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AA Patrol Job application
davrus - 30/12/10 at 05:08 PM

Hi all

I am considering applying for a job as an AA Patrol.

Is there anyone here who does it or has done it or knows much about it?

Basically i want to know what the pros and cons are, Poss earnings and weather you would recomend it.

Thanks in advance

Thoughts welcome.

Dave

marcjagman - 30/12/10 at 05:11 PM

Talk to zetec mike, he works/worked for the RAC. Same thing different colour.

T66 - 30/12/10 at 05:13 PM

When I worked in the garage years ago, few guys left and enjoyed the fact they were away from a workshop. They certainly enjoyed it.


Plenty fiddle work, but I suspect gps will have put paid to that lol.



If you enjoy driving, that will help as I bet they put the miles in, outside work in crap weather, and being on your own for probably every day your at work.


It will suit some, just not all.



Whats the pay like ?

jonesier1 - 30/12/10 at 05:31 PM

The AA is like being in the army.better off joining the RAC.think im right in saying you have to give up bank holidays etc + shift work.I did look into it,Money wasnt bad with some overtime/extra shifts.Best to talk to a patrol man,if he recommends you he also gets a back hander from memory.I prefered the warmth of a workshop so didnt persue it.

Davegtst - 30/12/10 at 09:20 PM

DO NOT DO IT!!!!!

I was a patrol for about 6 years and have just left, towards the end i hated it. You are expected to work extremly long hours with different start and finish times everyday. There is a huge divide between indoor and outdoor staff which causes a lot of stress and unnessasary conflict. Managers will be on your back daily to increase your productivity and sell memberships, if you don't you will be faced with diciplinarys. They are have 'mistery shoppers' who can get you the sack. A good friend of mine only just kept his job (2 weeks ago) due to trying to help out a mistery shopper. I still speak to alot of my old collegues who feel trapped and very demoralised. The job wrecks families as you will never be there to see them, so many of them get divorced. I feel lucky to be out, a truly terible company to work for. Please don't apply to the AA, the RAC is supposed to be alot more relaxed.

AndyW - 30/12/10 at 10:21 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Davegtst
DO NOT DO IT!!!!!

I was a patrol for about 6 years and have just left, towards the end i hated it. You are expected to work extremly long hours with different start and finish times everyday. There is a huge divide between indoor and outdoor staff which causes a lot of stress and unnessasary conflict. Managers will be on your back daily to increase your productivity and sell memberships, if you don't you will be faced with diciplinarys. They are have 'mistery shoppers' who can get you the sack. A good friend of mine only just kept his job (2 weeks ago) due to trying to help out a mistery shopper. I still speak to alot of my old collegues who feel trapped and very demoralised. The job wrecks families as you will never be there to see them, so many of them get divorced. I feel lucky to be out, a truly terible company to work for. Please don't apply to the AA, the RAC is supposed to be alot more relaxed.



I know a guy who went through exactly the same, Its not just about attending breakdowns, you have targets to meet for fix at road side, you have to sell membership, batteries etc and its a very very tough job, by the time my mate left he was no where near the person he was before hand, took away all social life etc. In other words I would probably avoid them.....

Ninehigh - 30/12/10 at 10:46 PM

You know I was under the impression they just fixed breakdowns, what the heck are they doing selling batteries?
If that's the problem then fine but that's like me selling locks

Davegtst - 30/12/10 at 11:04 PM

In the time i was in the AA it was bought and sold 3 times, they are trying to sell it again now. It used to be owned by Centrica who started it all off by selling off all the old buildings and pocketing the money. It was then sold to a private equity company (CVC Permira) who plundered it, sold off any asset worth anything and performance managed everyone. After they had taken millions of pounds and sacked over 500 staff it was then sold again to another private equity company (Acromas holdings) who own the AA and SAGA.
Acromas put a few billion in but had to borrow (i believe) 6 billion from the bank to buy it. The idea was to increase targets further and to drastically increase efficiency, only trouble was they didn't foresee the latest finacial crisis. The loan has now ended and any profit they are making is going straight to the bank in interest. This of course means if it all goes wrong and the profit drops the guys at the very top could loose it all. Pressure is being put on all levels to do more so they can stay afloat which leads straight to the patrols who seem to take the blame for most things.
These private equity companys don't look to the long term and are only interested in huge short term profit.
The reason you are seeing the AA doing services like Home Emergency Responce, AA Windscreens, Battery Assist etc are to make the company look biger and better than it really is. The only reason they are doing this is to try and find a buyer. Once they have been sold all these extra services and the people working them will be cut loose. This happends everytime the AA is bought or sold.
If you do get a job in the AA don't think you will be going out rescuing members stranded at the roadside with you being the knight in shining armour. You won't last long working like this, you will be put on an 'improvment plan' which is the AA's way of getting you out . My old managers motto was 'fix em up and bleep em off'. The old days of good service is long over.
Sorry to sound bitter but it really isn't a nice company to work for right now.

Davegtst - 30/12/10 at 11:09 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Ninehigh
You know I was under the impression they just fixed breakdowns, what the heck are they doing selling batteries?
If that's the problem then fine but that's like me selling locks


Hell no. A patrol has a target to sell membership, car insurance, home insurance, warrantys, european breakdown cover, windscreens, etc.

Remember Watchdog a few years ago about the RAC having a target to sell batteries? The AA are doing it now, if you don't sell enough you can get in serious trouble. Oh and btw the AA's batteries can sometimes be twice the price others bought from motor factors, they only come from unipart aswell.

[Edited on 30/12/10 by Davegtst]

davrus - 31/12/10 at 08:30 AM

Wow, Thanks for all your imput guys.

Sounds like it is not the sort of job to get in to so i will probably give it a miss.

Thanks for all you time typing up your comments.

jollygreengiant - 31/12/10 at 08:34 AM

I worked for the AA in thier garages (before they got shot of them). NEVER AGAIN.

steve m - 31/12/10 at 11:50 AM

Its a real shame to hear all the above, as in all the times i have had car problems, the guys have been brilliant

One of them even came round to my house (after a tow home) to see if i had fixed it, and that was on his only day off

I do believe that most of the above comments from previous AA, ers does not just apply to the AA, but most big organisations
I work for the Virgin group, and they are no better

I wonder if it has anything to do with the unemployment figures ?
as they know they will get a monkey out there to do your job

Steve

Ninehigh - 31/12/10 at 08:03 PM

Pay peanuts, get monkeys.

The problem is the guys that you see probably are great, the only time they didn't fix my car it was fubarred (cambelt failure at 230k miles) but they towed me from here to Warrington (about 30 miles)

I imagine others are the same