored while people with mediocre performance get praise and special privileges from management.  Similarly, favorites will be selectively trained in higher tasks while others will be left to languish in the same low-level tasks forever even though they can clearly do a lot more.  Any requests for professional development from non-favorites will be aggressively denied and usually accompanied by some kind of bullying.  The idea of developing its employees is beyond the imagination of RP management.  Lack of employee development aggravates the understaffing problem, as they "put all their eggs in one basket" and then are left in a lurch when someone is absent or leaves.  One has the impression RP does not believe in employee development as it sees employees as disposable and therefore not worth investing in.

Ultimately RP epitomizes several negative stereotypes about call centers: hiring is like a cattle call, employees are treated like livestock who are all interchangeable and disposable, and employees who do well are never appreciated.

Additionally: Communication is poor, the attendance policy is strict and punitive, healthcare benefits are pricey and don't cover much (RP doesn't have much control over this), and HR thinks the solution to all the company's problems are coffee and cookies in the break room.  HR and the executives are totally out-of-touch with the chaos and general trashiness occurring on the daily in the call center and are chiefly concerned with fancy facilities and corny "fun" activities.  In those respects it's a typical corporate job.

The Bottom Line:

Because RP has such high turnover and relatively low standards, it is easy to get hired there, so if you are having difficulty finding a job it will likely provide you with an option.  Low standards  and high turnover also mean anyone who shows up and does a half decent job is unlikely to be fired.  If you are looking to get worthwhile experience, you will find better opportunities at RP than at most jobs with low barriers to entry.  The issue is the company won't support or appreciate you, so chances are you will struggle at first, and even if you persist, you will be plagued by mistreatment and low morale.  You have to "roll with the punches," and all your motivation and morale have to come from within you.  Eventually and inevitably, it will run out.

If you're lucky, by then you may have gotten yourself another, better job.  RP management may see its employees as interchangeable and disposable, but you can find a smarter audience in interviews at other companies, where you can explain the breadth and depth of your skills.  When you leave, you’ll be a lot better off.  Meanwhile RP will replace you with a new hire and see no difference.

I really enjoyed the owner of the company as well as my coworkers.  However, when agents became team leads or when team leads turned into management, suddenly they got too big for their britches.  Attitudes and egos inflated big time.  Agents who would gladly helped who turned into team leads, suddenly wouldn't give you the time of day and became very rude and condescending.  Team leads who were readily available who became upper management, suddenly you felt as if you had to make an appointment just to see them.  

If you got sick and couldn't come in, or had to leave during the day, it got counted against you, you were given points with no way to get those points off your record.  'Big Brother' was always watching you, meaning all of the team leads, supervisors and upper management could easily log into their computers, even on their off days at home, and watch the cameras and see what everyone was doing.  If they saw you doing something they didn't like, they would either email you or email the team lead who was working and have them talk to you.

It made it very difficult to feel like you couldn't have a confidential conversation because you didn't know who you could trust.  

The work is very stressful, there is a LOT to remember and you will get screamed at by people who don't know you (customers needing roadside assistance) so you definitely need to have a very thick skin.

The job is very rewarding though if you truly enjoy helping people.

Some co-workers are nice. But they only promote people who are friends with the hiring staff. 
Highly unorganized. 
Many errors are ignored and just shifted to agents who do well to fix, but won't get promoted as their own errors are held over their heads. 
There's a disconnect between who's making the policies and 'updates' and what the agents actually need to make their job more streamline. 

Training will tell you to reach out to a lead for assistance with finding a provider, that assistance is always keep looking. Have to looked here? 

I was being asked to do tasks that was a salaried role without any raise and when I requested one I was ignored and then asked to TRAIN more agents do do this task. 

I wouldn't refer my enemy here. 

What is the best part of working at the company? Mediocre pay check every 2 weeks. 
High expectations with extremely low pay. This place is extremely stressful and they only care about their clients and could care less about the employees. Extremely high turnover.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Rude customers, management has no idea what they’re doing, low pay with high expectations.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
“Corporate” but for the working poor. 
What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Numerous calls and emails. 
Most enjoyable part is going home. 

Pay is well below what staff is expected to do. Flexibility to work from home. Disorganzied Team Leads--no one is on the same page--ask one lead a question, and then you get in trouble from another lead for doing what the first lead told you to do. No sick time, floating holiday pay or vacation time-just pto, which really doesn't amount to very much. Customers and providers can be fantastic or else your worst nightmare. Every day is a new day. They do offer some great incentives so that is a plus. Overall a pretty good job. Really need to have a true designated human resources person.

They will train you for a basic level of skill for 2 weeks and after that you’re on your own. They will put you on a different calls under a different company’s name and assumes that you know it already without a proper training. You and the caller and both stressed out because we weren’t trained properly on how to handle the calls. We have to read the overview but it doesn’t help at all. Even leads are sometimes confused about how to go about the call.

I love working here not just for the free coffee, not just for the two fifteen minute breaks and hour lunches, but because I also get to folks who are unfortunately having troubles with their vehicles. It really feels like I'm making a difference in the world for the better.

There's no disconnect between management and staff, you can tell that the management truly cares for their employees. Days have a good mix of down time and busy work. Not overwhelming but still challenging. Great work environment, coworkers are all friendly and welcoming. Business that encourages growth, always room to move up as long as you have the right drive and work ethic.

all around great company friendly coworkers and management job itself is not too stressful but are able to work through it cause management and coworkers are able to give advice

Nice office, some staff were cool and nice. However poor communication skills when it comes to working. It’s easy to get in trouble even if it wasn’t your fault. There’s no employee growth and the pay is low.  If you want to work somewhere with a new looking building, this is the place. However this is not the place if you believe strongly in communication. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Call center representative 13 salaries reported	$15.50 per hour
Customer service representative 3 salaries reported	$17.00 per hour
Procurement analyst 2 salaries reported	$90,000 per year
Claims adjuster 3 salaries reported	$45,000 per year
Data analyst 2 salaries reported	$90,000 per year

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