- It's a call center - when you're on the phones there is constant inbound calls - when one caller hangs up, you're thrown right into another, often times when you're not ready - only way to stop it is to press "call work button" but as soon as you do your supervisor is yelling at you to get out of it. - This leads to files that are incomplete and poorly documented, then often unhappy customers.
- Call center will mean most of the time customers call in and will speak to the first available representative. So you will almost never speak to the same person. - So on the employee side you often take calls and get thrown into problems and situations other employees created and then you're expected to "take ownership", read through all the notes, try and figure out whats going on, and solve the often complicated problem.
- Very numbers driven - you get a monthly report card - more interested in numbers than you're ability to provide good customer service
- Very political atomosphere - Getting into the right crowd will help you get promoted, while others often very qualified are left out - Also when hiring for promotions there is often 100-200 people applying for a few positions.
- Geico can save you money on insurance but will often lower your coverage on things you may need but not realize until something happens. Customers are often uninformed about their policies. I took calls daily where customers were calling about coverage they thought they had but didn't. Also once an accident happens you're rates often go up whether you're at fault or not!
-Highly stressful - constant inbound calls will do that to you! - You get two 15 breaks, and a 45 min lunch that are really needed when they come up. - It's hard to disconnect because it's constant calls til you leave.
- Punch your clock on time! If you are even a second late punching your clock in when your shift starts or after breaks, it shows up as a minute on your report card and your supervisor will talk to you about it.
- Very high turnover - out of my training class only 3 remained when i left, out of a class of 15 - Most people quit - Geico is constantly hiring because the turnover is so high and they need to replace those people - It's a job that after a bad day (which there are many), you look at your situation and think you don't like your job, but the money is good, and the benefits are good, and i need that, .....so i'll go back for another day.
- Lastly, Geico's supervisors micro-manage the worst i've ever seen. I'm sure there is pressure on them but be prepared to be treated like your in kindergarden. They are constantly listening, recording your calls, and telling you what you did wrong or could have done better. You are given wordtracks to follow, and sound pretty much robotic, but then asked to have a better tone and not sound robotic. This has to be the most draining part of the job.... Just knowing someone is constantly listening to you, critiquing your every word. I had a supervisor that would yell over my shoulder that i did something wrong while a customer was on the line. Pretty sure the customer could hear and it was just very unprofessional and happened frequently. They ask you to push their preferred repair shops even when a customer is set on going to their own. Then after the customer says "no" you are supposed to persist and explain why the geico shop is better. This often upsets the customer and leads to downgrades (as it is part of your monthly goal). Honestly i did the best at my job there when i just stopped worrying about the monthly grading (as i was just fed up) and just took care of the customers and made them happy. It is almost impossible to do as every phone employee is constantly worried about being marked down for something.
- Overall the cons outnumber the few pros and it's really not worth it to work there.
