Customer base is in areas that AW bought up that were pretty bankrupt, this means you will be talking to people mainly from places like Gary, IN, Chattanooga, TN, Peoria, IL, St. Louis, MO. A co-worker said it felt like she was working for the Department of Children and Families. One pod (section) I was in, out of the supervisor and 7 co-workers, one had had a heart attack and 2 or 3 + the supervisor had heart stents put in.
Management might be planning to outsource the calls or change the structure. They have trained an external collection agency at every facet of the job. This is in part to the fact that a sizable percentage of the call center (~20% of 250 on avg I'd guess) because they are on FMLA or are new and stressed out from \ can't meet the mandated overtime. Two years ago before Christmas there was a layoff scare, and last Christmas they had no overtime for the paycheck before Christmas. This is all while they were reaching newer and newer highs on the NYSE.
Lots of mandated overtime. If you are new, expect to be mandated to the fullest they can, and with random 2-3+ hour gaps.
Used to be 365 24/7. In 2015 they went M-F 7-7 to cut down on hours. This has created a very busy environment almost every day of the week. On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, customers will have to hold 15+ minutes at times. This also means, even if you're working a 12 hour day, you will likely also have a half hour lunch, or if you get off at 4-6P, you will be mandated an extra hour at the end of your shift.
Prepare to deal with broken things and not have them repaired. When I came on board, we learned the old system that had been in place for years, and we were taught workarounds in the system as standard procedure; not to be quicker, because certain functions had remained broken for 5+ years.
The union is weak but antagonistic. Their Alton, IL branch has negotiated slightly better salaries and advanced positions, but the pay is still fairly weak until overtime is factored in, $12 an hour.
