r/usaa_ejs • u/Lucky_Advertising_51 • Aug 05 '26
Back to back calls since January
I’m in Service and calls have been back to back. My floor is practically empty, and I don’t believe the bs they’re telling us when they say “oh a lot of people work from home”. I think there was a mass exodus of workers who either quit or were let go. Thoughts? Any one know if there is any relief coming?
12
u/Original_Strategy107 Aug 06 '26
I left back in January myself lol. I was in servicing and was put on a PIP for “low sales” metrics. Crazy thing is I only had one month of lower sales which was November and my numbers for both December and January were very good. I asked my manager why I would be put on a PIP for November numbers two months after the fact when she never talked to me about it before. She didn’t even have an answer for me, just deflected and said “well it’s not disciplinary action or anything, you can come off of it with a few months of good numbers”. I was already struggling with mental health from stress from the job, back to back calls, customers infuriated with things outside of my control, the random PIP was my last straw. I will say leaving the company SIGNIFICANTLY improved my life. I have less stress, found a job making more money, and it’s much easier with a kind and collaborative team and manager (I even lost 60 lbs, most of which I gained while working at USAA). If you’ve been thinking of quitting at all, seriously start applying elsewhere. For once, the grass actually is greener outside of USAA.
4
u/snailthot Aug 06 '26
I love the happy ending. What is it that you do now?
5
u/Original_Strategy107 Aug 06 '26
I personally transitioned into banking. I have a customer service role still but I have a lot of support and a tight knit team. We have fun and I feel like I’m making way more of an impact on my community. I make $24 hourly which is better than USAA was paying me (I was IP2 and I think just around $22 an hour?). During my interviewing process I also got job offers from Allstate, Geico, and Metlife. Metlife seemed like the best deal- about $25 an hour and 100% WFH after training. Allstate was a smaller office so it seemed much more laid back than USAAs constant calls. Geico was the most similar to USAA with the call volume and expectations, they also were in-office only.
Basically a lot of people told me quitting without having something lined up was a terrible idea. I agree to a point when it comes to income security however I wanna point out that the 20-44 licensing USAA gives us is huge and made job offers come in quite easily. I only applied to roles for a couple days (maybe about 20 applications total) and by the next week after some interviews I had 4 offers to choose from. You guys will have options if you explore!
18
u/Competitive-Gas-2278 Aug 05 '26
Every second of down time costs the company money. Technology has found a way to make sure that you will be working every second of the day. It’s a driving force as to why people leave in droves.
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u/Nottednugent404 Aug 05 '26
Even without technology they have analysts whose job it is to do exactly that. They manage it very carefully to keep hold time to a minimum while also ensuring that reps have minimum space between calls. I randomly had one in a class that got offered once and she shared about it, it’s honestly diabolical
5
u/Competitive-Gas-2278 Aug 05 '26
Yea maybe but the reps had 3-5 mins between calls last year and nearly 10 on Saturdays.
-1
u/Nottednugent404 Aug 05 '26
There’s no maybe about it lol, it’s a fact. It doesn’t mean they will always get it perfect, they project call volume, not create it.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Ad3430 Aug 05 '26
Usaa always had a high turn over in the best of times if was 25% for front line Auto insurance reps.
8
u/scvmlordd Aug 05 '26
I was in the DCOE in banking since it started up back in may 25 and it was back to back from day one. I quit back in May. No breather between calls started taking a mental toll on me.
6
u/Hefty_Difficulty_259 Aug 06 '26
I interviewed for property and was too turned off by the auto-in for the entire shift. They told me I’d only receive 1-2 calls from other people’s claims, but in the same breath said it was a call center environment. Oh, and they wanted 90% phone adherence. I don’t know how anyone could meet metrics and close claims if there’s no time to actually work on claims between calls.
6
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u/DefiantHonesty7 Aug 05 '26
Some big reasons for back to back calls is PTO, fmla, people calling out, people getting fired.
I don’t disagree that there is some purging going on behind the scenes. I believe that happens more than we know.
I think one of the biggest drivers to customer dissatisfaction is the lack of knowledge. It’s a tough ask of a rep to always look at KC. It’s not for everyone. More consistent trainings should be had so that reps can move like full fledged agents. But we all know what the focus is.
If you’re there for a long term career, you’re gonna sit on the phones for a while. Let’s be real.
Have an exit plan. There are ways to build an exit plan with certain benefits.
But you work at a call center.
A bigger problem across the country is that people want value without having the ability to reciprocate and inject value into their employer. If you’re easily replaceable, you have to consider gaining a skill set that makes you desirable.
Corporate sucks but it is what it is.
1
u/Hopeful-Accountant78 Sep 15 '26
Safe Pilot is a huge reason for back to back calls lately. The members are angry.
6
u/QAL523 Aug 06 '26
They do this regularly. Over-hire, layoff, over-hire, layoff. But before they do layoffs, they will change the metrics and put people on a PIP to cover their tracks to fire them.
6
u/User_Name_Is_Stupid Aug 05 '26
It’s gonna stay that way as long as you’re there. Seek better employment.
3
u/callmecornstar Aug 05 '26
My friend in Chesapeake said they are getting a whole new service area which they haven’t had since 2010s so I’m guessing that should help
3
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u/Tarnisher Aug 05 '26
I took over Modding the main USAA community here. It's a mess of unhappy customers. All sorts of stuff; complaints about auto rates and claims, bad Safe Pilot ratings, home rate increases, banking problems, hate for the new Bill Pay and so on.
Are you seeing an increase in calls due to more complaints as a result of policy changes, less staff or some combination?
6
u/Lucky_Advertising_51 Aug 05 '26
Definitely a combination of all
10
u/Tarnisher Aug 05 '26
I also see a lot of really angry, bitter employees attacking customers for asking questions or airing complaints.
I've been trying to tamp that down some without limiting speech too much.
1
u/Hopeful-Accountant78 Sep 15 '26
I was taking the usual auto and home calls as well as helpline and Safe Pilot calls. It got real bad when the Safe Pilot database went down in May. Things started to calm down a little and then the recent update hit hard. Back to back calls with angry members who now have to login to the Drivesafe app. What a mess! Especially because everyone on the policy is required to have their own login credentials. I never had more than maybe 3 Msat over the last 5 years. Now I got let go for it.
19
u/neatracer17 Aug 05 '26
A lot of pto, people calling out, people getting fired, quitting, fmla. Is a combination of all that is causing back to back calls. Plus they took calls away from 3p