Open Sleeper...Grrrr!

[ehbowen]

So, I just bought my first Open Sleeper ticket....

Background: One of my extracurricular activities is serving as the local chapter president of the National Space Society. The annual national convention, ISDC 2017, is being held in St. Louis (at old Union Station) this weekend. When the meeting info was posted last summer I immediately started booking reservations and snagged a low-bucket roomette and a hotel room at the convention rate.

About two months ago another of our members, D., expressed a desire to attend as well. I was amenable to splitting the hotel room with him, and he had planned to share a ride with yet another of our members who planned to drive her Cadillac to the convention. Fast forward to Saturday: D. found out that, due to personal conflicts, his ride wouldn't be able to leave until the next day which would force him to miss a session he planned to participate in. By this time other transportation options were sold out or at their highest possible bucket (hey, it's Memorial Day weekend) and he called me asking if I could help at all.

I got on the line with an Amtrak agent and, mindful of advice from this forum, specifically asked for an Open Sleeper ticket, one way, from Houston to St. Louis. (He's still planning to come back southbound with his original ride.) I gave the agent his contact information, my reservation number, and specifically stated that I wanted to have him share my roomette for the trip north. She took all the information, quoted a price of $123.00 (which I considered reasonable), and gave me a reservation number and placed it on a courtesy hold, giving D. until midnight Sunday to confirm and pay for it. So far, so good.

Until I reviewed the email which I had asked to be copied on as well. For accommodation type, instead of "Open Sleeper" it specified, "Reserved Coach Seat." As I said, I've never booked Open Sleeper before but this didn't seem right. I called another agent to inquire about the reservations, and she took down all the information and said that she would have to speak to yet another agent.

I spent about five minutes on hold (not unreasonably long) before she came back. She said that D. would have to be added to my own reservation and that I would have to pay for it immediately. Politely but firmly I told her that this did not square with my understanding and that I would like to speak with a supervisor. Well, the one thing she did NOT want to do was connect me with a supervisor. She put me back on hold to confer again with her original colleague. When she came back the second time she said, and this is pretty much an exact quote, "Yes, we can issue you an open ticket but we don't like to do that because it's a whole lot of work."

I am pleased to report that the reservation was changed, the price was not, and that Mr. D. agreed that $123.00 was an eminently reasonable sum for a share of a first-class overnight ride from Houston to St. Louis at the last minute before a holiday. He paid for his ticket on Sunday; we'll just have to make sure that he picks it up (Open Sleepers are still physical paper tickets) at the ticket window downtown before we leave on Wednesday. Now, if he can just find the station without getting lost....

Moral of the story: Read the fine print!

 

[snvboy]

"....we don't like to do that because it's a whole lot of work."

This probably sums up the biggest thing that needs to be fixed with Amtrak. Of course, fixing it will be a whole lot of work.

 

[Everydaymatters]

Agents don't like to switch you over to a supervisor. However, when you ask to speak to a supervisor they seem to find a way to correct the problem. This has happened to me a couple of times. For the most part, most of my experiences with agents have been good, but every once in a while it goes south.

 

[JayPea]

I had a spot of trouble with an open sleeper ticket a couple of weeks ago. The problem, however, apparently had to do with the agent I had talked to on the phone. My uncle and I were taking an EB loop trip. He was coming from Chicago and I was going to join him in Spokane, and we were continuing to Seattle. He had gotten a roomette and I purchased an open sleeper ticket so I could join him. I made sure to let the agent know I wanted it linked to his reservation. When it came time to board the SCA had no clue what to do for me so left it to the conductor. The conductor didn't see my name on the manifest and seemed to doubt that I'd even paid for a ticket even though I had the receipt. :angry: He told me that we weren't going to stand around and pick our noses all day, that he WAS going to let me board (out of the goodness of his heart apparently ) and that he'd figure it out later. The problem, I guess, stemmed from the fact the agent hadn't linked my reservation to my uncle's. A few minutes after we had gotten underway he came by our room, said it was all squared away, and apologized for being such a jerk. And that was that except for the SCA saying I wouldn't be eligible to eat in the diner and me saying firmly he was wrong. He said nothing after that so I won that battle too.

 

[PVD]

The open sleeper most certainly includes the meals.

 

[Ryan]

For reference (and the next guy that finds this thread via google), here is the chapter and verse.

 

[SarahZ]

Agents don't like to switch you over to a supervisor. However, when you ask to speak to a supervisor they seem to find a way to correct the problem. This has happened to me a couple of times.

In my case, it's because I know you're going to have to wait an hour or more to speak with a supervisor, so it's easier for me to go find someone who can help me than it is to have you wait that hour or more and get even more upset. Also, people assume we're blowing them off because they have to wait so long to speak to a supervisor. In reality, it's because the supervisors are dealing with escalated issues, which take time to resolve, not to mention their own work queues and voice mails. It's not like supervisors are just sitting around with nothing to do while waiting for someone to toss an upset customer their way.

To be fair, though, I nip that whole issue in the bud by saying, "I'm not familiar with this process. Would you mind holding for a bit while I find someone who can help me? I want to make sure I do this correctly." If more agents did that, fewer people would have to demand a supervisor.

 

[railiner]

Agents don't like to switch you over to a supervisor. However, when you ask to speak to a supervisor they seem to find a way to correct the problem. This has happened to me a couple of times.

In my case, it's because I know you're going to have to wait an hour or more to speak with a supervisor, so it's easier for me to go find someone who can help me than it is to have you wait that hour or more and get even more upset. Also, people assume we're blowing them off because they have to wait so long to speak to a supervisor. In reality, it's because the supervisors are dealing with escalated issues, which take time to resolve, not to mention their own work queues and voice mails. It's not like supervisors are just sitting around with nothing to do while waiting for someone to toss an upset customer their way.

To be fair, though, I nip that whole issue in the bud by saying, "I'm not familiar with this process. Would you mind holding for a bit while I find someone who can help me? I want to make sure I do this correctly." If more agents did that, fewer people would have to demand a supervisor.

I would put some of the blame on Amtrak for making it so hard for an agent to fulfill these passenger request's, that are not common enough for them to be familiar with....and its counter-productive to have an agent, and possibly more than one have to spend so much time on resolving same. The 'system' should be programmed to make this, and other such requests easy to fulfill, if they are proper....

 

[Ryan]

I'm not sure we have the info to know if it's actually that hard or not. Lots of people will tell you how rough the jobs are. Sometimes it's even true.

 

[Asher]

Much thanks to Ryan for his post with the rules and also SZ for the agents point of view, well said.

 

[trainman74]

Much thanks to Ryan for his post with the rules and also SZ for the agents point of view, well said.

Just to clarify (I'm not sure she saw this, and I hope she doesn't mind me speaking for her): SarahZ is not an Amtrak agent; she does work in customer service for a different, unrelated company.

 

[SarahZ]

Much thanks to Ryan for his post with the rules and also SZ for the agents point of view, well said.

Just to clarify (I'm not sure she saw this, and I hope she doesn't mind me speaking for her): SarahZ is not an Amtrak agent; she does work in customer service for a different, unrelated company.

I don't mind. Thank you for clarifying.

Anumberone: I've worked in three call centers over the past 15 years and spent three years as a call center supervisor, so I have some industry experience. I can't speak for Amtrak CS agents, but the job is pretty much the same no matter how large the company.

 

[SarahZ]

I would put some of the blame on Amtrak for making it so hard for an agent to fulfill these passenger request's, that are not common enough for them to be familiar with....and its counter-productive to have an agent, and possibly more than one have to spend so much time on resolving same. The 'system' should be programmed to make this, and other such requests easy to fulfill, if they are proper....

Possibly. Sometimes, when a request is extremely rare or uncommon, even seasoned agents have to ask a co-worker, "Hey... do you remember how to do that thing? I haven't done it in about six months."

If they don't know, then you dig up the workflow in the Company Manual with the Basically Useless Index, or find your sticky note that you wrote the workflow on the last time you had to ask, or ask that one person who's been with the company for ten years and knows everything (once they're finally off the phone), etc.

My standard in that situation is to say, "I'm fairly sure this is possible, but I haven't done it in a long time and don't want to do it incorrectly. Would you mind if I called you back so you don't have to hold while I look for someone to help me?" Then I give them an expected call-back timeframe based on how busy we are at the moment.

I've had people huff and puff and demand a supervisor because I'm CLEARLY such an idiot, at which point I roll my eyes and advise the special snowflake that they can either wait an hour or more for a supervisor or trust that I'm not a mouth-breather and will do as I promised.

I say that professionally, of course. Even my eye-roll is professional.

 

[railiner]

I would put some of the blame on Amtrak for making it so hard for an agent to fulfill these passenger request's, that are not common enough for them to be familiar with....and its counter-productive to have an agent, and possibly more than one have to spend so much time on resolving same. The 'system' should be programmed to make this, and other such requests easy to fulfill, if they are proper....

Possibly. Sometimes, when a request is extremely rare or uncommon, even seasoned agents have to ask a co-worker, "Hey... do you remember how to do that thing? I haven't done it in about six months."

If they don't know, then you dig up the workflow in the Company Manual with the Basically Useless Index, or find your sticky note that you wrote the workflow on the last time you had to ask, or ask that one person who's been with the company for ten years and knows everything (once they're finally off the phone), etc.

My standard in that situation is to say, "I'm fairly sure this is possible, but I haven't done it in a long time and don't want to do it incorrectly. Would you mind if I called you back so you don't have to hold while I look for someone to help me?" Then I give them an expected call-back timeframe based on how busy we are at the moment.

I've had people huff and puff and demand a supervisor because I'm CLEARLY such an idiot, at which point I roll my eyes and advise the special snowflake that they can either wait an hour or more for a supervisor or trust that I'm not a mouth-breather and will do as I promised.

I say that professionally, of course. Even my eye-roll is professional.

Sarah, unfortunately your professionalism is something that I have rarely encountered in my experience talking to various call center's....I wish that were not so, but it is, what it is. So I have adopted the "have low expectation's, and you wont' be disappointed" mindset, and go from there...

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I've never met anyone who had a history of genuinely positive experiences with modern script focused call centers. Call centers exist because they're much cheaper and more efficient than hiring and maintaining a vast network of in-person staff and because they create an invisible but nearly insurmountable barrier between a concerned customer and some indifferent beancounter who wrote the script for their complaint. If you don't play along and jump through every hoop they can simply refuse to help you and there's almost nothing you can do about it. Sometimes they refuse to help even when you've followed every rule and completed every menial task demanded of you. You can argue or beg or plead all you want but they're the ones holding all the cards and they know it. How you got into your predicament today and what will happen to you tomorrow is not their problem. Even when you're calling about a relatively simple and easily resolved issue involving a six or seven figure contract they honestly couldn't care less. It's just a job to them and you're just some stranger on a phone.

 

[wdscott]

Call center got ya down? Do a web search for "call center movie ". You'll be glad you did.

 

[ehbowen]

Aboard the train with Mr. D now...found out that when he was pricing last-minute one-way flights the most reasonable was Southwest, and they wanted $450. That open sleeper was a bargain.

Also his first dinner in a dining car; commented that the airlines don't feed you that well even in first class. The steak and shrimp really was pretty good, although I could wish that they spiced up the shrimp a bit. Good service in the diner, good SCA, and on time so far to Hope. Looks like it'll be a great trip.

 

[StriderGDM]

Ask for tabasco next time. They usually have some on board.

And that is one of the better looking meals I've seen in awhile.

 

[ehbowen]

And now we're in St. Louis. Actually, we've already walked to the hotel; the train was spot-on time. Arriving in St. Louis from Houston before 7:30 rested, fed, with the chance to take a shower...awful hard to match that driving or flying without arriving a night early and staying in a hotel!

 

[Cina]

On the topic of call centers, I have had fairly good luck with the Amtrak call center. I always make sure I get my call takers name and call them by their name and try to be pretty pleasant, I always agree beforehand to take the survey at the end when available. I don't know if this actually has an effect or if I've just been very lucky, but I always book Amtrak trips over the phone. My best friend worked in a call center in high school and the job was so stressful for her having to deal with rude people that she had a panic attack on the job. Since then I tried to be pretty sympathetic to call takers. I'm sure there are call takers out there who have the attitude that every customer is going to be rude to them so they'll just be rude first and get it out of the way, I've just never experienced one with Amtrak.

Now excuse me while I go knock on wood :lol:

 

[Devil's Advocate]

On the topic of call centers, I have had fairly good luck with the Amtrak call center. I always make sure I get my call takers name and call them by their name and try to be pretty pleasant, I always agree beforehand to take the survey at the end when available. I don't know if this actually has an effect or if I've just been very lucky, but I always book Amtrak trips over the phone. My best friend worked in a call center in high school and the job was so stressful for her having to deal with rude people that she had a panic attack on the job. Since then I tried to be pretty sympathetic to call takers. I'm sure there are call takers out there who have the attitude that every customer is going to be rude to them so they'll just be rude first and get it out of the way, I've just never experienced one with Amtrak. Now excuse me while I go knock on wood

It would appear that your bar for satisfaction is that the company you're trying to purchase from isn't rude to you when you go out of your way to be as nice as possible while handing them money. That's a pretty low bar all things considered. All in all I don't normally run into overtly rude encounters so much as impotent shoulder shrugging from mostly indifferent staff. They don't benefit from taking my complaint seriously or solving my problem. They only benefit from following whatever scripts they have as quickly and accurately as possible, so whatever the script says determines precisely what you get. If my specific problem isn't in the scrip or is grouped incorrectly or handled inefficiently then most of the time I'm simply SOL. I can be nice or mean or monotone but in the end it really doesn't matter because the script holds all the power. Supervisors can still override some predefined results here and there but just like their subordinates they too are being squeezed for options and pressured to avoid going above and beyond the script just like everyone else.

 

[SarahZ]

Two of the main reasons I love my current job: no script and no micro-management. We're given free reign and trusted to be polite, helpful, mature adults. My supervisor doesn't record our calls or give us call evaluations. She can pick up her phone and listen to us if she wants, but she really only does that if an employee is new and she wants to give them feedback. Since we're a small call center, she can overhear most of our conversations anyway.

I've had jobs where they nitpicked every single thing we said. No matter how helpful I was during a call, I'd get marked down in my call evaluations because I didn't use the caller's name at least three times or I refused to use the company's version of the phonetic alphabet (I use the military's out of habit). Even if the caller was happy and grateful after speaking to me, I'd end up having to justify why I didn't follow the latest and greatest protocol.

The scripts were ridiculous and obviously written by people who had never worked in a call center in their life. Calls never, ever follow a script because human beings don't speak according to a script. The only time two people will ever magically follow a pre-existing script is when those two people are cast in a musical.

Those types of call centers are miserable, soul-sucking, and demoralizing. I hope to never work in one again.

I'm sorry to continue the thread derailment, but I had to vent a little.

 

[Ryan]

I'm sorry to continue the thread derailment, but I had to vent a little.

Always deviating from the script, this one...

 

[willem]

I refused to use the company's version of the phonetic alphabet (I use the military's out of habit).

"Not invented here" carried to an extreme?

The scripts were ridiculous and obviously written by people who had never worked in a call center in their life. Calls never, ever follow a script because human beings don't speak according to a script. The only time two people will ever magically follow a pre-existing script is when those two people are cast in a musical.

It is frustrating when the representative keys on one or two words and proceeds to talk about something that has nothing to do with the reason I'm calling.

 

[SarahZ]

The scripts were ridiculous and obviously written by people who had never worked in a call center in their life. Calls never, ever follow a script because human beings don't speak according to a script. The only time two people will ever magically follow a pre-existing script is when those two people are cast in a musical.

It is frustrating when the representative keys on one or two words and proceeds to talk about something that has nothing to do with the reason I'm calling.

Precisely. When someone is trying to follow a script, they're more worried about the script than listening to the caller. When a company doesn't use a script, it leaves the reps free to actually listen and then ask clarifying questions. You know... like an actual conversation.