When it comes to supplemental insurance, as of August of 2011, no one is a bigger provider than Aflac, indicating just how good the company is at providing services in that particular area. But like many companies its size, it is not without a few issues, ranging from customer complaints about service to concerns about its finances and standing in the marketplace.
Rising Complaints
Complaints about the company have risen in recent years, posting a complaint ratio score a few years ago that was more than 94 times higher than the median. There is no one reason for the high rates of dissatisfaction, and it may depend on a customer's experience with an individual agent, as that individual will have a substantial effect on a customer's view of the company.
2010 Sell-off
The company had to sell off Greek debt in mid-2010 in order to appease investors and avoid risk as Greece's economy took a turn for the worse. Aflac sold $270 million worth of Greek bonds and also reduced its exposure to hybrid bonds by $725 million.
Gilbert Gottfried Firing
In early 2011, Aflac decided to fire Gilbert Gottfried, the actor who played the voice of the duck in the company's commercials, after he made what was deemed to be insensitive comments on his Twitter feed about the earthquake that ravaged Japan that year. The high-profile firing received a lot of coverage in the media.
2011 Market Hardships
Aflac had to endure some market difficulties in early 2011, as Citigroup downgraded shares of Aflac. The insurer also took a beating in the stock market due to concerns that the Japan earthquake would place major stresses on the company's bottom line, although the prefectures in Japan most affected by the earthquake represented only 5 percent of sales in Japan.
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