Awful. - Merchant Services Customer American Express Employee Review

1.0
8 July 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The benefits are fantastic, especially their vacation and time off. Excellent training.

Cons

Where do I start? The company is obsessed with its image, sacrificing quality for quantity and "brand". They are very top heavy, there are so many managers there, it's no wonder they are so slow to act and react to customer needs. They have a holier than though attitude. Being good at politics at Amex, is more important than your skills or contributions. Their systems are out of date, slow, complicated, patched, and their rates essentially pick on the little guys. Phone reps are so micromanaged, you feel as though you're in the 1984 novel. Everything is monitored, watched, scrutinized, and criticized. Your tone, your phrases, your language, your dress, everything will be up for review, and they always have an "opportunity", for you to "improve" even if you're doing a fantastic job. If you care about merchants, customers, consumers, and workers, I strongly advise that you do not use American Express. Do not work there, do not get their card. Yes their benefits are great, but they treat their employees badly on many other levels. Most of the people I worked with were very stressed out by this job. The calls do not stop, there is practically no down time, the metrics are almost completely random, and you will be lucky to see any bonus at all, ever, doing what I did. (Merchant Services Customer Care Professional). I know there are employees who are lucky enough to have good managers at Amex. I, unfortunately, ran into ambitious politically minded people who turned on me as soon as I voiced legitimate concerns they were unwilling or unable to do anything about. I could write a novel about all the things that make no sense there. Stay away from entry-level positions in Merchant Services, they will woo you with their flashiness, and grind you to the ground with their hypocrisy.

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Cons

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Pros

- Complimentary lunch and starbucks everyday - On-site clinic for basic check ups - Hybrid

Cons

you will be taking phone calls every minute of the day. There will come a time where you feel like at the bottom of the world. You will ask yourself "is my role in life to help people reset their password online and assist them in logging in?" You cannot use the bathroom whenever you want, they have time coding that if you "abuse" them you will be flagged and subject to discipline. You have to give world class service but at the same time rush them off the phone or else you are not getting paid a good bonus. You will quickly find yourself gasping for air and time to relax when you take 50+ calls a day , you will feel drained. When is finally time to move up there is a high chance you will be paid less than you're current role as there are no bonuses in higher roles.

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