Amtrak Focus Group

[lthanlon]

Just got a call from some outfit in Chicago soliciting participants for an Amtrak-sponsored focus group next week. I didn't make the cut because I work in publishing. Anybody else get called?

 

[MrFSS]

Did they say how they had your phone number?

 

[ColdRain&Snow]

I got a call several months ago from their marketing research firm asking me to get in touch. I called back too late and was told that they had reached their quota of sleeping car pax and were filling some remaining coach slots.

The woman told me that my name was taken from the manifest of a January CS trip I had taken. She was very specific, telling me to disregard a February CS trip I had been on and only speak about my experiences on the January trip. I'd love to hear from someone who participated in one of these national sessions.

 

[amtrakwolverine]

I think i was called once i was not in and my mom took the call and they said they would call back later. they never did.

 

[lthanlon]

Did they say how they had your phone number?

The guy who called said Amtrak provided the list.

 

[haolerider]

Did they say how they had your phone number?

The guy who called said Amtrak provided the list.

The data comes from the Amtrak data warehouse, that has all the information on Amtrak passengers that has been provided by the passengers - name, phone number, address, etc. They try to get a variety of passengers, coach, sleeper, short distance, long distance, etc. Previously several people on board had complained that railfans were probably not adaquately represented on the focus groups, but it would seem, from the responses on this topic that several participants on the board have been called.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

They need to call me.

The only problem is that I strongly prefer free-form answers to the extremely limited number range crap they usually ask. And, in all honesty, they probably need to talk to more non-fans and folks from Western Europe and Japan who have had a chance to ride Amtrak after first becoming familiar with their own systems. Might be an eye-opening experience.

 

[haolerider]

They need to call me.

The only problem is that I strongly prefer free-form answers to the extremely limited number range crap they usually ask. And, in all honesty, they probably need to talk to more non-fans and folks from Western Europe and Japan who have had a chance to ride Amtrak after first becoming familiar with their own systems. Might be an eye-opening experience.

That's exactly what a focus group is - free form, not a piece of paper that you fill out with specific multiple choice answers. I honestly don't see Amtrak brining passengers from Japan and Europe back to the US for a focus group.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I honestly don't see Amtrak brining passengers from Japan and Europe back to the US for a focus group.

Seems like they could simply talk to expatriates who live here, no?

 

[Sbaitso]

Slightly off topic, but has anyone ever been contacted after taking one of the web surveys about a trip? I took the web survey and wrote a letter and did get a reply to my letter. My only issue with the web survey is how quickly after the trip you have to complete it, by the time I got back from my trip I could only take the survey about the return trip, which was good because I had problems on that segment, but I also would have been equally happy to praise the folks in the survey on the first segment. (I did praise them in the letter, btw.)

 

[rtabern]

I just got called this afternoon!! They were asking me to come down to Chicago to take part in a focus panel on the night of July 21st. It was 2 hours and they were going to pay me $85.00. They wanted to talk about a recent trip I did on the California Zephyr.

I would have loved to go -- but I work that night -- and didn't want to burn a whole vacation day -- so I asked if there were any other dates they were doing this -- and they said they would keep me on the list and would contact me again in the future.

Again, would have loved to go, but I only have 7 vacation days left for 2010 -- which is just enough for my Southwest Chief/Coast Starlight trip in late August and having 2 days left over to do a ride on the Adirondack Dome Car trip in October.

Oh well! I hope to get called again!