Hostile Dining Car Attendants

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margo

Lead Service Attendant
Joined
Sep 2, 2009
Messages
279
Location
Louisiana
Why are some of the Dining car attendants so rude and hostile? We rode the Coast Starlight North bound on Sept. 21 and the Southwest Chief West bound on Sept. 26. Both times the dining Car Attendants were rude and hostile. We also rode the Sunset Limited and the California Zephyr. Those attendants were very pleasant. We have ridden about 100,000 miles on Amtrak on every line and never before experienced such hostility.
 
My worst ever Amtrak dining car experience was in the LSL's diner-lite in February. From this thread:

The ****ishness of this waiter begins when he drops a bottle of water onto the table in front of my dad for no reason

Dad: Oh, I didn’t order water (which is correct)
Waiter: NO. You did.
Dad: I actually didn’t.
Waiter: I’m telling you you did.
[waiter walks away shaking his head]

Later on when dad receives his burger:
Dad: Can I have the guacamole I ordered?
Same waiter: You didn’t order any guacamole.
Dad: I did when you took the drinks.
Waiter: You definitely didn't. Fine, I’ll get it.
[walks away shaking his head]
Firstly, as the employee, even if you know for a fact that the customer did or didn't say something, it is not your job to rudely inform them that they are wrong. Secondly, one would expect that a given person will know what they personally had said better than a DIFFERENT PERSON. Needless to say, this guy didn't get a very big tip.
 
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Please do us all a favor and report those rude Dining car attendants to Amtrak. Hopefully, others will chime in with the best and most effective methods of doing so. IIRC, emails and phone calls are not two of them.

I'd also add complements and contrast the pleasantness of those on the other two trains.

And be specific as you can be - down to their names if possible.
 
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Yes, hopefully, reporting this will make Amtrak constantly better, or at least aiming to get there.

I was aboard a train a few years ago, with a similar hostile waitress situation. The ordering situation was similar - very punitive for everyone on the car. We were barked at during the seating. It was like we were at fault for something. My gf asked to speak to the Conductor, who was very amenable and came back to our roomette and took down the information. He shook his head saying that this particular employee had had problems like this before, and he was surprised she was still 'aboard.'
 
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These attendants were rude to other people dining,too, while we were there. On the Coast Starlight, it was Justin. But, Eggie, on the SWC was the worst.
 
Don't tell us. We can't do a thing about them. Tell Amtrak!

And don't forget there may be more than a single Amtrak employee named Justin or Eggie.
 
Don't tell us. We can't do a thing about them. Tell Amtrak!

And don't forget there may be more than a single Amtrak employee named Justin or Eggie.
I've said this before to you and I'm going to say it again. When someone mentions a bad experience they've had on Amtrak, they are not asking you to magically solve their problems. They are just discussing their experience.
 
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Don't tell us. We can't do a thing about them. Tell Amtrak!

And don't forget there may be more than a single Amtrak employee named Justin or Eggie.
I've said this before to you and I'm going to say it again. When someone mentions a bad experience they've had on Amtrak, they are not asking you to magically solve their problems. They are just discussing their experience.
Coby, some people do come here thinking it's an Amtrak site. In this particular case, the OP knows we're not Amtrak.
 
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Amtrak has been our only mode of travel for the last ten years. We usually take 2-3 long distance trips every year. Most of the employees have been very nice. These two were like Drill Sargeants! Most of our room attendants are good. Some are great, some, we never see.

I can't believe there could be more than one Justin in the dining car on the CS Northbound on 9/21/2018 or Eggie on the SWC Westbound on 9/25/2018.

My husband is becoming very reluctant to ride Amtrak and especially to dine.
 
I think both the starlight and the chief are LA crew base. I've had very poor dining car service on the starlight before. Trish and Alan, two of the worst LSA's ever were both on the Starlight. Alan was bragging about moving to the Surfliner when I last rode.

I haven't ridden the chief as much but have had at least decent service on that train. Was Reggie the LSA? I had an LSA that had a very weird reservation system on the chief and had a bit of an attitude.
 
Please do us all a favor and report those rude Dining car attendants to Amtrak. Hopefully, others will chime in with the best and most effective methods of doing so. IIRC, emails and phone calls are not two of them.

I'd also add complements and contrast the pleasantness of those on the other two trains.

And be specific as you can be - down to their names if possible.
If you cannot call to complain or email to complain, how do you complain after the fact? I noticed someone else stated that they spoke with the conductor, but if you don't say anything immediately, and the first two options are out, according to your claim, does one have to write a formal letter of complaint?

Also, as someone who works with the public on a customer service basis, last names aren't always on the name tag. My first name and last initial are on mine for my job. If a first name is all you can get, yet you're specific about the rest of the complaint - trip dates, etc. - why wouldn't that be sufficient?
 
Please do us all a favor and report those rude Dining car attendants to Amtrak. Hopefully, others will chime in with the best and most effective methods of doing so. IIRC, emails and phone calls are not two of them.

I'd also add complements and contrast the pleasantness of those on the other two trains.

And be specific as you can be - down to their names if possible.
If you cannot call to complain or email to complain, how do you complain after the fact? I noticed someone else stated that they spoke with the conductor, but if you don't say anything immediately, and the first two options are out, according to your claim, does one have to write a formal letter of complaint?

Also, as someone who works with the public on a customer service basis, last names aren't always on the name tag. My first name and last initial are on mine for my job. If a first name is all you can get, yet you're specific about the rest of the complaint - trip dates, etc. - why wouldn't that be sufficient?
I call Customer Relations. To do that you call the 800 number, ask Julie for an agent. When connected to an agent, ask to be connected with Customer Relations (NOT "Customer Service"). Customer Relations is only there M-F, BTW.

Customer Relations is probably a better bet than talking to the conductor, who may or may not pass it along. It is the official channel for complaints.
 
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I guess we all have had poor experiences with Amtrak staff, I know that I have.

However, I don't feel that it is right to name these people behind their backs, in a public forum like AU.

Unless we report them to Public Relations, (and I suggest, ask for compensation for our poor treatment,) they will remain in post.

(I know the USA and the UK differ in relation to folk not being named before being charged, so maybe my view on this is UK centric?)

Ed.
 
Yes and no. Defamation law is different in the US and UK, and other common law countries. But standards of civil discourse needn't be.

(I know the USA and the UK differ in relation to folk not being named before being charged, so maybe my view on this is UK centric?)
 
Yes and no. Defamation law is different in the US and UK, and other common law countries. But standards of civil discourse needn't be.

(I know the USA and the UK differ in relation to folk not being named before being charged, so maybe my view on this is UK centric?)
Lack of civility is the reason these hostile dining car staff are being named in the first place. Since my experience has been similar to the OP I see no reason to defend the indefensible.
 
Oddly enough, the only time I ever had a problem with dining service was on the Acela Express (FC) enroute from Providence RI to NYP. The attendant seemed to be going out of his way to serve me last, and when I confronted him, he got indignant, and ended up never serving me at all. I did not file a complaint, but I probably should have.

Otherwise, I have had no problems at all with the service attendants. Definitely not on the Auto Train...All of them were super nice. All tried to accommodate me as best they could. Some might have been a tad too "talkative..." especially on the PA,
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but....
 
I have ridden long distance trains a lot over the decades and my experiences with Amtrak OBS staff pretty much follows a bell curve. Most ok, not great, a few outstanding, a few really terrible. I report the terrible ones.

Pretty much every kind of bad service that has been described on this thread and on this forum generally I have experienced. Good service, too.

I don't make excuses for Amtrak's wildly varying on board service. As far as I am concerned, it is Amtrak's single biggest problem that is wholly within its control.

BTW, it isn't limited to Amtrak. I just read a report that a United Airlines flight attendant quoted a "rule" that babies could not cry for more than five minutes. To United's credit, that attendant is now reported to be on leave pending an investigation. But making up your rules is not limited to Amtrak, apparently.
 
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No one is suggesting defending the indefensible. My experience also tracks with the OP's. But fighting disrespect and incivility with disrespect and incivility is counter productive.

Lack of civility is the reason these hostile dining car staff are being named in the first place. Since my experience has been similar to the OP I see no reason to defend the indefensible.
 
No one is suggesting defending the indefensible. My experience also tracks with the OP's. But fighting disrespect and incivility with disrespect and incivility is counter productive.

Lack of civility is the reason these hostile dining car staff are being named in the first place. Since my experience has been similar to the OP I see no reason to defend the indefensible.
What are you afraid might happen? That an Amtrak dining car employee might be removed or fired for rampant incivility? These people have nothing to fear from the likes of us. How do you think they came to act like this in the first place? Because they're afraid for their continued employment?
 
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I'm afraid I'll be annoyed. But I can live with that.

What are you afraid might happen? That an Amtrak dining car employee might be removed or fired for rampant incivility? These people have nothing to fear from the likes of us. How do you think they came to act like this in the first place? Because they're afraid for their continued employment?
 
Being accused of bad behaviour on a public website seems very one sided. We all know there are poor employees in every business, but do we not have bad days ourselves?

Would any of us feel it fair that our behaviour at work is being held up to public examination and comment without our knowledge, without us being able to put our side of the event on the record?

I don't wish to defend bad workers, but "telling tales" against them on AU, rather than reporting them, seems a bit childish to my way of thinking.

Ed.
 
Being accused of bad behaviour on a public website seems very one sided. We all know there are poor employees in every business, but do we not have bad days ourselves?

Would any of us feel it fair that our behaviour at work is being held up to public examination and comment without our knowledge, without us being able to put our side of the event on the record?

I don't wish to defend bad workers, but "telling tales" against them on AU, rather than reporting them, seems a bit childish to my way of thinking.

Ed.
I get what you're saying, and it is one of the reasons why didn't want to call Amtrak and tell them about this guy. Honestly, we felt like most people on the LSL (passengers and crew) were pretty curt and anti-social. I imagine having to work an AmCan pseudo-diner in the dead of winter on a train that serves Chicago and upstate New York, will probably make anyone cranky. Sometimes you've just got to suck it up and move on with your life.
 
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