As a former employee with Amerian General, I can attest to the complete lack of professionalism with which the company does business.
The management in the Beaver Valley region is incompetent and degrading to employees. Sales are driven at any cost, regardless of the client's well being or even means to afford the protection offered.
The management pits staff memeber against staff memeber, interrogates colleagues about the business of other colleauges and then proceeds to make personal affairs a matter of public record.
Employees are singled out as "trouble employees" based on a single person's opinion, thus making the work environment extremely tense and uncomfortable for that particular employee.
Concerns that are brought up by employees are disregarded and often degraded and that employee is met with hostility, threats and twisted information.
Interviewing with the company involves deception with regard to compenstation, hours and responsibilities pertaining to the position. The company recruits under the name American General Career Distribution Group or even American General Financial Group. Job descriptions and even the industry descriptions are extremely vague and misleading to the potential employee and questions are answered with more confusing answers and outlines.
The knowledge of the assistant manager of the Erie office is, at best, enough to get by with. He does not possess the necessary knowledge required to aide his employees in the field and often tells agents to call others who are not local to find the answer.
Training is minimal, yet failure to meet expectations falls on the shoulders of the employee regardless of that person's past experience, in other words, all agents are viewed equal when it comes to producing regardless of the time you have in the field or the industry itself.
There is no support system within the company either. If an agent approaches a manager expressing the need for guidance and assistance in being successful in the company, the agent is met with ultimatums and accusations and no help is offered. The agent is told to do things yet is not shown how to put those ideas into proper action. Ultimately, the agent is labeled as combative and unwilling to perform the specified duties, regardless of the truth.
Clients are poorly managed and are seen as paychecks and commissions only. The goals set by the company are unreasonable and unattainable unless one sells in such a way that would compromise his or her ethical business practices. The client's best interest is never at the forefront of any of American General's practices.
General client service is extremely poor and inefficient. The home office frequently makes enormous mistakes that affect both billing and coverage of clients. Response to inquiries and requests on behalf of clients is slow and often incorrect in the end. Requirements for payout on certain policies is very vague and leads to customer disputes over what the company will and will not pay for when the client chooses to enforce his or her policy.
Clients are often left in the dark and uneducated on the benefits and limitations of their policies. Several clients complained to me that they had heard from no one from the company in several years, even when they needed services throughout that time.
Overall, the company is a very shady and grey business that treats its employees with the utmost disrespect and lack of loyalty imagineable. I strongly urge anyone who is approached by the company to turn your backs on them immediately and pass the message on to others. As for consumers, American General is not in the business of protecting you when you need it the most. Your best bet is to politely refuse any and all services they may offer you and find an honest, reputable and sound company to place your trust in.
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