17 replies to this topic

[Ben_G]

Things went well untill we hit Chicago and tried to use the lounge passes I traded 5,000 points for. The ladys that are at the desk have no clue as to a non-sleeper passenger having one. Amtrak guest rewards need to school them as to use. More in trip report and I will be contacting them is all I will say here.

[amamba]

You should absolutely call customer relations about this.

[amtrakwolverine]

Chicago Is famous for either stupid employees or those who don't play by the rules. Why is Chicago the worse when it comes to employees? Are they not supervised and allowed to run free or what?

[Ben_G]

Wife and I were discussing this. We both feel it is quite possable those in charge of the Chicago Lounge jump at the chance to try and put themselves above the passengers, Not many times they get to boss around people of the class that pay good money to travel sleepers. Throw in a coach passenger with a day pass and automaticly they are lower class and to be treated as such.

Everyone I seen working the desk had the personallity of a frog on our two visits. Those ladys seem to be bothered if anyone ask a question. The guy in the luggage storage room was more helpfull than any and IMO the only one who needs to be working there.

I e-mail Guest rewards over this issue but as of yet have recieved any reply.

Edited by Ben_G, 19 May 2012 - 05:10 PM.

[the_traveler]

I would not email AGR. I would either call Customer Service - or send a letter by snail mail to them!

[Ryan]

Did you end up getting access?

[Ben_G]

Yes we did get access but only after 10 minutes of being treated like a idiot trying to get the lady to read the back of the pass and the line going out the door from the trains that had arrived about the same time and people wanting access. I guess she seen I was not giving up so easy. This was on the outbound day, Back thru Chicago was a bit more simple due to a man sitting at the desk who over ruled the lady there, she was headed in the same direction as the first encounter untill he stepped in.....But even he didn't understand the pass being for family members traveling together or one non family guest, he said good for one other person only.

[AlanB]

Ben,

There is another forum called FlyerTalk, it largely deals with airlines and their mileage programs as the name sort of implies. However, they have a special forum for Amtrak Guest Rewards. And that forum is monitored by an entity named AGR Insider. It's really a couple of people from AGR, headquarter's people who work directly for Senior Director Michael Blakey who is in charge of the entire AGR program.

May I please suggest that you take a moment to register an account over at Flyertalk and then send a PM to AGR Insider detailing your experiences with trying to use these passes. Or if you prefer, simply start a new topic and make a detailed, polite post of your experiences so that hopefully they'll see it soon. But I suggest a PM, or at least a PM calling their attention to your post.

If this situation is ever going to be truly fixed, it's going to take people like those behind the AGR Insider account to yell loud enough for those in Chicago to actually hear things and fix things. Customer service people, emailing AGR, etc. may or may not get things fixed.

I'm glad to hear that the guy, his name is Tim, interceded on your behalf however (even if he got the family part wrong). He got some retraining on things late last year after he rejected a pass given to AmtrakWolverine.

[Ben_G]

Update....here is a copy of a e-mail I recieved today. Maybe the cart will get shaken after all.

Thank you for contacting the Amtrak Guest Rewards Service Center. We apologize for the delay in our response. Currently we are experiencing a higher than normal volume. Your patience is greatly appreciated.

We apologize for your negative experience regarding access to the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago. Your inquiry has been forwarded to our Customer Relations Department, who will contact you as soon as possible. E-mails are answered in the order they are received. Please be advised that a response may take several weeks. If your concerns require immediate attention, call our toll free number 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245) and ask to speak with a Customer Relations Representative, available Monday through Friday (except holidays) between 7am -10pm (ET).

We appreciate your taking the time to write to us.

[Ozark Southern]

Update....here is a copy of a e-mail I recieved today. Maybe the cart will get shaken after all.

Thank you for contacting the Amtrak Guest Rewards Service Center. We apologize for the delay in our response. Currently we are experiencing a higher than normal volume. Your patience is greatly appreciated.

We apologize for your negative experience regarding access to the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago. Your inquiry has been forwarded to our Customer Relations Department, who will contact you as soon as possible. E-mails are answered in the order they are received. Please be advised that a response may take several weeks. If your concerns require immediate attention, call our toll free number 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245) and ask to speak with a Customer Relations Representative, available Monday through Friday (except holidays) between 7am -10pm (ET).

We appreciate your taking the time to write to us.

I wouldn't read anything at all into this. It's a standard copy-paste job; probably didn't get more than a cursory glance from the CSR.

[amtrakwolverine]

Chicago is the worse when it comes to employees who deal with the passengers whether it be the gate guards or the lounge guards. All stations have bad apples including flagstaff back in 2007 when a passenger and the ticket lady were screaming at each other on top of there lungs over the self transfer to the greyhound bus cause she had the sign hidden behind the desk and was saying take a cab or walk it's not my problem and try's to act all tough. But why is Chicago the worse? Is it a training facility for how to be rude to passengers or are they not supervised as much or is the supervisors who are encouraging the bad behavior. I think Chicago needs a overhaul on the personality level. More supervisors who do their jobs write up bad employees etc.

[Ben_G]

I guess only time will tell if they do anything over this issue.....I did what I could and we will just have to hold on to see if anything comes out of it.

Be gone for a few days..got to get my yellow buddy ready to give me my speed fix on saturday afternoon....wish me luck......

Edited by Ben_G, 24 May 2012 - 10:14 PM.

[gatelouse]

I've generally noticed more bad apples on any commercial carrier at their hubs, where the carrier needs lots of front-line employees. Carriers can't be as choosy in hiring as they'd like to be, and/or bad apples manage to hide better within a large group. Plus, rebooking misconnects and managing large crowds at hubs is generally more stressful than, say, running the station at South Bend.

Having said that, I notice that there are a lot of bad apples among the Amtrak station agents in Chicago. This suggests lax management.

At least I had no problem accessing the lounge with a S+ card back in April. I hear even that was a challenge earlier this year.

[Devil's Advocate]

I've generally noticed more bad apples on any commercial carrier at their hubs, where the carrier needs lots of front-line employees. Carriers can't be as choosy in hiring as they'd like to be, and/or bad apples manage to hide better within a large group. Plus, rebooking misconnects and managing large crowds at hubs is generally more stressful than, say, running the station at South Bend. Having said that, I notice that there are a lot of bad apples among the Amtrak station agents in Chicago. This suggests lax management. At least I had no problem accessing the lounge with a S+ card back in April. I hear even that was a challenge earlier this year.

I see what you're saying. However, we're talking about a very basic task of the lounge staff here.

1. Who is allowed to enter the lounge?

2. How can a dispute be resolved without becoming abusive or dismissive toward the customer?

If the lounge attendants can't properly handle even basic questions like these correctly then why on earth are they working in a customer facing job? Passengers who possess these passes are presumably among the best customers Amtrak has. Treating them poorly makes no sense whatsoever, hub or no hub. And yet it continues. Despite having the rules printed right on the pass itself. Maybe the Chicago lounge staff can't read?

Edited by Texas Sunset, 29 May 2012 - 12:17 AM.

[amtrakwolverine]

In Chicago there are 2 rules

1.The customer is always wrong
2. Even if the customer is right refer to rule number 1.

[Shanghai]

In Chicago there are 2 rules

1.The customer is always wrong
2. Even if the customer is right refer to rule number 1.

I think there are actually 4 rules in the Chicago Metro Lounge:
I agree with the two above plus:
3. Do not reset the WiFi unless you want to be shouted at by Tim
4. Watch for Kevin and do not allow him to enter the lounge even with a lounge pass!!

[VentureForth]

I've generally noticed more bad apples on any commercial carrier at their hubs, where the carrier needs lots of front-line employees. Carriers can't be as choosy in hiring as they'd like to be, and/or bad apples manage to hide better within a large group. Plus, rebooking misconnects and managing large crowds at hubs is generally more stressful than, say, running the station at South Bend. Having said that, I notice that there are a lot of bad apples among the Amtrak station agents in Chicago. This suggests lax management. At least I had no problem accessing the lounge with a S+ card back in April. I hear even that was a challenge earlier this year.

I see what you're saying. However, we're talking about a very basic task of the lounge staff here.

1. Who is allowed to enter the lounge?

2. How can a dispute be resolved without becoming abusive or dismissive toward the customer?

If the lounge attendants can't properly handle even basic questions like these correctly then why on earth are they working in a customer facing job? Passengers who possess these passes are presumably among the best customers Amtrak has. Treating them poorly makes no sense whatsoever, hub or no hub. And yet it continues. Despite having the rules printed right on the pass itself. Maybe the Chicago lounge staff can't read?

I've never had a problem in Chicago, however I have only been there as a sleeper passenger. I agree with all the above, though. Think of the lounge as a concierge. The BEST hotel employees are concierge. The BEST Amtrak has to offer should be in the Lounge. I don't get why they are so dadgumn posessive. Maybe they have a budgeted amount of juice and pretzels (They used to have cookies iirc), and if they let one infidel in, then juice, coffee, and soda comes directly out of their paycheck.

From a customer service standpoint, the company should always err on the side of the customer if there is any inkling of unknown. It's Amtrak's lounge - not their personal lounge. I'm sure that this job comes through seniority. Any sort of desk job with a uniform where they only have to deal with a small percentage of the passengers likely requires much seniority. And, unfortunately like international flight attendants, senority means entitlement plus "The customer is stupid" syndrome. Pride is great when it is conveyed to the customer. Pride is wretched when used to illuminate one's arrogance.

Edited by VentureForth, 29 May 2012 - 11:54 AM.

[amtrakwolverine]

In Chicago there are 2 rules

1.The customer is always wrong
2. Even if the customer is right refer to rule number 1.

I think there are actually 4 rules in the Chicago Metro Lounge:
I agree with the two above plus:
3. Do not reset the WiFi unless you want to be shouted at by Tim
4. Watch for Kevin and do not allow him to enter the lounge even with a lounge pass!!

Not just me but watch for any coach passengers who have a day pass in there own name and don't let them in cause they must be counterfeit after all the 2 women in the lounge told one passenger they never heard of a coach passenger having them.

Edited by amtrakwolverine, 29 May 2012 - 12:59 PM.