The Case of the Crazy Porter

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CoachSlumber

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So ... my dear spouse and I were fulfilling my long-time ambition to ride a certain very scenic train from Chicago to a large city out east that hosts our nation's central government. In Chicago, our departure was delayed because the inbound was six hours late due to a track suicide on the line. Once we boarded, our SCA made sure we knew he''d had no turnaround rest time; he was sweaty and a bit disoriented. He was confused when I pointed out there was a set of bedding in the luggage cubby up top of our roomette. It had been a while since I'd done a viewliner, so at bed time I asked him for help setting up the lower bunk. After we flattened out the seats, he suggested we simply put sheets on them, rather than the full mattress kit! Naturally at this point, I shooed him away and made up the beds myself. The next day, by the end of the trip, he was oddly friendly to us in the dining car, but clearly had no recollection I had given him 10 bucks when we boarded, since he almost openly fished for a tip when we finally got to our destination 5 hours late.

My fellow travelers: What would you do now? I truly love traveling on the train and still had an enjoyable trip, but this experience was bizarre, and a tad unnerving.

PS: Return was on the Capitol. Everything went great; diner was full-service and well-waitered; Superliner car rode like velvet. We got to Chicago close to on time despite overnight storms. SCA was not crazy, just absent. He even failed to give us requested wakeup, and I had to make the beds in the evening. What is happening to our Amtrak?
 
the_traveler said:
For one think this "crazy porter" incident must have happened well over 40 years ago, because Amtrak does not have any "porters" at all - only "sleeping car attendants (or SCA)".
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Older terminology, on my internets? Never!
 
IMHO...

Tipping in advance = bribery

Tipping after services rendered = gratuity
 
I'd say the Title should be: "The Case of the LAZY SCAs!!! " Hope you let Amtrak know about this, , these are the kind of OBS that need to be Re-Trained or De-Trained Permanently! ;)
 
Yeah, no excuse for the absent SCA on the Cap.

In the first case, I'd say having little to no rest time between trips is a reasonable excuse. An SCA is human. At least he tried to help, even if

his offer was short of adequate. As far as being friendly the next day, he probably got a good night of rest and was naturally feeling better.

And yeah, it's entirely possible that he simply forgot you tipped him already. Not trying to excuse everything, but it certainly doesn't sound

terrible. I'd rather have a bumbler who wants to help than someone who shirks their duties entirely.
 
I understand that we pay a good cash for our tickets and should get the service that we paid for . But isn't there something Amtrak could do about delays and having the csa's work too many hours? We rode coach to Minot ND and back a few years ago and our train was involved in a crash hat took 2 lives. We were 9 hours late. But the whole crew pitched in to make the ride bearable. we all got a pot lunch dinner for free too. Everyone on the train. The conductor talked to us frequently letting us know what was going on . I guess there are more attendants in coach than in the sleepers. Is there on for each car? or one for each floor of the car?
 
Folks: First of all, my gravest apologies for rather jokingly using the apparently obsolete term of "porter." It is not like that is an inherently demeaning description. If you notice, in my text body I was aware that SCA is the politically correct description.

But honestly, you are trying to tell me that for someone whose main job is to tend to sleeping cars is so zonked out by working his shift that he doesn't know how to make a bed is to be excused? I mean, the folks who work the Western routes somehow manage to work multiple nights without openly complaining to their customers about it. I spent over $1,000 on this trip. Call me crazy, but should I be instructing an "Attendant" on how to make a bed for his customer? Remember, these folks are also responsible for passenger safety in the event of an emergency. If a guy is so zonked out that he doesn't know that before the sheets belong the mattress, I don't consider that person fit for duty.
 
CoachSlumber said:
Folks: First of all, my gravest apologies for rather jokingly using the apparently obsolete term of "porter." It is not like that is an inherently demeaning description. If you notice, in my text body I was aware that SCA is the politically correct description.But honestly, you are trying to tell me that for someone whose main job is to tend to sleeping cars is so zonked out by working his shift that he doesn't know how to make a bed is to be excused? I mean, the folks who work the Western routes somehow manage to work multiple nights without openly complaining to their customers about it. I spent over $1,000 on this trip. Call me crazy, but should I be instructing an "Attendant" on how to make a bed for his customer? Remember, these folks are also responsible for passenger safety in the event of an emergency. If a guy is so zonked out that he doesn't know that before the sheets belong the mattress, I don't consider that person fit for duty.
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You have a point, but you also don't know what this guy's schedule was prior to the late inbound trip. He could be working a back-to-back-to-back, etc. That said, if you feel you received an inferior value for your money, please write Amtrak and let them know about their substandard service.

One other point: It was not clear to me in your OP that the SCA was "complaining." I took it to mean he simply offered it as an explanation for his disheveled appearance and for being a bit disoriented. To me, that would be a reasonable thing to communicate to a customer. But if it was offered as a complaint

(as in, "look at what my crummy employers are forcing me to do") then yes, that would be unprofessional.
 
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CoachSlumber said:
... What is happening to our Amtrak?
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Nothing is happening with "our Amtrak", which is what is wrong. Unfortunately, what you experienced is a classic, YMMV, Amtrak service experience. In my opinion, Amtrak's largest problem completely within its control (lateness often isn't) is its inconsistent customer service.

I recently posted on another thread:

"I've said before on this board that my experience with the onboard service crews pretty much follow a bell curve. 5 % truly outstanding, 15% great, 30% good but not great, 40% okay, get the job done, and 10% awful. 90% of the time I am all right with the service I get, and am very happy when I encounter people in that top 20%. But that last 10% can really take the cake."

Organizations that excel in customer service don't tolerate that bell curve. Their front-line folks are in the that top 20% or at worst top 50% or they are gone. I could conceivably give your first attendent a pass because of the short turn-around and lack of sleep, it isn't really an excuse, but it is at least understandable. As to the second attendent, there is no excuse. As to the pre-tip, aka "bribe", I never do it. I tip based on service received.

Finally, "porter" has not been the job title for at least 30 years if not more, and it does have racial overtones from the time when virtually all sleeping car service folks were African-American. The funny thing is if you had a Pullman Porter, this would not have happened. Service standards for the Pullman Company were nothing if not consistent. And their working conditions, unfortunately, often allowed for less rest than the current Amtrak SCAs have.
 
I have to agree with the OP. Sleep deprivation is an issue, sure, but an SCA is really not a massively demanding job. Sorry to those who'd disagree, but that job or any other job aboard an Amtrak passenger train is simply isn't up there on my list of overwhelmingly difficult professions. My job is safety based to the most extreme degree. And I am expected to operate for up to 48 hours without sleep (and have done just that) in very inhospitable conditions, without climate control or any creature comforts, while wearing head-to-toe Nomex clothing (does not breathe) and many pounds of gear all while physically exerting myself the whole time. And then I'm expected get behind the wheel of a fire engine and drive several hours on all road types ranging from a two-rut path through a forest to freeway traffic in LA.

BTW, because of the emergency nature of my job, we're exempt from DOT work/rest regulations while on an incident.

Not having more than a few hours of sleep in a 30-hour period is no excuse to be unable to function. Sure, it may be a pain in the butt, but you can still do your job with a smile and choke back the personal feelings. Then again, people are not made of the same stuff they were a few generations ago any longer.
 
the_traveler said:
berkyo said:
I guess there are more attendants in coach than in the sleepers. Is there on for each car? or one for each floor of the car?
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On LD trains, there is one car attendant per car, both in coach and in the sleepers. They work each car. On both levels.
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Didn't they cut that back so one attendant actually had like 1 1/2 cars in coach?
 
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Perhaps he was having a medical issue. Like low blood sugar. Once he got a good meal, and some sleep (don't they only get about 4 hours to sleep), he felt better in the morning. We don't know what "occurred" before the OPs train boarded.
 
SCA's are "allowed" 4 hours of rest time per night. On some routes where there are 2 sleeping cars, the SCA's may agree to be available all night in both cars while the other rests. He may have been the one "on duty" all night on the inbound trip. Or how do you know that someone on his inbound trip did not ring for the SCA at 2 am, another at 3 am, another at 3:30 am, etc...? (Some passengers think the SCA is there for them and them alone, and like a servant can be called at any time of day or night!)
 
AmtrakBlue said:
Perhaps he was having a medical issue. Like low blood sugar. Once he got a good meal, and some sleep (don't they only get about 4 hours to sleep), he felt better in the morning. We don't know what "occurred" before the OPs train boarded.
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I used to be one of those Amtrak passengers who loved trains so much, I would defend all of the shortcomings. I have gotten over that. I am not an employee. When I pay to ride on Amtrak, I don't really think I should feel like I am working for Amtrak and simply be grateful that things have gone normally--as in, an employee on duty is coherent, not intoxicated, and doing his job.

To me, Amtrak's perpetual threat was that they relied on a core group of fans who would pay to ride and hope for the best, rather than actual consumers, as other businesses must try to court.
 
the_traveler said:
SCA's are "allowed" 4 hours of rest time per night. On some routes where there are 2 sleeping cars, the SCA's may agree to be available all night in both cars while the other rests. He may have been the one "on duty" all night on the inbound trip. Or how do you know that someone on his inbound trip did not ring for the SCA at 2 am, another at 3 am, another at 3:30 am, etc...? (Some passengers think the SCA is there for them and them alone, and like a servant can be called at any time of day or night!)
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My friend: You have just described what their job is! They are not volunteers. Also, this gentleman (who, by the way, for all you folks who think I was denigrating with "porter," was not African-American), was only in charge of one Viewliner sleeper. That means he does not even have to maintain a public restroom, as Superliner SCAs do.
 
How do so many of these rotten apples even get hired in the first place? Isnt there an extensive interview process? I know I have applied multiple times and never even got so much as a response/call back. Im not trying to toot my own horn but I believe I am better than half of the employees out there. I worked 5 years for a well known hospitality/entertainment company in central Florida who drills customer service into each of its castmembers/employees. There is no excuse for the behavior of these rotten apples.
 
CoachSlumber said:
AmtrakBlue said:
Perhaps he was having a medical issue. Like low blood sugar. Once he got a good meal, and some sleep (don't they only get about 4 hours to sleep), he felt better in the morning. We don't know what "occurred" before the OPs train boarded.
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I used to be one of those Amtrak passengers who loved trains so much, I would defend all of the shortcomings. I have gotten over that. I am not an employee. When I pay to ride on Amtrak, I don't really think I should feel like I am working for Amtrak and simply be grateful that things have gone normally--as in, an employee on duty is coherent, not intoxicated, and doing his job.

To me, Amtrak's perpetual threat was that they relied on a core group of fans who would pay to ride and hope for the best, rather than actual consumers, as other businesses must try to court.
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I would have made the same comment if you were complaining about a hotel worker, a restaurant worker, etc. Sometimes things are going on that WE do not know about that can effect how a person behaves.

As the poster said above, you should be complaining to Amtrak, not here.
 
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