# Dont forget your 2012 agr card



## Steve4031 (Mar 2, 2012)

I was not let into the metropolitan lounge on a coach ticket. I know I had the old card but in computer age this could have been addressed easily. The lounge was not crowded nor was the agent busy. Select plus does not mean much in Chicago.


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## The Davy Crockett (Mar 2, 2012)

IIRC, they should have been able to look you up online - ESPECIALLY if you had your old card! I mean, give me a break, its the first day after your old card expired :excl: :blink: :wacko: :angry2: :angry2:

I've noticed a bit of a bad 'tude from the folks at the Metropolitan Lounge desk before - but not from the folks at the luggage check, as they've always been good. I think you should call customer service on this one.


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## amtrakwolverine (Mar 2, 2012)

Wasn't Tim was it LOL.


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## ColdRain&Snow (Mar 2, 2012)

I suppose they got you on a technicality, but it's nonsense all the same. As one of Amtrak's best customers, the attendant should have courteously confirmed your S+ status and welcomed you in.

Last week, though I had a sleeper ticket, I instead used my S+ card to test for any bad 'tude at the desk. Timothy was the attendant, and after taking my card and looking it over, he appeared to be a bit befuddled and then said to show it if I reentered the club. But had I met any resistance, I would not have taken no for an answer since S+ members are unequivocally entitled to Metro Lounge access. But I am sorry that this happened to you and hope you will report it.


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## amamba (Mar 2, 2012)

I would call and complain.


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## AlanB (Mar 3, 2012)

ColdRain&Snow said:


> I suppose they got you on a technicality, but it's nonsense all the same. As one of Amtrak's best customers, the attendant should have courteously confirmed your S+ status and welcomed you in.


No, that wasn't a technicality at all!

Yes, I understand what you mean and in some sense you are correct. However, one of the new features touted by AGR when the moved things in house is the fact that if a person provides last name & phone number, then any agent can look up that persons AGR account in the computer, confirm the status if you have it, and grant you access if you forgot your card.

So Steve, that agent was wrong! They even had more info than they needed and could easily have looked up your status to confirm that you were still Select Plus this year. And that is precisely what they were supposed to do and are required to do! Call & complain!

Heck, my mom qualified for Select Plus late in December 2010. So late that she did not of course get a 2011 kit. We took too a trip to Boston on Acela the second weekend of February, before the new 2012 kits arrived. Mom got to the train station before I did, went in and showed her Select card. The very nice agent, Joyce (who is pretty good IMHO), used that card to look up mom's account and saw that she did indeed have Select Plus status now and admitted her to the CA. And mom didn't even have the tickets or the reservation info; I had that.

So again, that Metro Lounge attendant was 100% wrong in what they did!


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## ColdRain&Snow (Mar 3, 2012)

Could it be a training issue for Chicago because they don't see S+ Cards very often? No excuse there, but I just wonder what the heck is going on. My test of sorts was spawned by a post I read at another site where the guy went to the Metropolitan Lounge desk and showed his S+ card, only to be asked if this was his first time traveling on Amtrak! He said this same thing has happened before too. Based on the look I got when I handed the attendant my card, I don't doubt his account one bit.


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## hessjm (Mar 3, 2012)

ColdRain&Snow said:


> Could it be a training issue for Chicago because they don't see S+ Cards very often? No excuse there, but I just wonder what the heck is going on. My test of sorts was spawned by a post I read at another site where the guy went to the Metropolitan Lounge desk and showed his S+ card, only to be asked if this was his first time traveling on Amtrak! He said this same thing has happened before too. Based on the look I got when I handed the attendant my card, I don't doubt his account one bit.


I know that Tim sees one S+ card at least once every two weeks! To be fair though, the cards did change a bit this year and I took a minute to notice the changes when I received my new one. That may have been the first new one presented to Tim and he needed to spend a moment looking it over.


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## ColdRain&Snow (Mar 3, 2012)

hessjm said:


> ColdRain&Snow said:
> 
> 
> > Could it be a training issue for Chicago because they don't see S+ Cards very often? No excuse there, but I just wonder what the heck is going on. My test of sorts was spawned by a post I read at another site where the guy went to the Metropolitan Lounge desk and showed his S+ card, only to be asked if this was his first time traveling on Amtrak! He said this same thing has happened before too. Based on the look I got when I handed the attendant my card, I don't doubt his account one bit.
> ...


If that were the case, it would further highlight the need for better training at Chicago. Since S+ cards are one of the few currencies for entry into the Metropolitan Lounge, the attendants should be completely familiar with them long before passengers begin presenting them (i.e. if card was redesigned). If attendants are asking S+ cardholders if they've ever traveled on Amtrak before and/or fret when presented with the card, some basic training has clearly been neglected. That they would not extend the basic courtesy of looking up the OP's program status and deny him entry instead is an unforgivable contravention of basic customer loyalty program principles.

I don't fault any one Metro Lounge attendant but see this as another area where Amtrak could and should make some simple course corrections in the name of better customer service.


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## amtrakwolverine (Mar 3, 2012)

You could have all the training in the world and you would still hit a bad apple that's too lazy to do there job and refuse to look up the status.


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## The Davy Crockett (Mar 3, 2012)

ColdRain&Snow said:


> hessjm said:
> 
> 
> > ColdRain&Snow said:
> ...


I disagree. While I understand your point, and better training is probably needed, there is such a thing as learning on the job - by doing. Some people are either incapable, or just plain refuse, to learn and grow in a job.

To me, from my own experiences, and what has been said here, I question the ability and/or motivation to do the job correctly of whomever is behind the desk in the Metropolitan Lounge in these situations. They may be friendly to some, espeially folks they get to know, but their job is much more than that.

Bottom line is that a complaint to customer service needs to be made, and let the chips fall where they may. I know when I've called, I've heard it said more than once, that they are glad for the feedback, because if they don't know there is a problem, they can't try to fix it. Be it training, management, or the employee behind the desk, there is a problem when a company's best customers get treated so shabbily.


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## Steve4031 (Mar 3, 2012)

Calling customer service? Why?!!!! In my experience it is useless. I called and sent letters on a much more serious issue last summer when I experienced hostile service on the Texas Eagle. I never received a response. IMHO right now Amtrak can take the select plus card and place it someplace where the sun doesnt shine. I will continue to ride trains because I enjoy it.But why go out of my way to earn extra points when the employees in Chicago just don't care.

I tweeted about it too. Of course that nitwit said call customer service. I don't really want points or vouchers everytime something goes wrong. However, last summer, I was really crapped on by that LSA. I think I deserved something. Even amtrak management never responded to my letter. I am sure they are overwhelmed. But this was a pretty bad experience an I believed I should get some consideration. I tell you if I ride the TE again and see that witch on there, my trip will be ruined from the start. I know this is a completely different issue, but the pattern of non responsiveness to customer service is the same.

I'll go find the new card when I get home, and use the priveledges for the rest of this year. But if I don't make select plus, oh well. I don't think they really care at this point.


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## ColdRain&Snow (Mar 3, 2012)

DC - Can you be more clear -- what is it that you're disagreeing with?

You're missing the boat on the point I was making. If an attendant is asking a passenger who is presenting their S+ card whether they have traveled on Amtrak before, it implies that the attendant doesn't comprehend what S+ cards represent. This is a training issue.

Moreover, if an attendant looks befuddled when he's presented with an S+ card, that implies that it is almost surely attributed to his unfamiliarity with the card. Again, this is a training issue.

Let's not confuse this with rocket science as it's an awfully simple and correctable problem for Amtrak to address.


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## the_traveler (Mar 3, 2012)

ColdRain&Snow said:


> where the guy went to the Metropolitan Lounge desk and showed his S+ card, only to be asked if this was his first time traveling on Amtrak!


That statement alone shows that better training is needed! Even if not many Select+ cards are seen in CHI!




That's like asking a flier with Million Mile status "Have you ever flown before?''


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## Steve4031 (Mar 3, 2012)

ColdRain&Snow said:


> Could it be a training issue for Chicago because they don't see S+ Cards very often? No excuse there, but I just wonder what the heck is going on. My test of sorts was spawned by a post I read at another site where the guy went to the Metropolitan Lounge desk and showed his S+ card, only to be asked if this was his first time traveling on Amtrak! He said this same thing has happened before too. Based on the look I got when I handed the attendant my card, I don't doubt his account one bit.


It is not a training issue. It a lazy ass issue. This is an issue with many of the employees at Union station. And a general state of customer service in Chicago.


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## The Davy Crockett (Mar 3, 2012)

ColdRain&Snow said:


> DC- Can you be more clear -- what is it that you're disagreeing with?



Okay, and I'm only partially disagreeing with you, but to be blatent about it - I think the problem lays with the employees in CHI - not with training. I understand that if folks are not properly trained it is tough to do the job, but some folks refuse to learn or 'just don't get it,' and all the training in the world will not make a difference.

That said, and Steve hits on this, but judging form other previous posts, the overall culture of Amtrak in CHI leaves something to be desired, and this is likely part of the problem.

I say this from my own experience managing people, and from Mrs. Crockett's who specializes in training and development.


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## the_traveler (Mar 3, 2012)

The Davy Crockett said:


> and from Mrs. Crockett's who specializes in training and development.


And I hear Mr. Crockett's training and development from Mrs. Crockett is not going very well!


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## The Davy Crockett (Mar 3, 2012)

the_traveler said:


> The Davy Crockett said:
> 
> 
> > and from Mrs. Crockett's who specializes in training and development.
> ...


Hey, she likes a challenge!!!  :lol:


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## ColdRain&Snow (Mar 3, 2012)

The Davy Crockett said:


> ColdRain&Snow said:
> 
> 
> > DC- Can you be more clear -- what is it that you're disagreeing with?
> ...


I too come at this with the same backround which is why the post piqued my interest. I agree wholeheartedly that Chicago has some intractably enculturated problems. I experience them first hand as I pass through Chicago and it's frustratingly predictable. Steve's problem with the ML attendant appears to be rooted in laziness, apathy, or some combination thereof. I see both in Chicago regularly.

But on this issue of S+ members using the Metropolitan Lounge, management could simply convene meetings with the attendants and mandate their understanding of what the S+ program is, what its entitlements are, and how those entitlements are to be conferred upon its members. Familiarity with the S+ card would of course be integral to this rather simple discussion.


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## PRR 60 (Mar 3, 2012)

ColdRain&Snow said:


> DC - Can you be more clear -- what is it that you're disagreeing with?
> 
> You're missing the boat on the point I was making. If an attendant is asking a passenger who is presenting their S+ card whether they have traveled on Amtrak before, it implies that the attendant doesn't comprehend what S+ cards represent. This is a training issue.
> 
> ...


There are two sides to training: Amtrak providing the training, and the employees paying attention to the training. Access problems at the Chicago Metropolitan Lounge has been an on-going issue for years there. There have been many, many complaints to Amtrak about it, including from members here. Nothing changes. More training will not solve the problem. Insisting that the Chicago lounge dragons follow Amtrak rules would be a start.


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## AlanB (Mar 3, 2012)

Actually since one agent working the lounge got disciplined late last year and temporarily transferred from their cushy job in the lounge for a few months as part of the punishment, I'm rather surprised to hear about the current issue. Frankly I have to wonder if Steve's probably wasn't caused by a lack of training or at least the agent's failure to comprehend said training, and not so much a matter of being lazy.

Is it possible that the agent just didn't care? Sure. But having just seen a colleague disciplined for not doing things right I find it odd that another would essentially do the same thing just a couple of months later.

I suspect that either they never got the AGR info that it was now possible to look up the status, up until two years ago they could not, or that they forgot that they could do that since it wouldn't happen very often out there.


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## ColdRain&Snow (Mar 3, 2012)

PRR 60 said:


> ColdRain&Snow said:
> 
> 
> > DC - Can you be more clear -- what is it that you're disagreeing with?
> ...


There's simply no way to confirm your supposition that the attendants in these cases -- who clearly displayed unfamiliarity and/or incomprehension with S+ cards -- had ever been trained on tenets of the Select Plus program. It's just as likely that they were never trained on S+ to begin with.

Having said that, like so many other things with Amtrak, the best offense is a good defense. I was prepared to walk the attendant through the S+ entitlements if he began to balk about letting me enter the club. Not that I think it is appropriate that I would have to help him do his job, but it takes what it takes sometimes.


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## Steve4031 (Mar 3, 2012)

To be fair, the attendant started off polite. Then she saw the 2010 on my card and said the card expire in 2010 Then I showed the 2/29/12 focusing on the 2012. Of course the lady noted it was now march.

Alan, isn't this the agent that got a direct complaint to a top level manager? If so I don't think there would have been discipline if the complaint had been made through normal channels.


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## AlanB (Mar 3, 2012)

Steve4031 said:


> Alan, isn't this the agent that got a direct complaint to a top level manager? If so I don't think there would have been discipline if the complaint had been made through normal channels.


That's correct Steve.

But my point was that knowing that the one attendant got into trouble for not following the proper rules for a couple of AGR issues, as well as general attitude, I expect that the other attendants would be a bit more cautious about similar things. So that suggests to me that your attendant was never told that she could look up your account and confirm that you do have Select Plus status and therefore should have been admitted to the lounge even though you forgot the new card.


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## Steve4031 (Mar 3, 2012)

It would have only passed through the employee grapevine. If she wasn't in the loop then she never knew. I didn't recognize this one. Honestly, the management at cus is useless IMHO.


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## MrFSS (Mar 3, 2012)

Side question - If one has problems with lounge employees is there somewhere else in CUS you could go and speak with someone about it for an attempt at immediate action?


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## AlanB (Mar 3, 2012)

MrFSS said:


> Side question - If one has problems with lounge employees is there somewhere else in CUS you could go and speak with someone about it for an attempt at immediate action?


Sure, head over to the Customer Service office and talk with them. Request a supervisor if need be.


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## PRR 60 (Mar 3, 2012)

AlanB said:


> Actually since one agent working the lounge got disciplined late last year and temporarily transferred from their cushy job in the lounge for a few months as part of the punishment, I'm rather surprised to hear about the current issue. Frankly I have to wonder if Steve's probably wasn't caused by a lack of training or at least the agent's failure to comprehend said training, and not so much a matter of being lazy.
> 
> Is it possible that the agent just didn't care? Sure. But having just seen a colleague disciplined for not doing things right I find it odd that another would essentially do the same thing just a couple of months later.
> 
> I suspect that either they never got the AGR info that it was now possible to look up the status, up until two years ago they could not, or that they forgot that they could do that since it wouldn't happen very often out there.


How much "training" does it take to tell someone that holders of a current S+ card gets access to the lounge? Is that an all-day affair (with lunch), or does it take a week off-site (lunch and dinner)? For anyone other than Amtrak, a one sentence memo would do the trick. It isn't like the job of Amtrak lounge attendant is a complicated task.

By the way, since when is being reassigned for a period of time considered "discipline." Getting an unpaid vacation is discipline. Getting told to report somewhere else for a while (at full pay) is an annoyance, at worst.


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## amamba (Mar 3, 2012)

Meanwhile - as a contrast - I continue to be impressed with the attendants in the club acela in BOS & pHL. I just had a great visit to phl and the club attendant was not only polite and friedly but somehow magically found a sear for me on a sold out train.


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## amamba (Mar 3, 2012)

Sorry on Phone pls excuse typos.


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## AlanB (Mar 3, 2012)

PRR 60 said:


> AlanB said:
> 
> 
> > Actually since one agent working the lounge got disciplined late last year and temporarily transferred from their cushy job in the lounge for a few months as part of the punishment, I'm rather surprised to hear about the current issue. Frankly I have to wonder if Steve's probably wasn't caused by a lack of training or at least the agent's failure to comprehend said training, and not so much a matter of being lazy.
> ...


Bill, the problem is that Steve didn't have his current card with him. He had his old, expired card with him. So in that regard the agent followed training.

It does take a bit more training to teach them how to go look up the status of an AGR member in the computer.



PRR 60 said:


> By the way, since when is being reassigned for a period of time considered "discipline." Getting an unpaid vacation is discipline. Getting told to report somewhere else for a while (at full pay) is an annoyance, at worst.


Well it certainly seems to have changed his attitude!


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## The Davy Crockett (Mar 4, 2012)

Thinking about it, (I must be wearing my thinking cap this morning) once when I was there last Summer two people were at the desk. I presented my S+ card for entrance and the person I showed it to looked befuddled. The other person spoke up and explained that someone could gain access with their S+ card. Sure seemed like on-the-job training. Makes it seem like the job is a revolving door. Almost like Amtrak uses Randstad temps to fill the job when they have a staffing shortage...


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