Rude Employees

[amamba]

I agree that it would be helpful for us to k ow of the specific complaint. You don't even have to use real names or dates or destinations if you want to keep some anonymity.

 

[tonys96]

While I understand this was frustrating, it really was not "rude" to me.

IMHO, "rude" means abrupt, condenscending, curt, unhelpful, hateful, etc. What happened to you folks was just downright inept and unbusinesslike.

I have had "rude" before from coach car attendants, once boarding in Dallas, we were directed to a car that was full with only 2 seperated seats, and a lot of cranky occupants who did not want to move for us, so, it being Dallas, we simply deboarded and told the attendant that we would just drive over to Love Field and fly to San Antonio, he rudely and curtly said "We sold you seats, not adjoining ones" and that was cool with us...we could fly for a pittance back then, no problemo. While walking down the tracks to get to the crossover to Union Station, an Amtrak employee (Conuctor, maybe?) asked us what was up, and when we told him, he said "That guy is an a$$hole" and took us to a completely empty coach car......of course, during the remaining stops this car got about half full before arriving at SAS...........That first guy was "rude", he could have eaasily moved us to the empty car, but chose not to do so, instead retorting "We sold you seats, not adjoining ones".

Again, once going to Little Rock from FTW, the coach attendant sent me to a car, and when I found a seat, the attendant for that car was really loud when saying "You can't be in this car, you must move NOW"......hey, I was sent there.......oh, well, I was moved and the rest of the trip was good.

Now, there have been great attendants on the Eagle, too..........once from FTW to SAS, the coach attendant lady was really great, my lady friend had never taken Amtrak, and the attendant took her for a tour of the train (Not sleeping cars, tho)...but it was above and beyond.....and once coming to DAL from LVW, on a really FULL train, the coach attendant asked me quite nicely and sincerely if I would mind riding in the SSL for the entire trip, and I was happy to oblige.......had he been "rude", well....it would have been different.

Politeness and sincerity count.....................

 

[Everydaymatters]

I had replied with what the situation was and then backspaced to delete it because it really doesn't matter what the "complaint" was. Rude employees are rude employees, whether it is to my neighbor or yours. Just read the discussions and the travelogues, there are plenty of examples. My neighbor's experience probably isn't the same as someone else's and it wouldn't serve any useful purpose for you (or anyone else) to pick apart her experience. The fact remains that rudeness exists now and has existed for too long.

Yes, but coming on here and just saying someone told you they had a bad experience is on par with the people who post topics like “Amtrak sucks” and never explain what the problem is.

It does, indeed, matter what the complaint was. Your second, third, and fourth sentence all refer to “bad experiences”, but never say what they are. I’m not asking for pages of explanation, but if you bring it up, you should at least describe it to some extent. Just a sentence or two. I can read travel reports from other people until the cows come home. It doesn’t explain your situation any more than someone else’s trip report explains my last trip.

As said before, it really has nothing to do with her one complaint. It is a cumulation of many, many complaints. The problem does exist, whether it's my neighbor's complaint, my complaint, or any of the many other complaints. The neighbor's one complaint is not what I'm referring to.

 

[The Cardinal]

I've been riding AMTRAK since 1994. From time to time I have run into some rude employees (quite a few of them at Chicago Union Station in fact). Usually conductors. But at least with the conductors, you don't have them the entire trip like you do the car attendants. The worst ever was a several years ago boarding the Capitol Limited in Union Station. I was ticketed for a lower level seat. I was directed to a certain coach car. The attendant outside the car asked where I was going and I stated "Pittsburg, lower level". To which he YELLED "WE DON"T HAVE LOWER LEVEL SEATING ON THIS TRAIN NOW GET ON BOARD!!". Of course everyone standing in the area turned to look at me. It was very embarassing and I wish I had gotten his name and reported his extremely rude behavior. That was without a doubt the worst I had ever been treated by an AMTRAK employee. And I refused to ride the Capitol for a few years after that. I would take the Cardinal to CIN and stay with family there for a bit and then drive up to PA.

 

[Ispolkom]

I've been riding AMTRAK since 1994. From time to time I have run into some rude employees (quite a few of them at Chicago Union Station in fact). Usually conductors.

I've been riding Amtrak since 1981, and my experiences agree with yours, though more as regards conductors. I find on-board staff to get ruder the closer I approach New York City, but that may just be my luck.

Alas, as far as rude conductors go, I've read complaints about rude conductors back to the 1850s, so I think that there's no help there.

 

[wmk]

However there are some great employees who love their jobs and really help the passengers.....Such as J.Roench (sp?) on Tx Eagle #21 on 7/30.She was the sightseer cafe attendant on break having dinner in the unused end of the cross country cafe where I was waiting for my dinner seating,when an elderly man wandered in lost and confused.She had served him earlier and he had been wandering the train since.She left her dinner and helped him find his seat while her dinner got cold.I complimented her when I got breakfast the next morning.Even with only a 6 hour nights rest she was pleasant and cheerful at 6:30 in the morning........THANK YOU for your great service :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[pennyk]

I have been riding Amtrak since 1972 (when I was in college) and I do not recall an employee being rude to me.

 

[AlanB]

...lucky we opened the door or else the train would have had to go back...at least I hope it would

Unless the mistake was realized within a few hundred feet at most, the train will never go back. You would become a carry-by and Amtrak would have to make arrangements to get you back to the correct station.

 

[AlanB]

Now, turning to one of the underlying themes currently running through this topic, let me once again repeat something that I have said many, many times before.

Amtrak Management Does Ride the Trains!

We currently have one now retired member who did that for a good portion of his career at Amtrak and we have one member who currently does it. Is there a manager on every train every day? No. But they are out riding the trains.

The problem isn't that management isn't riding the trains! The problem is that the employees know who the managers are. So when there is a manager around, the bad employees do their jobs. When there is no manager around, they don't. It's that simple.

So management has to rely, at least in part, on reports from the passengers. If you get bad service, report it! Take names and call Amtrak's Customer Service to be sure that it gets documented. The more times an employee gets reported, the more likely it is that they'll be sent for retraining, given greater scrutiny, and eventually terminated if they don't improve.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I've been riding AMTRAK since 1994. From time to time I have run into some rude employees (quite a few of them at Chicago Union Station in fact).

That seems to be a pretty common theme if you ask me. Chicago as a city is lots of fun, but as an Amtrak crew base it leaves much to be desired. Maybe the problem isn't that none of the management is riding the trains. Maybe the problem is that Chicago managers have no concept of quality customer service to begin with. Thus, no matter how often they ride they don't see the problem.

 

[zephyr17]

I have been riding Amtrak literally since Day 1, May 1, 1971. While I don't recall an employee who was overtly rude to me, and probably 80% of the onboard staff was good to excellent, I have run into poor service more times than I can count.

Off the top of my head, I recall an LSA in the PPC (it was a subbed Diner-Lounge, though) who basically wasn't around most of the time. He'd do wine tasting and then disappear. Since it was a Diner-Lounge, he'd hide downstairs a lot. There was a waiter on the CZ who basically never spoke. To anyone. A number of SCAs who disappeared, or who wanted to put the bed down at 7pm. To be fair, I've ridden with a lot more that were great. Any number of Sightseer Lounge LSAs who took 2 hour meal breaks and/or closed up at 9pm.

Customer service at Amtrak is always YMMV and probably Amtrak's weakest point that is within their control (timekeeping has historically been the other weak point, but outside the NEC, largely out of their control). My recollection is that things were somewhat more consistent when they had the Onboard Supervisor position.

So, while my overall experience has been good, I ride a lot and so I have a much larger sample size than most Amtrak long-distance travelers (present company excepted). I'll come back when I run into someone providing poor service, knowing that the next time things will almost certainly be better. To a first time Amtrak traveler, that bad encounter is a lot of their entire experience with Amtrak. And you only get one chance to make a first impression.

 

[jdcnosse]

I know that part of it is parenting and part of it is just society being more and more lazy. I was born in the late 80s but my parents still made sure I had respect for others when it came down to it. And like someone else said, they don't want to have to deal with paper work or anything like that so they let it slide.

 

[Henry Kisor]

This is only anecdotal, as are all the other messages in this thread, but on my last four LD trips (Chief, Capitol Ltd., City of New Orleans, Texas Eagle) the crews were almost uniformly first-rate, both in the sleepers and in the dining car. I do think things are getting better, thanks perhaps to a recent retraining push. Hope so anyway.

 

[Everydaymatters]

Coach riders are the ones who get the brunt of the rude behavior. A disappearing attendant in a sleeper is an inconvenience, but a coach attendant who is borderline hostile needs to be addressed.

My own personal worst time was on the SWC as a coach passenger on the lower level. We had just boarded in Chicago and, as an experienced rider, I was checking to make sure the seat reclined and the footrest worked before deciding to keep the seat. My overnight case was on the seat next to me. NOTE: at that time I was the only pax in the LL. The TA came in and started yelling at me: "You can't have two seats. Move your things. I want other people to sit here. I can throw you off the train." I calmly replied that I was the only one here and I just wanted to make sure everything was working. She again yelled at me: "I want someone else to sit next to you and you can't have two seats." I said ok, give me a minute. Then another lady came into the LL and the TA said to me: "I want her to sit next to you." I said "look around, there are only two of us here". She again said "I want her to sit next to you." The other lady scurried around her and took a seat in the back. After that the LL was never full and IIRC everyone had a seat to themselves or with their travel companions.

After that she rarely appeared in the LL but we could hear her yelling at another pax in the hallway saying she was going to throw her off the train.

Also, another time she came running off the stairs and said a pax had pushed her.

She was one mean lady. The worst I've ever seen.

That was in coach on a LD train. I've never had an experience like that in a sleeper.

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

I just can't understand why Amtrak continues to put up with rude personnel.

Last night my neighbor was over and told me about a bad experience she had. This was on top of having heard another comment from another acquaintence.

The problem I have, is that way too many times, people label an employee (Amtrak or otherwise) as being "rude", if they attempt a power-play and loose. Such a label is inappropriate and undeserved.

For example, your coffee is merely warm, and not hot, and you demand a free upgrade from coach to a bedroom sleeper because of it. The Amtrak employee who doesn't give in, is labeled as being "rude" (plus I few other things too) by the story teller.

The conductor is in charge of the train. Accept it. If the conductor tells you where to sit in coach, or to move your seat, and you flatly refuse, the conductor isn't being "rude", he/she is merely doing their job.

I have been riding Amtrak since 1972 (when I was in college) and I do not recall an employee being rude to me.

I don't recall one being rude to me either.

 

[Ryan]

Now, turning to one of the underlying themes currently running through this topic, let me once again repeat something that I have said many, many times before.

Amtrak Management Does Ride the Trains!

We currently have one now retired member who did that for a good portion of his career at Amtrak and we have one member who currently does it. Is there a manager on every train every day? No. But they are out riding the trains.

The problem isn't that management isn't riding the trains! The problem is that the employees know who the managers are. So when there is a manager around, the bad employees do their jobs. When there is no manager around, they don't. It's that simple.

So management has to rely, at least in part, on reports from the passengers. If you get bad service, report it! Take names and call Amtrak's Customer Service to be sure that it gets documented. The more times an employee gets reported, the more likely it is that they'll be sent for retraining, given greater scrutiny, and eventually terminated if they don't improve.

I guess I was too terse in my initial reply. I don't doubt that some managers do get out there and ride the trains. Maybe I'm just old school, but a manager is responsible for knowing their people and is responsible for the performance of those people at all times - whether the manager is present or not. Someone that only performs when the boss is around can't fly under the radar of a good manager indefinitely. Complaints to Amtrak (which I also mentioned as valuable) help, but unless there's a receptive manager on the other end that (1)actually receives those complaints and (2)is interested in using them to help get rid of the dead weight, all the complaining in the world isn't going to do a bit of good.

The problem I have, is that way too many times, people label an employee (Amtrak or otherwise) as being "rude", if they attempt a power-play and loose. Such a label is inappropriate and undeserved.

For example, your coffee is merely warm, and not hot, and you demand a free upgrade from coach to a bedroom sleeper because of it. The Amtrak employee who doesn't give in, is labeled as being "rude" (plus I few other things too) by the story teller.

The conductor is in charge of the train. Accept it. If the conductor tells you where to sit in coach, or to move your seat, and you flatly refuse, the conductor isn't being "rude", he/she is merely doing their job.

Well it's a good thing that none of the stories in this thread have anything to do with that. Are passengers perfect and right in every complaint? Absolutely not, and I've been the first one to defend Amtrak against foolish stories. But in general, blaming the passenger is not the answer. The fact that you haven't been treated rudely doesn't mean that those employees don't exist.

 

[Shanghai]

I have 70,000 miles on Amtrak in the past ten years and have only had one bad SCA.

I consider that pretty good. I have had several outstanding SCA's as well.

 

[PRR 60]

I just can't understand why Amtrak continues to put up with rude personnel.

Last night my neighbor was over and told me about a bad experience she had. This was on top of having heard another comment from another acquaintence.

The problem I have, is that way too many times, people label an employee (Amtrak or otherwise) as being "rude", if they attempt a power-play and loose. Such a label is inappropriate and undeserved.

For example, your coffee is merely warm, and not hot, and you demand a free upgrade from coach to a bedroom sleeper because of it. The Amtrak employee who doesn't give in, is labeled as being "rude" (plus I few other things too) by the story teller.

The conductor is in charge of the train. Accept it. If the conductor tells you where to sit in coach, or to move your seat, and you flatly refuse, the conductor isn't being "rude", he/she is merely doing their job.

I have been riding Amtrak since 1972 (when I was in college) and I do not recall an employee being rude to me.

I don't recall one being rude to me either.

I have had multiple instances of rude Amtrak employees, and those who know me here know that I never instigate anything. I am about as low maintenance a passenger as there is. Those who say it does not happen, or that if it does it is the passenger's fault, either have a very high tolerance for abuse or have their heads in the sand.

To be clear, it is not a union thing or a generational thing. Southwest Airlines is a union company, has a relatively young workforce, and I have never had an Amtrak-type experience on SWA. I have never been barked at or insulted on SWA. I have been on Amtrak.

The problem is the Amtrak work culture. Amtrak has had the problem since they inherited the passenger rail workforce from the railroads (which had the same problem for many years prior to Amtrak). It has been passed down from generation to generation and seems to be incurable.

 

[Guest]

I have been riding Amtrak for about 10 years mostly on the Crescent and every single trip I run into at least one rude employee. Most of the time I can count on poor service in the dining car among other things. For some reason the dining car doesn't understand the concept of checking on people to see if they need anything without having to be flagged down.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

The problem I have, is that way too many times, people label an employee (Amtrak or otherwise) as being "rude", if they attempt a power-play and loose. Such a label is inappropriate and undeserved. For example, your coffee is merely warm, and not hot, and you demand a free upgrade from coach to a bedroom sleeper because of it. The Amtrak employee who doesn't give in, is labeled as being "rude" (plus I few other things too) by the story teller.

Can you link to a single solitary example of anyone witnessing a coach passenger actually trying to turn a cup of warm coffee into bedroom upgrade? Because I've never seen or even heard of anything like that. Ever. If I didn't know better I'd say you're inadvertently showing us the exact sort of broad-brush prejudice you're pretending to decry.

 

[jis]

Amtrak has had a general problem of getting control over the behavior of the employees that they inherited and then the later generation that were influenced by them apparently. It is not just some OBS staff, but look at the mess Sunnyside and Chicago are when it comes to maintenance. And no one seems ot have been able tog et a handle on that yet.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

Without entering the fray about what costitutes rude behavior, my experience is that there is a great unevenness in customer service at Amtrak. There are some outstanding employees, some that should not be anywhere near a train, and a vast majority that are somewhere in the middle.

With that said, here are some various thoughts I have about this thread:

Often I find that I need to work at bringing out the better side of the on board service personnel, but once done, the vast majority treat me at least fairly well, and we enjoy each other's company. Ideally it probably should not be that way, but I do try to put myself in their shoes. As much as I love riding trains, I could not imagine doing their jobs for an extended period of time, or making a career out of it. Perhaps that is being apologetic, but it seems to me to be a tough job that grinds most people down after a while. I do complain to customer service about the worst of the lot.

Offhand, it occurs to me that there are two levels of disconnect at Amtrak that contribute to the 'Amtrak experience' not being all it could be, especially for first time riders:

1) How Amtrak advertises the rail experience and the reality. In talking to folks aboard, first timers are almost always confronted with this. Now how they deal with this, and what conclusions they draw, does say a lot about them. I've seen some who seemed 'hell bent' on it being a lousy experience and some who decide they are having a great time.

2) The Manual and the onboard experience. This has been discussed recently in another thread, but briefly I'll just say that it seems seldom do the two meet. For me, this makes me wonder about how management percieves itself and its employees. I hope Mr. Boardman 'gets' this and can improve things.

I agree with the idea that a lot of the personnel issues were inherited from the now freight railroads. The question is: After 40 years, what can be done to move beyond this and create an improving environment? I imagine Congress' continuing micromanagement of Amtrak, combined with the current climate in Washington, is leaving a lot of Amtrak employees - at all levels - wondering what the future holds. The last several years have sure seen a lot of seesawing, and these factors sure can't be helping employee morale.

 

[jb64]

Most of the time I can count on poor service in the dining car among other things. For some reason the dining car doesn't understand the concept of checking on people to see if they need anything without having to be flagged down.

THIS. On my recent trip on four different trains, the dining car staff were far and away the least accomodating. Were they rude, perhaps not. But they were neither friendly, helpful, patient, nor attentive. Cap limited probably had the best dining car on my recent trip, but the LSA was given the nickname "diner ****" by other passengers. On the EB, the rolls they served us were stone cold as if fresh out of the freezer. We asked our server if they could please be heated and she laughed and and said sure when pigs fly. She wasn't rude because she laughed when she said it and that was her meme during the whole trip. She was jovial in a cutting kind of way but really didn't provide very good service. Needless to say, no one ate the rolls. The staff on the CZ was even worse in that they were not at all jovial. They were curt and to the point and very impatient. They also had the least efficient service of our entire trip.

 

[amamba]

I just can't understand why Amtrak continues to put up with rude personnel.

Last night my neighbor was over and told me about a bad experience she had. This was on top of having heard another comment from another acquaintence.

The problem I have, is that way too many times, people label an employee (Amtrak or otherwise) as being "rude", if they attempt a power-play and loose. Such a label is inappropriate and undeserved.

For example, your coffee is merely warm, and not hot, and you demand a free upgrade from coach to a bedroom sleeper because of it. The Amtrak employee who doesn't give in, is labeled as being "rude" (plus I few other things too) by the story teller.

The conductor is in charge of the train. Accept it. If the conductor tells you where to sit in coach, or to move your seat, and you flatly refuse, the conductor isn't being "rude", he/she is merely doing their job.

I have been riding Amtrak since 1972 (when I was in college) and I do not recall an employee being rude to me.

I don't recall one being rude to me either.

I have had multiple instances of rude Amtrak employees, and those who know me here know that I never instigate anything. I am about as low maintenance a passenger as there is. Those who say it does not happen, or that if it does it is the passenger's fault, either have a very high tolerance for abuse or have their heads in the sand.

To be clear, it is not a union thing or a generational thing. Southwest Airlines is a union company, has a relatively young workforce, and I have never had an Amtrak-type experience on SWA. I have never been barked at or insulted on SWA. I have been on Amtrak.

The problem is the Amtrak work culture. Amtrak has had the problem since they inherited the passenger rail workforce from the railroads (which had the same problem for many years prior to Amtrak). It has been passed down from generation to generation and seems to be incurable.

I wouldn't put SWA at the top of the customer service pile after the Kevin Smith incident last year.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Most of the time I can count on poor service in the dining car among other things. For some reason the dining car doesn't understand the concept of checking on people to see if they need anything without having to be flagged down.

THIS. On my recent trip on four different trains, the dining car staff were far and away the least accommodating. Were they rude, perhaps not. But they were neither friendly, helpful, patient, nor attentive.

I've had to work with Amtrak employees who shouted at us or who talked down to us or made derisive remarks at our expense and in those cases I do consider it to be rude. However I do agree with you that in the case of many employees it appears to be more a matter of simple indifference than overt maliciousness. Nonetheless I do not enjoy having to jump through hoops in order to "bring out the best" in someone I'm already paying to take care of me. That's the whole point of money changing hands in the first place. This isn't a favor they're doing for me, it's a job they're being paid to do. A good paying job in a very tough market. But they don't seem to have any fear of losing it. Somewhere along the line these employees apparently got the message that how they treat the customer is not likely to get them in serious trouble.

I wouldn't put SWA at the top of the customer service pile after the Kevin Smith incident last year.

Well, then who would you put at the top of the "customer service pile?"

I've flown Southwest well over a hundred times and although I do sometimes get bad service it's never been on the level of what I've seen on Amtrak. I believe that's partly due to the fact that you're never spending more than a few hours with any one crew but I believe it's also due to rude employees having much more to fear when it comes to keeping their job at one of the most highly rated employers in the country. As for Kevin Smith it might surprise you to discover he's a comedian and that any confrontations he can conjure up may be nothing more than an attempt to cultivate more content and increase his relevance in the eyes of the press. While I do enjoy his humor I cannot defend his remarks against Southwest. Kevin Smith is a humongous gelatinous blob by his own doing. His personal space ends where mine begins. If that means he has to charter his own plane in order to keep his enormous blubbery folds to himself then that's his problem and not mine or anyone else's. Keep in mind that Southwest was the one and only US airline willing to participate in a reality show that was all about airline customer service. Maybe you never watched it, but I believe it showed some real guts and pride on the part of Southwest. Of course I would never claim that decades of flying Southwest has never once resulted in a bad experience at the hands of a rude employee. That sort of blatant pandering requires a level of blind infatuation I've never had the misfortune of catching.