posted
The Sunset Limtied may never run on time, and Amtrak may not ever get monitors at every seat, and GPS and all kind of fancy things that they cant afford. But there are small things that Amtrak can do that costs little or nothing to improve their services and make the onboard experience more enjoyable to passengers.
The Empire Builder and Coast Starlight are the only trains with Games and other special things onboard for passengers. Now obviously a Parlour Car cannot be added to all trains, but why not atleast get board games and decks of cards and place them in lounges. It would not be that expensive and be rather appreciated by a large number of passengers.
Things like curtains need to be sewed etc. this is such an easy thing to do and should be done immiediatly when noticed by service crews.
National Menus, route guides etc. In about 1995 or so, Amtrak had route guides for each route...it had there logo, it had a nice map, and it was bigger. These were taken away and have been replaced by these new blue ones that look the same for every route! These should look more unique. Onboard Menus are now the same regardless of if your in the east or the west. Does anyone have any information to find if Amtrak has made any money on the National dining car menus?
Dirty seats etc. When you walk on a short distance train or a train that is used multiple times before you, I rather often fnd crumbs, wrappers etc. Why not give onboard crew a $20 dust buster to clean this up. Also, car seats and rugs should be shampooed...when someone spills coffe or so I have seen stains..these should be immediatly cleaned so the seats can be preserved for years to come.
And lastly, train crews need to make more accouncements. We were running 10 hours late on the Coast Starlight this last spring and the crew did not make one announcement saying anything about how late we were running or anything like it. I think the pre-recorded announcements being used on SOME surfliners are a great idea to keep passengers informed at ALL times to avoid confusions and asking conductors questions.
What do you think?
Posts: 1082 | From: Los Angeles, CA. USA | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
What a great post, I agree with you a hundred percent. Although those other amenities would be great, it's really the small things that count. As you said, board games/cards would be great for the lounge cars. I look out the window more than most people probably do, but there are times, like along the eastern seaboard routes, or in the Midwest, that it just gets to be a drag. I've taken advantage of the games in the Pacific Parlour car, and it would be a great idea to implement on other routes. I mean, how much does a deck of cards cost? 50 cents? Obviously the curtains need to be repaired. I have had so many problems with them over the years, I won't even go there. The big annoyance to me are the menus, these new ones are lamenated and always get dirty. I have yet to have had one menu which wasn't encrusted with something on it. Cleanliness and informing the passangers is something that I think Amtrak's working on, my past ride was much improved, as the crew kept us up to date whenever we stopped at a siding, although it is possible that I just happened to have a good crew. But I completely agree with you, if schedules and amenities can not be improved upon because of budget, at least service and these inexpensive items can.
Posts: 82 | Registered: Aug 2004
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Cleanliness in passenger coach cars seems to be a huge issue and grossly lacking.
The last ride on the Silver Star from Tampa my car smelled like a skunk, serioulsy. Not overwhelming but it still smelled.
I know the staff are busy checking people on and off, and work long hard days, but giving them a 'dustbuster' is a darn good idea. And walk thru with a trash bag every thirty minutes or so and ask for peoples trash, since some are too lazy to even get up and walk thrity feet to the recepticle. And a shot of Glade or Renuzit or Neutra-air or Oust....you get the picture...would be nice.
And increase ventilation or recirc air too.
-------------------- The best part of life is the journey, not the destination. Posts: 497 | From: Clarksburg, West Virginia | Registered: Oct 2003
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"....a shot of Glade or renuzit or Oust".I bet passengers would complain about that also! I'm sure it's some of the passengers causing the odors. There should be a little effort on their part to keep a coach clean and almost odorless. This brings to mind when Amtrak allowed passengers to bring their pet on board in sleepers. There I was with my adorable German Shepard on board The Champion en route from NYP to Orlando. I painstakingly took every precaution to make sure there were no accidents in the room. She was a well trained sweetheart. I purchased an eyedrop solution dropped on newspaper so if she needed to "piddle" it would be on the newspaper. At the longer stops I walked her. She was very good no accidents on the train. BUT the drop solution which I purchased caused such a urine like odor that when I returned from delicious dinner the sleeping car occupants were at their doors waiting for me to complain of the smell blaming it on my pooch. It was the drops. WAS I EMBARRASED! I explained to them what it was. Had I known I would have trusted her to do her business at stops instead of using that solution. I cleaned up the newspaper and sprayed the sleeper with Lysol disinfectant which I packed with me in anticipation. Also I remember the car attendant brought ice cubes and water for her for travel comfort. Hope I have not upset anybody.
Posts: 498 | From: New Hope, PA, USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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I agree with the theme of this thread 100%. I've worked in some form of customer service all of my life. One of the most important lessons I've learned is to look at everything from the customer's perspective. When I managed movie theaters, for example, we didn't tolerate a single kernal of popcorn on the lobby floor. Obviously, during a heavy rush, things would get messy, but we'd clean up right away, and we trained our staffs to pick up every stray piece of popcorn. We treated both our employees and customers with respect, and even though we didn't have the fanciest building, or the best sound systems, many customers told us we were their favorite theater in town. It is important to note that we did this with a minimum wage staff. We coached them daily on their service skills, and helped them take pride in their work.
The best part was that because our customers were happy and our books were in order, upper management, which was prone to micromanaging every theater from afar, kept off our backs and diverted their attention to the problem theaters. This in turn gave us more flexibility in how we conducted business, and enabled us to work even more effectively.
The basic rule is that the difference between good customer service and great customer service is in the little details.
Posts: 2649 | From: California's Monterey Peninsula | Registered: Dec 2000
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Mr Toy: I would like to copy your post and fax it to all of our employees as soon as you tell me "OK". Our employees and some upper echelon members of our Company seem to have forgotten the basics of customer service, causing our upper management in NJ to micro-manage several of our properties.
I await your decision, Thanks.
Posts: 1418 | From: Houston, Republic of Texas | Registered: Jan 2001
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I worked in a very successful retail store chain for 24 years (Target Corp). During that time we saw numerous customer service seminars and videos, all very good and eye-opening. The one point I remember from these, is that the average dissatisfied customer is not vocal. They just never come back. The customer who is treated right is even willing to pay more for it. When every employee from bottom to top knows that customer service is their top priority, then that business will very likely be successful.
Posts: 1572 | From: St. Paul, MN | Registered: Dec 2002
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TwinStarRocket: Exactly, and further, I figure that if I have to complain to get reasonable service, that was my last visit to that store, even if they did make things right after the complaint. In other words, if it is necessary to complain to have decent service, after that go to a place where you can get it without complaining. That goes double for being cheated. Some 20+ years ago one particular Goodyear tire store tried to sell my mother an unnecessary brake job. She didn't buy but called me instead. I went with the car next time and got an acknowlegment that the work was not anywhere close to being needed, an apology and a "that person is no longer with us" response, but still no one in the family every went near that shop again, even though it was conveniently located. I consider people that try to skin elderly ladies the lowest of life forms.
George
Posts: 2808 | From: Olive Branch MS | Registered: Nov 2002
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Coast Starlight, the pets were allowed in sleepers in the early 1970's. They changed their policy in the late 70's which was a good idea because passengers abused the convenience.
Posts: 498 | From: New Hope, PA, USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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