Bad Cardinal SCA!

[Linda T]

Check the emp service manual RE: making up rooms.

Okay, what's the emp service manual?

Link:

Amtrak Service Standards Manual for Train Service and

On-Board Service Employees, Version 6, 2011

Thanks! It made for interesting breakfast reading. ;-)

 

[Guest lsa]

I am sorry if you had poor experience from Paulette . Yes she has many years and actually she barely comes to work but I don't think our employee handbook should be published or have excess to general public .i know I am going get alot of negative feedback but that's why it's employee handbook. Now I work on both coast (more on east then the west )and we all mistakes and have bad days but what she did was unacceptable and makes us look bad.

 

[Guest lsa]

not saying you shouldn't get the best service but if you want action you have write to manger from that person crew base . This info out of this book could get into wrong hands . I don't think it would be right if I access every one in here employee book? That's why employee hand book for them as a guide .

 

[TVRM610]

"Hours of Service – Dining Car

a) Open and Ready – Dining Cars are to be open and ready for service when passengers board at initial terminals during a scheduled meal period. No exceptions!

• Thecollectionofticketsisnotareasonto delay the opening of any Food Service Car.

• Announcementsthatadvisecustomerstowait until all tickets have been collected before visiting Food Service Cars are prohibited." - taken from service handbook

The same is listed for the cafe lounge car. This policy has been violated on just about every single Amtrak train I've ever been on!

 

[Meat Puppet]

The amtrak operating rules book and service standards manual are public documents under the freedom of information act available for free for anyone to view at

www.governmentattic.org.

 

[sportbiker]

I am sorry if you had poor experience from Paulette . Yes she has many years and actually she barely comes to work but I don't think our employee handbook should be published or have excess to general public .i know I am going get alot of negative feedback but that's why it's employee handbook. Now I work on both coast (more on east then the west )and we all mistakes and have bad days but what she did was unacceptable and makes us look bad.

Having access to the employee standards manual is like having video cameras in police cars: they can damn the guilty but they can also exonerate the innocent. On this board, some complaints about OBS assume company standards that turn out not to exist. In those cases, whoever is doing the complaining doesn't have a leg to stand on. In other cases, like this one, the standards manual can confirm the SCA violated policies A, C and F. For Paulette, probably G, H, K and L as well… :giggle:

Speaking only for myself: when I was working in customer-facing positions, it wouldn't have bothered me a bit to know the customers had my company's manual. But then, I always tried to give top-notch service.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

The amtrak operating rules book and service standards manual are public documents under the freedom of information act available for free for anyone to view at

www.governmentattic.org.

Exactly. Working for Uncle Sam - which hopefully and rightfully includes a heathly dose of public accountability - can be a real bear sometimes.

 

[user 1215]

not saying you shouldn't get the best service but if you want action you have write to manger from that person crew base . This info out of this book could get into wrong hands . I don't think it would be right if I access every one in here employee book? That's why employee hand book for them as a guide .

First, I think it's almost impossible for a passenger to figure out who the employee's crew base manager is, much less their mailing address; I doubt if Paulette would be volunteering that info.

Second, such is the curse/benefit of being a quasi-government agency. Taxpayers have the right to see how their money is being spent, therefore the freedom of information act.

 

[ScottC4746]

It really was only a matter of time until a truly bad Amtrak employee was encountered.

For the record, demanding and entitled I am not. By the end of trips, it is not uncommon to have OBS staff grinning, shaking my hand and genuinely happy to me as a passenger; this trip in question was no different with half the crew saying goodbye as me and my wife stepped off in Sacramento on Wednesday.

But this particular person, Paulette, really pissed me off.

Bad manners, no respect for the appearance of her uniform, missing in action most of the trip, no route guide or train schedules stocked anywhere in her car, absolutely and stubbornly refused to make coffee (we had to go to the Cafe for coffee,) no juice, no bottled water ("Whats wrong with the tap, hmm?") Never answered the attendant call, only did meal service in our accommodation after I had to go and ask the diner LSA himself, and then it gets better. She was 'too cold' and shut down the entire air circulation system in the 5100 sleeper shortly before Culpeper, VA, and never started it back up again the rest of the trip. The final straw was, when it came time to sleep, she absolutely refused to put down our beds. "You're young and I'm old. Read the instructions and do it yourself!" She exclaimed before pushing past our room and disappearing into the Diner. Come the morning, she again refused to make up our beds. It was up to me to put our room back into daytime configuration, and then we were unceremoniously 'kicked out' of our car and into the diner 15 minutes before Chicago so she could do the proper makeup before bailing off the train.

I'm drafting a letter that I plan on sending off to several people: Customer Relations, Long Distance Services, and the New York Crew Base.

Just a small rant here on AU, don't mind me. And no, she did not get anything for a tip. She forfeited her tip for dinner with the other shenanigans. The tip for the food service went directly to LSA John in the morning.

I had a similar situation on my last trip in 2011 on SWC 3. It is amazing how fast my tipping hand disappeared.

 

[JackieTakestheTrain]

I actually think I had Paulette on the Cardinal awhile ago. Did she happen to have a belt buckle with her name on it?

 

[amamba]

not saying you shouldn't get the best service but if you want action you have write to manger from that person crew base . This info out of this book could get into wrong hands . I don't think it would be right if I access every one in here employee book? That's why employee hand book for them as a guide .

What would you consider the "wrong hands" to be? It was released to the american public by a freedom of information act request. We have a right to this information, and frankly I think its very valuable since the service at amtrak can be inconsistent.

 

[user 1215]

Sounds like the only "wrong hands" the employee handbook could wind up in are the employees! :help:

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

I actually had an SCA who was only vagualy familiar with the Manual, yet she did a great job. It makes me wonder if they are handed out in Training and employees are told to look it over at thier leisure.

 

[OBS]

I actually had an SCA who was only vagualy familiar with the Manual, yet she did a great job. It makes me wonder if they are handed out in Training and employees are told to look it over at thier leisure.

That is a pretty accurate description of the actual procedure if you delete "at their leisure".

 

[ScottRu]

Thanks for that report, Blackwolf. Sorry for what you endured... but I suspect whenever I get bad service on Amtrak in the future (and I really never have had awful service), I can think back on your experience and say, "This ain't so bad!"

 

[SarahZ]

Having access to the employee standards manual is like having video cameras in police cars: they can damn the guilty but they can also exonerate the innocent.

Precisely. Sometimes I WISH our customers had access to our training materials and all of the various policies and procedures. Then they wouldn't think I'm the devil on a mission to ruin their day and would (maybe) realize I HAVE to do things a certain way, even though sometimes I wish I didn't have to. I've honestly told people, "I agree with you, and I really wish I could do that, but I would lose my job." Sometimes it calms them down, but not often.

 

[Michael061282]

yeah I think if passengers had access to some of the procedures etc it would cut down on the things that seem frivilous and just plain silly on the face of things.. like having to use a certain color pen when ordering food taking 2 steps out of your bedroom door to grab a cup of juice wearing socks but no shoes.

 

[AlanB]

yeah I think if passengers had access to some of the procedures etc it would cut down on the things that seem frivilous and just plain silly on the face of things.. like having to use a certain color pen when ordering food taking 2 steps out of your bedroom door to grab a cup of juice wearing socks but no shoes.

Actually the color of the ink when you sign your check in the dining car is critical. Those checks are scanned by a computer and it doesn't pick up blue ink, only black. So if you sign in blue, the computer kicks out the check as invalid and the LSA ends up with a problem since it now looks like they may have stolen the food since no passenger signed for it.

 

[Blackwolf]

*UPDATE*

Traction has been garnered on the official side of this experience. I had a phone call with Tony Ward, the Manager of OBS at the New York crew base this evening. He related that the office of Doug Varn, Director of Long-Distance Services in Chicago, was also involved. A testimony was requested of the experiences had aboard the Cardinal under SCA Paulette and emailed to him. And no, we were not the only passengers to voice concerns over her service ability. Undisclosed disciplinary action is being taken.

 

[Ryan]

Wow, good news.

Glad to see that management is taking this seriously, and a great reminder to inform customer service when you receive subpar service.

 

[Michael061282]

yeah I think if passengers had access to some of the procedures etc it would cut down on the things that seem frivilous and just plain silly on the face of things.. like having to use a certain color pen when ordering food taking 2 steps out of your bedroom door to grab a cup of juice wearing socks but no shoes.

Actually the color of the ink when you sign your check in the dining car is critical. Those checks are scanned by a computer and it doesn't pick up blue ink, only black. So if you sign in blue, the computer kicks out the check as invalid and the LSA ends up with a problem since it now looks like they may have stolen the food since no passenger signed for it.

yeah I think if passengers had access to some of the procedures etc it would cut down on the things that seem frivilous and just plain silly on the face of things.. like having to use a certain color pen when ordering food taking 2 steps out of your bedroom door to grab a cup of juice wearing socks but no shoes.

Actually the color of the ink when you sign your check in the dining car is critical. Those checks are scanned by a computer and it doesn't pick up blue ink, only black. So if you sign in blue, the computer kicks out the check as invalid and the LSA ends up with a problem since it now looks like they may have stolen the food since no passenger signed for it.

Yeah i know that...now. but how many people that don't follow message boards know that? To them, having an overzealous LSA rip a pen out of your hands in the dining car like I had on the Chief in 2010 looks absolutely petty and ridiculous . That's why I said it's good to be able to read the training manuals online. they help make sense out of things that don't make much sense on face value sometimes.

 

[Steve4031]

That was a quick response time. I wrote a complaint letter to Amtrak in August of one year regarding the infamous Polly on the Texas Eagle. The response did not come back until March of the following year. I hope I dont have to write any more complaint letters, but if I do, I hope I get a quicker response next time.

 

[SarahZ]

Re: the pens, it would be nice if they had a little cup for them with a label that said, "Please use black ink to sign your meal check." They're usually just sort of scattered by the Basket o'Dressing.

Orrrrrrrrrrr, the server could simply say, "Here are your meal checks. Please use the pens on the table to sign them if you don't have a pen with black ink. Our machines can't read blue ink." It would take three seconds.

 

[Bob Dylan]

*UPDATE*

Traction has been garnered on the official side of this experience. I had a phone call with Tony Ward, the Manager of OBS at the New York crew base this evening. He related that the office of Doug Varn, Director of Long-Distance Services in Chicago, was also involved. A testimony was requested of the experiences had aboard the Cardinal under SCA Paulette and emailed to him. And no, we were not the only passengers to voice concerns over her service ability. Undisclosed disciplinary action is being taken.

Excellent News! Sounds like the new CHI Boss is starting to Kick A** and Take Names!!! Hope he gets on the yard Crews and the Infamous Gate Brown Shirts as well as the Bossy/Snotty Desk Clerks in the Metro Lounge! :help:

 

[Wildcat]

All well and good until the Union mopes get involved and this horrific SCA gets protected rather than booted. By the way, since Amtrak is a public agency, technically the details of disciplinary action(s) should be public record. They won't be, of course, since the Union doofs will chime in but the point of public record is to give misreants reason to pause before they perform badly.