SCA Performace

[dart330]

I recently completed a trip back home from Miami where we took 3 long distance trains. Silver Meteor, Capitol Limited, and the Texas Eagle. We had tried to get bedroom suites the whole trip for the 4 of us, but got non-adjoining rooms on the CL & TE.

Our first SCA, Joseph, had been working with Amtrak for two months, and was by far the most attentive and helpful SCA I have experienced. Every time I saw him he asked if there was anything I needed (which was frequent as I went to get more ice). He helped us with our luggage, came by to let us know when the dining car was open for breakfast, brought us extra blankets, let us detrain at any stops we wanted to stretch our legs (as long as we stayed right there), asked what time he could make our beds, etc. I can't think of anything he could of done to be more helpful and make the trip a better experience. We tipped him $50 for being so wonderful.

On to the Capitol Limited, our SCA was Larry, and he was pretty decent. He had been with Amtrak for a few years. We initially had bedrooms B & D, but he switched us into C & D when we told him we were traveling together. We really didn't see much of him and after dinner we tried to make our own beds since he hadn't come by to ask about them, but we were having trouble with the old equipment. I went and found him and he made the beds for us. The next day he delivered us newspapers under our doors as you would expect and that was the extent of his services. We tipped him $20.

For our final sleeper leg, we had rooms A & B on the TE and were ok with the separation as our friends were departing in STL as we went on to FTW. We had booked the two rooms with our AGR points and had them booked all the way to FTW as we had hoped to get a suite the entire trip. The reservations lady told us to just tell the SCA we had 2 getting off in STL and it wouldn't be a problem, we could keep the two rooms.

Well we met the problem, his name was Michael, our SCA for the trip who had been with Amtrak for over 30 years. We hadn't seen much of anything from him since we boarded, but he did make a long announcement about cleaning up after your bowel movements so he didn't have to clean the toilets. We made our way to the lounge to play some cards while waiting for dinner. We finally saw him coming through the lounge and told him what was going on with the 2 getting off in STL. He said that wasn't possible since they were ticketed to FTW. This definitely brought some uneasiness into the situation as we again explained how we had booked two rooms to FTW and the reservations agent told us the 2 others could simply get off in STL. He said he would let them off and that he would have to put one of the rooms back into the system so it could be sold. At this point I didn't feel like arguing and was just glad he wasn't going to try and mess with us anymore, if we had an actual suite I would of pressed the issue to keep both rooms. He ended up moving into the extra room and sleeping in it himself.

After dealing with that we went to dinner and then our friends detrained in STL where instead of offering to help with their luggage, he told them they should of left it all on the lower level. He never came by that entire day to check on us and I made the bed that night. The next day I saw him once where he had a newspaper in his hand. He asked if everything was ok and I asked for the paper since he hadn't delivered one to us. He replied, "Are you sure you want it?" We didn't see anything of him the rest of the trip until we got off in FTW. I did not tip him.

It definitely made a great trip end on a sour note, and we were all wondering how Joseph, the brand new employee could be so wonderful and yet Michael, the 30 year employee could be so horrible.

 

[RRrich]

Many Amtrak workers think that they can makeup their own rules. See the thread about the worker banning electronic devices from the dining car. There folks are best ignored. If a crazed SCA will not open the door so I can deboard, I will open the door myself. However since I am no longer on the train I cannot latch the door behind me. Oh well. hboy:

Some SCAs are experienced and wonderful - Stephanie and Gul on the EB come to mind but they are NOT the only ones.

Some folks just don't do their jobs well - report them to Customer Relations - perhaps they will get jobs that they enjoy and do well. <_<

 

[amamba]

How bizarre that he said your friends couldn't detrain early. Honestly, why should amtrak care if you get off early as long as you have paid for your ticket?

However, I am not surprised that he slept in the bedroom. There have been some recent reports of SCAs sleeping in empty bedrooms on this forum.

 

[AlanB]

We made our way to the lounge to play some cards while waiting for dinner. We finally saw him coming through the lounge and told him what was going on with the 2 getting off in STL. He said that wasn't possible since they were ticketed to FTW. This definitely brought some uneasiness into the situation as we again explained how we had booked two rooms to FTW and the reservations agent told us the 2 others could simply get off in STL. He said he would let them off and that he would have to put one of the rooms back into the system so it could be sold.

First, it's not his job to "put the room back in the system"; AFAIK only a conductor can do that by reporting a no-show. Clearly this wasn't a no-show. And I find it very funny that he intially said that they can't get off. I'm not sure why AGR didn't book things the right way however, with one group going to STL and the other to FTW. That way Amtrak could have increased revenue & ridership by possibly reselling those rooms out of STL or some point downline.

I'm also not at all surprised that he took over the room however and I would recommend reporting his actions. Since that room was to be occupied to FTW, what he did was wrong. It's also wrong for other reasons, like the fact that he can't hear the call alarms go off in that room and that people need to know where to find him.

As to the overall idea that longevity breads lazyness, there probably is some pattern there. But there are also plenty of examples of employees who've been with Amtrak for years that go the extra mile. It really comes down to the person and what I was talking about the other day in another topic on here, do they take pride in doing their job. Some do, some don't. There may be a slightly higher percentage of multi-year employees being lazy, but you can find short term one's too.

 

[Geroge B]

I recently completed a trip back home from Miami where we took 3 long distance trains. Silver Meteor, Capitol Limited, and the Texas Eagle. We had tried to get bedroom suites the whole trip for the 4 of us, but got non-adjoining rooms on the CL & TE.

Our first SCA, Joseph, had been working with Amtrak for two months, and was by far the most attentive and helpful SCA I have experienced. Every time I saw him he asked if there was anything I needed (which was frequent as I went to get more ice). He helped us with our luggage, came by to let us know when the dining car was open for breakfast, brought us extra blankets, let us detrain at any stops we wanted to stretch our legs (as long as we stayed right there), asked what time he could make our beds, etc. I can't think of anything he could of done to be more helpful and make the trip a better experience. We tipped him $50 for being so wonderful.

On to the Capitol Limited, our SCA was Larry, and he was pretty decent. He had been with Amtrak for a few years. We initially had bedrooms B & D, but he switched us into C & D when we told him we were traveling together. We really didn't see much of him and after dinner we tried to make our own beds since he hadn't come by to ask about them, but we were having trouble with the old equipment. I went and found him and he made the beds for us. The next day he delivered us newspapers under our doors as you would expect and that was the extent of his services. We tipped him $20.

For our final sleeper leg, we had rooms A & B on the TE and were ok with the separation as our friends were departing in STL as we went on to FTW. We had booked the two rooms with our AGR points and had them booked all the way to FTW as we had hoped to get a suite the entire trip. The reservations lady told us to just tell the SCA we had 2 getting off in STL and it wouldn't be a problem, we could keep the two rooms.

Well we met the problem, his name was Michael, our SCA for the trip who had been with Amtrak for over 30 years. We hadn't seen much of anything from him since we boarded, but he did make a long announcement about cleaning up after your bowel movements so he didn't have to clean the toilets. We made our way to the lounge to play some cards while waiting for dinner. We finally saw him coming through the lounge and told him what was going on with the 2 getting off in STL. He said that wasn't possible since they were ticketed to FTW. This definitely brought some uneasiness into the situation as we again explained how we had booked two rooms to FTW and the reservations agent told us the 2 others could simply get off in STL. He said he would let them off and that he would have to put one of the rooms back into the system so it could be sold. At this point I didn't feel like arguing and was just glad he wasn't going to try and mess with us anymore, if we had an actual suite I would of pressed the issue to keep both rooms. He ended up moving into the extra room and sleeping in it himself.

After dealing with that we went to dinner and then our friends detrained in STL where instead of offering to help with their luggage, he told them they should of left it all on the lower level. He never came by that entire day to check on us and I made the bed that night. The next day I saw him once where he had a newspaper in his hand. He asked if everything was ok and I asked for the paper since he hadn't delivered one to us. He replied, "Are you sure you want it?" We didn't see anything of him the rest of the trip until we got off in FTW. I did not tip him.

It definitely made a great trip end on a sour note, and we were all wondering how Joseph, the brand new employee could be so wonderful and yet Michael, the 30 year employee could be so horrible.

It is the luck of the draw. The best SCA and the two worst SCAs I have ever experienced had both been on the job less than two years.

I personally don’t mind the SCAs sleeping in bedrooms that are available. Many of them get very little rest, and they usually use an empty bedroom for storing stuff during the trip. The Superliner cars do not offer much storage space for their job, so when they have to turn around a room for reuse at an upcoming stop, they don’t have the luxury of compacting the dirty linens back down to the size they are when they come packaged in sealed plastic. Plus, the items they stock for the trip such as cups, juices, water bottles, soap, towels, toilet paper, and cleaning supplies have to go somewhere, and often into the roomette they are assigned, or a spare room that is not in use. If they want to spread out in an unassigned bedroom and relax or take a nap, I can’t fault them. By the end of trip, the original room they are assigned is filled with plates, dishes, dirty towels, used linens, and stuff left behind by passengers.

 

[Donald M]

I wonder why you wouldn"t have discussed the situation with the conductor. He/she may have had some influence.

 

[AlanB]

I personally don’t mind the SCAs sleeping in bedrooms that are available. Many of them get very little rest, and they usually use an empty bedroom for storing stuff during the trip. The Superliner cars do not offer much storage space for their job, so when they have to turn around a room for reuse at an upcoming stop, they don’t have the luxury of compacting the dirty linens back down to the size they are when they come packaged in sealed plastic. Plus, the items they stock for the trip such as cups, juices, water bottles, soap, towels, toilet paper, and cleaning supplies have to go somewhere, and often into the roomette they are assigned, or a spare room that is not in use. If they want to spread out in an unassigned bedroom and relax or take a nap, I can’t fault them. By the end of trip, the original room they are assigned is filled with plates, dishes, dirty towels, used linens, and stuff left behind by passengers.

I agree that the employees often do end up with stuff in their room, but that's not a valid excuse to take over an empty room for themselves. I have no trouble with them storing some of that stuff you've mentioned in the empty room. But the employee should be where they belong for several reasons.

1) Passengers need to be able to find the employee, especially in an emergency situation.

2) Other crew members need to be able to find the employee.

3) They need to be in their assigned room so that they can see when someone has pulled the call button. Yes, it could be an overly demanding passenger and often is. But it could also be a passenger with a medical emergency.

4) Had the consist of the CZ been more traditional, that second burning car could well have been a sleeper. Amtrak and rescue personel would now be thinking that god forbid had he been killed, that the body lying in that room is that of Dart330's friend; not realizing that it's the attendant. People need to be in their assigned rooms when they are in the sleeper, other than for visits to the shower and other facilities. And they'd still be looking for the attendant.

 

[George B]

I personally don’t mind the SCAs sleeping in bedrooms that are available. Many of them get very little rest, and they usually use an empty bedroom for storing stuff during the trip. The Superliner cars do not offer much storage space for their job, so when they have to turn around a room for reuse at an upcoming stop, they don’t have the luxury of compacting the dirty linens back down to the size they are when they come packaged in sealed plastic. Plus, the items they stock for the trip such as cups, juices, water bottles, soap, towels, toilet paper, and cleaning supplies have to go somewhere, and often into the roomette they are assigned, or a spare room that is not in use. If they want to spread out in an unassigned bedroom and relax or take a nap, I can’t fault them. By the end of trip, the original room they are assigned is filled with plates, dishes, dirty towels, used linens, and stuff left behind by passengers.

I agree that the employees often do end up with stuff in their room, but that's not a valid excuse to take over an empty room for themselves. I have no trouble with them storing some of that stuff you've mentioned in the empty room. But the employee should be where they belong for several reasons.

1) Passengers need to be able to find the employee, especially in an emergency situation.

2) Other crew members need to be able to find the employee.

3) They need to be in their assigned room so that they can see when someone has pulled the call button. Yes, it could be an overly demanding passenger and often is. But it could also be a passenger with a medical emergency.

4) Had the consist of the CZ been more traditional, that second burning car could well have been a sleeper. Amtrak and rescue personel would now be thinking that god forbid had he been killed, that the body lying in that room is that of Dart330's friend; not realizing that it's the attendant. People need to be in their assigned rooms when they are in the sleeper, other than for visits to the shower and other facilities. And they'd still be looking for the attendant.

No, I agree that using a different bedroom does not release the SCA from any of his/her duties at all. But if they can snag an open room and keep doing the job, then I have no issue, as long as they can turn the room if the conductor finds a customer for it, and doesn't try to keep it for themselves by lying. At the same time, you cannot expect the SCA to stay in one spot in their sleeper as their work is done all over the car. The best SCA I ever saw cleaned all of the bathrooms and shower (not the ones in the Superliner Bedrooms) EVERY HOUR! So for 10 to 15 minutes each hour, the SCA was hard to find unless you were right by the restrooms. Now, I was most grateful that she did this, and was willing to have a delay in her responding to my call button during that time. I've had plenty of SCAs that were MIA for most of the trip, so I was glad to see that she was not easy to find for a good reason.

Regarding the CZ accident.......there would be just as much of a chance that the SCA was killed cleaning that room as they would be just taking a nap in it. Had the second car been a sleeper, there is also the chance that the SCA would have been away from the car getting a meal for a passenger, or taking his/her meal break. I have seen two SCAs work out a deal where they would take turns covering two sleepers so the other SCA could get a meal or take a break. But it is pretty rare that they bother to get coverage while they are away.

Besides cleaning the toilets and showers every hour, this SCA would also go up and down the car vacuumning the floor with a manual vacuumn several times a day. I emptied out my wallet giving her a tip when I got to my stop.

 

[Ryan]

They can't "snag the room and keep doing the job" - there's no panel for the call buttons in the bedroom.

 

[dart330]

I didn't want to make a big deal out of the issue and have the SCA angry at us for the rest of the trip. We were on the sleeper at the rear of the train and the only time I can recall actually seeing the conductor was when we had to back into the FTW station so he had to come to the rear of the train.

Regarding the two rooms, my wife and I had both rooms the entire way (we booked them with our AGR points) and our friends were supposed to be additional people in each of the rooms. I don't think most at Amtrak normally deal with suites, and the reservation agent didn't know how to only book the additional passengers just part of the way.

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

The best SCA we've ever had on the Silvers, was one that was only a year away from retirement. I am not too sure how many years that means, but it has to be quite a few.

He was very attentive. He even got one of those glow sticks out of the emergency kit, and gave it to my kid to use as a night light.

He also got the biggest tip I have ever given any SCA.

 

[me_little_me]

It definitely made a great trip end on a sour note, and we were all wondering how Joseph, the brand new employee could be so wonderful and yet Michael, the 30 year employee could be so horrible.

PLEASE email or write Amtrak and praise the good service and mention the problem employee. The only way good service will be noted is from comments by customers. The only way problem employees will be corrected is by using those same comments. Good tips tell the employee that you appreciate them. No tips tell the employee that you may just be cheap or just don't understand that tipping is typical.

If you don't want to worry about the problem employee, at least praise the good one by contacting Amtrak.

 

[GG-1]

Good tips tell the employee that you appreciate them. No tips tell the employee that you may just be cheap or just don't understand that tipping is typical.

Aloha

I only did this once, in a restaurant, where a waitress service was, as politely as possible, criminal. I placed a 1 penny tip under a upside down glass of water. Wat I have thought of when reading some of the comments about the bad SCA's is to place a penny in an envelope with a note expressing my disappointment with his service. The note would say that I was reporting this tip to their employer so that it would be included on their tax report.

 

[AlanB]

No, I agree that using a different bedroom does not release the SCA from any of his/her duties at all. But if they can snag an open room and keep doing the job, then I have no issue, as long as they can turn the room if the conductor finds a customer for it, and doesn't try to keep it for themselves by lying. At the same time, you cannot expect the SCA to stay in one spot in their sleeper as their work is done all over the car. The best SCA I ever saw cleaned all of the bathrooms and shower (not the ones in the Superliner Bedrooms) EVERY HOUR! So for 10 to 15 minutes each hour, the SCA was hard to find unless you were right by the restrooms. Now, I was most grateful that she did this, and was willing to have a delay in her responding to my call button during that time. I've had plenty of SCAs that were MIA for most of the trip, so I was glad to see that she was not easy to find for a good reason.

Regarding the CZ accident.......there would be just as much of a chance that the SCA was killed cleaning that room as they would be just taking a nap in it. Had the second car been a sleeper, there is also the chance that the SCA would have been away from the car getting a meal for a passenger, or taking his/her meal break. I have seen two SCAs work out a deal where they would take turns covering two sleepers so the other SCA could get a meal or take a break. But it is pretty rare that they bother to get coverage while they are away.

Besides cleaning the toilets and showers every hour, this SCA would also go up and down the car vacuumning the floor with a manual vacuumn several times a day. I emptied out my wallet giving her a tip when I got to my stop.

I agree with all that you've said, but as Ryan noted, the panel for the call system only exists within room #1 and on the lower level of the car. Therefore if the attendant is taking a few minutes of deserved rest in between all the other duties, it needs to be in his assigned room just in case. He/she cannot hear the bell go off if they're in Bedroom B instead of roomette #1.

The taking of another room is simply not permitted for that reason alone. There are plenty of other good reasons that I've mentioned, but again, if they're not out and about preforming other duties/eating meals then they must be by that panel.

 

[George B]

No, I agree that using a different bedroom does not release the SCA from any of his/her duties at all. But if they can snag an open room and keep doing the job, then I have no issue, as long as they can turn the room if the conductor finds a customer for it, and doesn't try to keep it for themselves by lying. At the same time, you cannot expect the SCA to stay in one spot in their sleeper as their work is done all over the car. The best SCA I ever saw cleaned all of the bathrooms and shower (not the ones in the Superliner Bedrooms) EVERY HOUR! So for 10 to 15 minutes each hour, the SCA was hard to find unless you were right by the restrooms. Now, I was most grateful that she did this, and was willing to have a delay in her responding to my call button during that time. I've had plenty of SCAs that were MIA for most of the trip, so I was glad to see that she was not easy to find for a good reason.

Regarding the CZ accident.......there would be just as much of a chance that the SCA was killed cleaning that room as they would be just taking a nap in it. Had the second car been a sleeper, there is also the chance that the SCA would have been away from the car getting a meal for a passenger, or taking his/her meal break. I have seen two SCAs work out a deal where they would take turns covering two sleepers so the other SCA could get a meal or take a break. But it is pretty rare that they bother to get coverage while they are away.

Besides cleaning the toilets and showers every hour, this SCA would also go up and down the car vacuumning the floor with a manual vacuumn several times a day. I emptied out my wallet giving her a tip when I got to my stop.

I agree with all that you've said, but as Ryan noted, the panel for the call system only exists within room #1 and on the lower level of the car. Therefore if the attendant is taking a few minutes of deserved rest in between all the other duties, it needs to be in his assigned room just in case. He/she cannot hear the bell go off if they're in Bedroom B instead of roomette #1.

The taking of another room is simply not permitted for that reason alone. There are plenty of other good reasons that I've mentioned, but again, if they're not out and about preforming other duties/eating meals then they must be by that panel.

Are not all of the Superliner cars equipped with the ability to pipe the call button chime throughout the car? Last time I was on the Empire Builder, when someone would press the call button, you could hear it all over the car, and in the bedrooms. This is how the SCA knows that someone is calling while he/she is working from any place in the car. You could opt to not hear the chime or the PA announcements by using the music controls in your room. When I boarded the train, she explained that the chime would be heard throughout the car, and she would just look down the passageways to see which call light was lit on the ceiling panel just outside the room door. I haven’t looked for this on all trains, so perhaps it is only on renovated sleepers.

 

[AlanB]

Are not all of the Superliner cars equipped with the ability to pipe the call button chime throughout the car? Last time I was on the Empire Builder, when someone would press the call button, you could hear it all over the car, and in the bedrooms. This is how the SCA knows that someone is calling while he/she is working from any place in the car. You could opt to not hear the chime or the PA announcements by using the music controls in your room. When I boarded the train, she explained that the chime would be heard throughout the car, and she would just look down the passageways to see which call light was lit on the ceiling panel just outside the room door. I haven’t looked for this on all trains, so perhaps it is only on renovated sleepers.

You may or may not hear it depending on the level of ambient noise at that moment, and assuming that your door is open. If the door is closed, then it is highly unlikely that you will hear it. And that is a problem.

And again, it is a violation of policy for the attendant to be elsewhere. Amtrak is only obligated to provide a roomette for the attendant, not a Bedroom. It is technically theft of services for an attendant to occupy any other room.

 

[George B]

Are not all of the Superliner cars equipped with the ability to pipe the call button chime throughout the car? Last time I was on the Empire Builder, when someone would press the call button, you could hear it all over the car, and in the bedrooms. This is how the SCA knows that someone is calling while he/she is working from any place in the car. You could opt to not hear the chime or the PA announcements by using the music controls in your room. When I boarded the train, she explained that the chime would be heard throughout the car, and she would just look down the passageways to see which call light was lit on the ceiling panel just outside the room door. I haven’t looked for this on all trains, so perhaps it is only on renovated sleepers.

You may or may not hear it depending on the level of ambient noise at that moment, and assuming that your door is open. If the door is closed, then it is highly unlikely that you will hear it. And that is a problem.

And again, it is a violation of policy for the attendant to be elsewhere. Amtrak is only obligated to provide a roomette for the attendant, not a Bedroom. It is technically theft of services for an attendant to occupy any other room.

Well, we will just have to remain at different points of view on this one. I have no issue with the attendant being in an unsold room for a nap or a break for the reasons I stated earlier. I have very rarely seen an attendant waiting in their room for someone to push the call button. Like I said, by the end of the trip, they can’t fit in their assigned room because of the dirty linens and towels they collect from cleaning the car.

 

[AlanB]

Are not all of the Superliner cars equipped with the ability to pipe the call button chime throughout the car? Last time I was on the Empire Builder, when someone would press the call button, you could hear it all over the car, and in the bedrooms. This is how the SCA knows that someone is calling while he/she is working from any place in the car. You could opt to not hear the chime or the PA announcements by using the music controls in your room. When I boarded the train, she explained that the chime would be heard throughout the car, and she would just look down the passageways to see which call light was lit on the ceiling panel just outside the room door. I haven’t looked for this on all trains, so perhaps it is only on renovated sleepers.

You may or may not hear it depending on the level of ambient noise at that moment, and assuming that your door is open. If the door is closed, then it is highly unlikely that you will hear it. And that is a problem.

And again, it is a violation of policy for the attendant to be elsewhere. Amtrak is only obligated to provide a roomette for the attendant, not a Bedroom. It is technically theft of services for an attendant to occupy any other room.

Well, we will just have to remain at different points of view on this one. I have no issue with the attendant being in an unsold room for a nap or a break for the reasons I stated earlier. I have very rarely seen an attendant waiting in their room for someone to push the call button. Like I said, by the end of the trip, they can’t fit in their assigned room because of the dirty linens and towels they collect from cleaning the car.

Not that I disrespect your point of view on this, but the only point of view that counts is Amtrak's. And an attendant in any room other than #1 is a violation of the rules and an offense for which they can be written up and potentially fired over.

As for their room filling up with stuff, there is no reason that they cannot place that "stuff" in the empty Bedroom and remain in the room that they are assigned to. I've also seen that "stuff" in the shower and the vestibule. Taking over that bedroom is like a chef deciding that it's ok for him to go home at night with 2 filet mignons in his pocket and without the knowledge & permission of the restaurant owner.

 

[dart330]

I submitted a complaint through the website for our SCA on the TE. I also submitted one for praise of our SCA on the SM. Thanks for your input on this topic.

 

[amtrakwolverine]

It definitely made a great trip end on a sour note, and we were all wondering how Joseph, the brand new employee could be so wonderful and yet Michael, the 30 year employee could be so horrible.

PLEASE email or write Amtrak and praise the good service and mention the problem employee. The only way good service will be noted is from comments by customers. The only way problem employees will be corrected is by using those same comments. Good tips tell the employee that you appreciate them. No tips tell the employee that you may just be cheap or just don't understand that tipping is typical.

If you don't want to worry about the problem employee, at least praise the good one by contacting Amtrak.

Tip bad employees a penny see if they get the message.

 

[Guest]

It definitely made a great trip end on a sour note, and we were all wondering how Joseph, the brand new employee could be so wonderful and yet Michael, the 30 year employee could be so horrible.

PLEASE email or write Amtrak and praise the good service and mention the problem employee. The only way good service will be noted is from comments by customers. The only way problem employees will be corrected is by using those same comments. Good tips tell the employee that you appreciate them. No tips tell the employee that you may just be cheap or just don't understand that tipping is typical.

If you don't want to worry about the problem employee, at least praise the good one by contacting Amtrak.

Tip bad employees a penny see if they get the message.

penny tips mean you are an a**, write them a note expressing what things they were doing wrong and skip the tipping charades.

 

[chandj]

I have an uncle who got his penny insult tip pitched right back into his face at a restaurant. I agree with leave no tip, leave a note, report to Amtrak or all three, but skip the penny insult unless you're sure you will be long gone when attendant finds it.

 

[Bob Dylan]

It definitely made a great trip end on a sour note, and we were all wondering how Joseph, the brand new employee could be so wonderful and yet Michael, the 30 year employee could be so horrible.

PLEASE email or write Amtrak and praise the good service and mention the problem employee. The only way good service will be noted is from comments by customers. The only way problem employees will be corrected is by using those same comments. Good tips tell the employee that you appreciate them. No tips tell the employee that you may just be cheap or just don't understand that tipping is typical.

If you don't want to worry about the problem employee, at least praise the good one by contacting Amtrak.

Tip bad employees a penny see if they get the message.

penny tips mean you are an a**, write them a note expressing what things they were doing wrong and skip the tipping charades.

Thats the Whole Point, so the Bad Service Person IS Offended! :excl: :excl: :excl: And BTW, Anonymous Posts are an Easy Way to be a Name Caller, Man Up and Make Comments under your Own Name/Handle! h34r: :excl: :excl: :excl:

 

[chandj]

It definitely made a great trip end on a sour note, and we were all wondering how Joseph, the brand new employee could be so wonderful and yet Michael, the 30 year employee could be so horrible.

PLEASE email or write Amtrak and praise the good service and mention the problem employee. The only way good service will be noted is from comments by customers. The only way problem employees will be corrected is by using those same comments. Good tips tell the employee that you appreciate them. No tips tell the employee that you may just be cheap or just don't understand that tipping is typical.

If you don't want to worry about the problem employee, at least praise the good one by contacting Amtrak.

Tip bad employees a penny see if they get the message.

penny tips mean you are an a**, write them a note expressing what things they were doing wrong and skip the tipping charades.

Thats the Whole Point, so the Bad Service Person IS Offended! :excl: :excl: :excl: And BTW, Anonymous Posts are an Easy Way to be a Name Caller, Man Up and Make Comments under your Own Name/Handle! h34r: :excl: :excl: :excl:

Gotta continue to disagree on leaving a penny tip. The offender knows he/she gave lousy service, so the penny isn't telling them anything new--plus the offender's supervisor will never know about the penny. Worse case you could end up in an altercation (which I witnessed in a restaurant situation)over the insult aspect of the penny tip. Better to write a letter, speak to Amtrak customer service and/or tell the offender why you're not tipping.

 

[dart330]

I submitted my complaint via the website on July 1st and this is the response I got.

Dear Customer,
Thank you for contacting Amtrak. We respond to online inquiries 7 days a week between the hours of 8 am and 11 pm (ET). E-mails are answered in the order that they are received. We will respond as soon as possible.

Please do not reply to this message.

Sincerely,

Amtrak Customer Service

It is now August 7th and I have not received another email or phone call. Do they just ignore you if you don't phone in your complaint?