customer service representative

mechanic

client advisor

vehicle technician

handler

The AA

I resigned recently from the role of a customer service advisor for the AA Eb department. I admit working at the AA has been the worst experience in my entire career. The management constantly tried to take advantage of me due to being 18 years old. They treated all the staff as just a number from the stats. It constantly felt like speaking to a robot whilst working in a room of robots. Not to mention the script was the most frustrating part. I never had any choice for many of the decisions and was forced to be trained on different departments with no incentives. I constantly felt on edge never been able to take even a breath of air in between calls. I was very skilled at my Job however it never seemed good enough, I would never be complimented for my work despite achieving the best stats in my team. My manager was like speaking to a brick wall. I worked through 2 weeks of covid with the worst symptoms and ended up spreading it through out the office. Due to the fear of my probation being terminated I dragged myself in every day and could barely speak on the phones. I even fainted twice but it just wasn't enough for the profit hungry company management. I was promised in my interview I'd have the opportunity to work 4 days from home & 2 days in office after the end of my probation. I was willing to deal with the 3 hrs travel every day during probation and all the costs for the travel especially at the ungodly hours where public transoort wasnt operating with the hopes of working from home after all the hardship
 This was the main reason i resigned as i couldnt facilitate the 100s of pounds id have to spend on ubers. When the time came to it there was no news of this and they denied my requests. They also didn't provide the promised time off they guaranteed in the interview. It was just a huge disappointment. A giant joke of a company. The management teams were always confused and never knew what to do howevwe call handlers dealth with the brunt. 

At first i felt proud to say I worked for the Aa, everyone would react positively to see I worked for such a good salary & company at my age, however I learnt to hate working for the aa. 9/10 calls I dealt with frustrated customers on the roadside waiting hours for some kind of service. Constantly dealing with angry or upset customers really affected me mentally. Customers would constantly cry down the phone begging me to do better when my hands were tied. After this I was enrolled into a trial for a new ai system without any choice. I didn't want to do this, but was forced. The trial set every single advisor up for failure as we were forced to quote customers delay periods from 4 hrs plus. Customers would be absolutely fuming as they should be. After paying 100s of pounds for a service for many years they have to wait hours on end because the aa is understaffed. Management would always pity the staff on the trial admitting they would hate to be in our position & never do it themselves. It was the most aggravating situation when you'd be scolded for letting the customers know that a patrol can be with them sooner when they're verbally abusing you calling you every single curse word you can think of. 

Over all the worst experience I've ever had, will never tell anyone to work for the Aa as the company is full of hypocrites and power hungry managers who think it gives them the right to abuse the staff & treat them as being less than.

Training and equipment to support my disability was very good at the beginning however AA made me get a letter for each issue and then I was reviewed by their independent Assessors to see if I were fit for the job. The AA believes nothing you tell them you have to prove it every time! Then I had an issue with not being allocated my own equipment and was pushed aside like I was no body when the desk was allocated to someone else despite them giving me a sign to say whom could use the desk and if staff were asked to move they'd need to..  Dedicated equipment had signs on to advise whom it belonged to and advising not to use or adjust, no where dedicated to lock away your dedicated equipment at the end of shift meant no body took notice of the signs and many occasions I was in agony due to my equipment being adjusted, despite complaints no one was ever disciplined so the signs were a waste of time. When I said to management if the pain continued it would mean I wouldnt be able to make it for work they told me it would go down as absence and treated like all absences which could lead to disciplinary. Not enough rise and fall desks to support everyone on shift crossover, desks were seperated from the team you were meant to be working with and they are scattered where you have no one to talk to but yourself this was a shocking, terrible, awful way to be treated every time I were on shift this caused me so much stress I was off sick,  was feeling sick each time I arrived for shift, I started having migraines for the first time in 10 years due to the stress it really knocked me about that I had to have councilling sessions after my own manager told me I had no dedicated equipment in a meeting and then denied it and got away with it when I raised a grievance because he told lies. Trying to get help to park in disabled bays was appalling totally ignored my queries until one day I just parked in a space, following this despite it being their own car park they made me apply for a blue badge to be able to use a disabled bay.
Working environment is toxic too many long standing staff & managers that think they run the department these are the ones that do all the back stabbing and they also back stab each other causing a lot of staff to leave has your not part of their group and they don't make you feel welcome if your face don't fit. AA has a high turn over of staff one because people leave but also because of their own policies towards absence makes you feel like a criminal for having time off, I had a lower disc operation in 2018 and they were notified at my return to work meeting I was told no action bring taken this occasion.. you really do feel like a criminal for needing time to recover.
Rules aren't for everyone either : MOBILE PHONES - due to data protection mobiles weren't meant to be on the floor but kept in lockers, nearly all the staff had mobile phones on them and a lot had them out every day if your manager liked you they turned a blind eye. 

I've been working at The AA for over 1 year and a half at this point and it's been, eh.

It's not a terrible place to work. The money is good if you are flexible and the work itself isn't overly difficult. Base salary is £17,000 rising to £17,850 after 6-month probation, with a flexibility allowance of 15%. Be prepared to work night shifts though, as you'll be on a 24-hour contract. 

There is a decent team vibe if you get along with those who work on your function. Luckily, I do and I will be the first to admit that when I leave The AA, I will miss the people I work with.

Oh, also, overtime. Overtime is pretty good at The AA, when they offer it. Base overtime rates are 1.5x normal pay, during incredibly busy periods this can become what they call "enhanced rates". Typically, they will offer £20 p/h for 06:00 - 18:00. 18:00 - 00:00 commands £25 p/h and £35 p/h will be offered from 00:00 - 06:00. This, I cannot fault them on.

It then falls apart after that.

Management is lacklustre, with many unwilling to take responsibility for certain tasks. The higher-up managers are notorious for not responding to emails or queries and give off the impression that they don't care. Favouritism is also ripe in this workplace and blatantly obvious. If you get on someone's good side, you're set. Do one thing to irk a particular manager, however, and you're targeted.

As for the job itself, it's typical inbound call centre work. You work on individual functions and get "up-skilled" and trained on others, adding these skills to your repertoire to take these calls too. Certain functions are protected and don't assist with what you do, however, you are expected to be in their backup call pot, assisting them. On a particularly busy day, this can pile up in terms of workload, giving you added stress. 

Work patterns. So, The AA (for the most part) employs a 6-on-3-off shift pattern. So, you work 6 days in a row and get 3 days off. Sounds great, right? Well, no. For starters, shifts are 08:15 in length, so even though it averages to a 36.5-hour working week, you're doing 49.5 hours in a row. You then get 3 days off. The 3 days is kind of okay but in reality, this pattern gives you one weekend off a month. That's not ideal, in my opinion. If you work here, be prepared to forgo the majority of your social life and have a lack of contact with your friends/family. 

Honestly, I've not had any major issues, I get along with my team and my manager and I've had a decent run so far. Do I plan on staying there forever? No. I'm just accumulating savings. I would not recommend you work at The AA, there are better jobs out there with more sociable hours.

Working at the AA was one of the worst experiences of my career. From the moment I joined, it was clear that the company values profits over both employees and customers.

Management & Culture:

The management style is outdated, dictatorial, and unsupportive. Instead of encouraging employees, they micromanage, bully, and create a culture of fear. Any concerns raised are either ignored or met with hostility. If you’re looking for a workplace where you feel valued—this isn’t it.

Workload & Expectations:

The workload is completely unrealistic, and there’s no regard for employee well-being. You’re expected to work long hours with minimal breaks, and any attempt to question unfair practices is met with backlash. Work-life balance is nonexistent.

Holiday Booking – A Joke

Want time off? Good luck! You have to book holidays a year in advance, and even then, there’s no guarantee you’ll get them. Need a single day off? Expect to wait at least six weeks for approval—if you’re lucky. The system is beyond frustrating and just another way they show how little they care about employees.

Pay & Benefits:

For the stress, pressure, and toxic environment, the pay is nowhere near worth it. Promises of bonuses or career progression are empty. Raises are rare, and when they do happen, they’re laughably small.

Morale & Employee Turnover:

Most employees are miserable, and turnover is extremely high. New hires quickly realize what a mistake they’ve made, and those who stay are either desperate or completely burned out. The atmosphere is one of exhaustion and frustration.

Final Verdict:

Unless you enjoy being overworked, underappreciated, and treated like a number, stay far away from the AA. It’s a company stuck in the past, with no interest in improving conditions for employees. If I could give zero stars, I would.

As expected, the AA will respond  with their usual copy-paste reply:

“Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. We’re sorry to hear that your time with us wasn’t what you had hoped for. We take all feedback seriously and are always looking for ways to improve. We wish you the best in your future endeavors.”

A perfect example of their attitude—no accountability, no real interest in change, just another generic PR response. If they actually cared, they’d fix their broken systems instead of pretending to listen.


Very good pay and incentives however management can be overly strict and critical. The company encourages internal growth and job security but it can be incredibly difficult to actually advance. I have had multiple managers personally say I would be a good fit for X job role and should go for it but then have been shut down upon trying. The shift pattern can be incredibly taxing, 3 morning to afternoon shifts, 3 afternoon to evening shifts followed by 3 days off. It may sound good on paper but it can be very draining and it’s easy to find yourself burnt out. There will also sporadically be night shifts sprinkled into the rosters every now and again. These being 23:00-07:00. The calls are not for the faint of heart, you will encounter more arguments than you can count and deal with a lot of conflict. Personally, this does not bother me but I would dissuade anyone with anxiety or an introverted personality. The AA does a lot to support its workers in terms of physical and mental health. Things are always changing, new rules being added, majority of which can appear quite unfair on customers, incentives to do good work, etc. Overall it is a good place to work but it can get very old, very fast. The shift pattern  may work for most but I find it draining and I would be lying if I said it hasn’t taken a mental toll on me. Working 6 days makes it feel like you live to work and have no time for any freedom. Management can be very hypocritical too. They will swear up a storm with you right at their desk but then give you a formal warning if they overhear anything even mildly inappropriate with a colleague. There is also a very, “romantic” aspect to the office if you catch my drift? It seems like there is always new drama occurring, usually surrounding workplace relationships. Which, again, is another example where management can be somewhat hypocritical. It is an unspoken truth that a lot of the male managers can act inappropriate to female staff. Don’t dare say anything though or you’re liable to taken to court. I realise I may make it sound awful. It is generally a good place to work, people are friendly, the money is very good and there is lucrative overtime opportunities during busy periods but it is a very strict workplace and there is a lot of internal drama to deal with.

Former employee.

To start with the working environment is constant pressure of taking calls, making outbound calls and hitting targets. It's an incredibly stressful working environment and I'd suggest to avoid this company at all costs. 

Management are constantly breathing down your neck on taking inbound calls, that calls HAVE to be answered within a certain time frame. You can't sit in wrap for more than 2 minutes, you can't be having a 30 minute conversation with a customer as calls have to be short, you can't take time to actually help a customer after you finished a phone call because you'll be forced back onto the phones to take a call when your trying to finish up your previous call, so whatever you was doing you have to drop and instantly take that second call.

Even if you ask to put yourself in another code to finish what your doing, they refuse and expect you to do this in wrap, however wrap time is only allowed for 2 mins so the handlers cannot properly help the customer. 

You are constantly pestered 'can you grab a call' if you are more than 2 minutes doing something. 

If you have a customer on the phone and you need an answer, your waiting for more than 5 minutes and then management are not happy that customers are on hold for more than 5 minutes. 

If you are not taking inbound calls then you are expected to make outbound calls, you are not allowed to sit in available for more than 10 minutes. If you do then management are incredibly quick to start making threats of a disciplinary route. This also applies if you don't have crystal clear detailed notes, very quick to threaten a disciplinary route. 

The organisation of this company is a shambles, especially procedures and training. Job role information is conflicting with the actual job role itself. So if it advertises what your supposed to be doing, but you end up doing something else entirely then that is conflicting and more so confusing.

This company have sadly delayed my background check when I first joined, forced me to move teams due to not hitting targets, but asked for help and further training and was told there wasn't any further training. Delayed changing my details and contract when moved teams, and when I handed in my resignation they was going to force me to move teams again for the remainder of my time there.

If you value your mental health and peace of mind, please avoid this company. 

Management don't really have a clue about the role or how to manage the staff properly all you get is nice to your face and stab you in the back and they always judge you on your figures which btw are ridiculous. Figures can be blagged by "button pushing" which they basically make us do to hit targets and then they kick off about it . No ongoing training or support in 10 years I've had 4 weeks training my 2 week induction, a week to get my b+e and a week "Refresh" which was an absolute waste of time.nothing to help you climb the ladder of the company even though I have expressed interest for about 5 years. They have recently started putting out e-learning courses but not for help in the job role they seem to be for ticking a box to show auditors. They have a strong selling attitude for parts and making members even though we are not licensed for membership sales. You are constantly pressured  to sell even though the parts are very over priced. The money is below average for what we do to be honest but  if you want to make extra money overtime is available however I would advise you try to work out a work life balance for yourself before doing overtime because the hours are long enough with out it.in my time here I've seen Many marriages  brake down because of this job and the hours worked. You do not get much of a social life on work days as shifts are quite often long . I personally would advise against this job if you have a family or a social life lol. Once your in the trap it's hard to escape.   The we fix 8/10 jobs on the roadside is a joke it should be we can recover 8/10 jobs the other 2 need trucks. The union is also weak AF and are fully controlled by upper management. Remember guys you will be working on your own in all kinds weather with bearly any support. The job can be lonely even though you deal with people every day it's not the same. Please consider this job properly before applying or accepting a position I would hate for you guys to fall in to the same rutt as some of us have. I hope this was useful.

The whole company is based on lies & deceit, Every department is at it. The roadside & call handling lie to customers (as they are bullied into it). Management lie to staff & investors. EVERYONE fudges figures to make themselves look good as they fear loosing their jobs. There is a massive management bullying problem. All the statistics they brag about on TV adverts etc is complete fantasy, everything is manipulated to make them look good. The management have their heads in the sand.
The money is nothing like it used to be, lots of people doing the same work as before but now making less money. No bonus system anymore & very little overtime available.
Work life balance is ridiculous, There is a massive divorce rate in this job. The shifts are crazy, not good for your mental & physical heath at all, you can have different start & finish times every day meaning you don't eat, sleep & exercise at regular times. Most of us pile on extra weight in the first year. After being the same weight for 15 years I piled on an extra 7kg in the first year due to a combination of convenience fast food & not having time for regular exercise.
The contract means they can force you to work on an extra 40 minutes every shift 'only if its really busy'. don't be conned by that one, I reality its almost every shift, 'the system' will pick you for a job just as you are due to finish even though there may be others free with more shift time left parked right next to you.
There is NO training after your initial induction, don't be fooled by that one either. Any form of 'training' you get after that will be from watching youtube videos & using google.
several of your days off every month are taken up by extra contractual standby hours that you need to do on your days off.
The first 5 years is the honeymoon period, after that it really takes its toll on family life.
Have a serious think about it before you apply, I wish I had listened to the other guys when I started that told me to get out while I still could.

I worked for this company for almost 8 years. In that time I've seen it go downhill dramatically. When I first joined I enjoyed the work, it had the right balance of stress to keep you focused and interested. The bonus / targets were achievable and paid decently. But the company has been bought / sold by other companies ALL of whom have streamlined it by reducing staff, letting remaining staff absorb targets and then increasing targets on top of that. The monthly bonus has reduced to a pittance of less than half what it used to be...Especially bad due to the amount of hard work it is to achieve such outrageously large targets.

Over the years I was told off by management a few times for things that NEVER HAPPENED. It took me a few years to realise that they all used the same tactic to the kids to keep them in line by scaring them. Then things really got bad when the supervisor / management interviews changed from requiring intelligence / aptitude tests with a serious interview and presentation to just an interview looking for the most confident people who could just BS the staff.

Now if you have a manager under the age of forty they'll have most likely bluffed they're way though their interview and be all confidence but no brains or real experience. If you've got a manager over forty they've seen the company change and just wan't to make it to retirement in a job that pays upto £45k plus bonus. The management run their teams as they please because all they care about is their own bonus which comes from their staff hitting sales targets. 

Top sellers can get away with things like signing out end of shift when they're supposed to clear the cue on the last shift at night and will blatantly walk passed other staff stuck on the phone. Bullying / conspiring of other staff, if there's a personality clash the company will always support the top sellers.

Basically if you're a shy kid / young adult who just wants to do a decent job DON'T WORK FOR THE AA.

Only work here if you don’t care about your mental health or getting spoken down to & rudely at least once a day. 
For such a well known company I was absolutely shocked at how poor they treat their staff. 

As working in a call centre I knew it wouldn’t necessarily be a fun job however if I thought for one second it would be how it was I would never ever have applied for in the first place. 
The four weeks of training are completely different and you get told different information about the job than what you actually do on a day-to-day basis. To say management management have been there for 5+ years is an absolute joke they need to learn people skills and how to talk to the staff in a polite manner. 
You get marked on absolutely everything and I fully understand they are a regulated company with potential easy detriment to the customer however that level of intensity is ridiculous. 
You get timed for absolutely everything such as you have 20 minutes of personal time which is obviously to use as and when you want however to be included in that 20 minutes is your toilet breaks so if you’re someone who smokes that gets taken off there as well as needing to go to the toilet which everyone has to do obviously. They should either increase or 20 minutes to allow for toilet breaks or not include them at all. 
When you’re in gradbay which is basically the place that you go to after training for more help if needed that’s not the case as the trainers and team leaders are unhelpful and they don’t all know the system that you’re working on therefore when you have a system problem they can’t help. 

The only 2 good things about the company are the way that you book holidays as you can see how likely you are to get them approved and the pay as I do think the pay is quite decent


Top Job Titles	Average salary
Customer service representative 18 salaries reported	£25,136 per year
Mechanic 67 salaries reported	£39,963 per year
Client advisor 18 salaries reported	£25,834 per year
Vehicle technician 30 salaries reported	£40,671 per year
Handler 3 salaries reported	£28,167 per year

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