"Prepared" but Amtrak STILL gigged me on sleeper meal

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rrdude

rrdude

Engineer
Joined
Aug 10, 2009
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Baltimore/DC Area
On Starlight yesterday, entered the diner with my son n his buddy, booked n ticketed all three of us in a roomette. Lead LSA "Sandy" asks if I am "aware that roomettes only get two meals, n tht I wud hv to pay for the third......"

I politely tell her. "I was halfway expecting this, and took the liberty of printing pg. XYZ out Employee "blue book". She took my copy, went n made a phone call, (or pretended to) came back n said "sorry, it's only two meals allowed if you're in a roomette....Grrrrrr

I used to BE an LSA, n I *know* that is not accurate...

Not wanting to embarrass my kids, I said "Fine, I'll pay n take it up with Amtrak customer service later...."

Sandy was cordial, polite, n apologetic, but WRONG.

At dinner that nite, no problem.... All three of us ate without hassle.

So even though I had the rule book printed out, Amtrak STILL gigged me.

Is it really that hard offer good customer service?
 
Please report this everywhere possible. It is absolutely ridiculous. I love Amtrak, but why do most LSA's act like dining car dictators! It shouldn't be the LSA's job to police this... It's as simple as this.. If your ticket says Sleeper your meal is free. End of story.
 
Yes it is that hard to provide good service.

Very hard to supervise a far flung staff.
Very hard to teach and train a far flung staff.

Union rules may or may not be helpful.

Still to give her a copy of the rules, and for her to still not follow them, WOW.
 
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Switched over to Cali Zephyr this AM, had the turkey shank for dinner, not thumbs up, or thumbs down, just meh. I'm waiting to call Amtrak Cust Svc 'til I get back on "land". Been over 30 yrs since I have been on this end of Zephyr route. Things have changed, for the better. Stations, track, well OK the scenery is the same, don't remember so many trucks on I-80 though
 
"Scenery still the same?" :huh:

I thought they may have built a new mountain or two or three. They seem to have built everything else in the past 30 years. So why not a few mountains to go along with the rest?

As far as trucks on I-80 - that is the main interstate across the US! It runs all the way fron NYC to SF!
 
Know what else is reallygood on CZ? Cell reception! Since it parallels I-80 for a good portion, I've been pleasantly surprised. Oh "thumbs up" to breakfast burrito, guacamole, tomatoes, standard grits, acceptable morning meal. (I'm not a French toast guy, but kids luved it)

Had breakfast with project manager of the new Amtrak loco, ACS 64 (?) works for Siemans, moving to Wilmington, to monitor NEC road testing. Stay tuned.
 
:angry: Seems like Some LSA's are so much into Power Trips that they just flat refuse to even listen to their Customers or even Management @ Amtrak! (Maybe she couldn't Read? :rolleyes: Hope you get a Good CR Rep, some of them can be Dictators and Refuseniks also! (And AGR INsider on Flyer talk had just made the New Policy Clear on this matter, Paid Tickets can have up to 3 in a Roomette, only AGR Award pax have to Pay for the 3rd Person!)
 
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Here's another chance for Amtrak to judiciously computerize to take control away from LSAs on such decisions. Have them scan the reservation to see how many meals, and simply follow what the computer says. Everyone knows that computers are never wrong, specially if it is coming over the internet :giggle:
 
jis said:
Here's another chance for Amtrak to judiciously computerize to take control away from LSAs on such decisions. Have them scan the reservation to see how many meals, and simply follow what the computer says. Everyone knows that computers are never wrong, specially if it is coming over the internet :giggle:
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GIGO :giggle:
 
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the_traveler said:
MrMattyMatt said:
Roomettes sleep 2 people - why are you expecting 3 meals?? Seems reasonable to me.
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Amtrak provides complimentary meals for all passengers up to the maximum allowed occupancy of the room type. For a Roomette, the maximum allowed occupancy is 3, and all 3 have tickets for that Roomette. That's the wording of the official rule itself!
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Is it three adults? I seem to remember its limited to two adults. For three, isn't it one adult and two kids?

Plus, I would not really fault someone (like the LSA) who thought that a roomette, because it only has seating for only two, has a max occupancy of two. Yea, I know what the fine print in the manual says, but simple logic says otherwise. I guess I am saying that I am not a member of the "hang the LSA" group emerging here.
 
Last year on the Sunset a Mom and THREE kids were crammed into a Roomette but since she had paperwork the SCA and Conductors questioned but didn't argue. And it was sheer terror, especially for the SCA who was having to clean up puke and everything else from the kids. After seeing and hearing all that I say no more than 2 folks any age in a Roomette.
 
Guest said:
the_traveler said:
MrMattyMatt said:
Roomettes sleep 2 people - why are you expecting 3 meals?? Seems reasonable to me.
Click to expand...
Amtrak provides complimentary meals for all passengers up to the maximum allowed occupancy of the room type. For a Roomette, the maximum allowed occupancy is 3, and all 3 have tickets for that Roomette. That's the wording of the official rule itself!
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Is it three adults? I seem to remember its limited to two adults. For three, isn't it one adult and two kids?

Plus, I would not really fault someone (like the LSA) who thought that a roomette, because it only has seating for only two, has a max occupancy of two. Yea, I know what the fine print in the manual says, but simple logic says otherwise. I guess I am saying that I am not a member of the "hang the LSA" group emerging here.
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This particular instance is an Adult and 2 under 16 Children.

It doesn't matter what the LSA *thinks* , they are wrong and at fault.

It's not the fine print either, it's quite obvious and, not only that, it's standard procedure and there is not excuse for no following it.
 
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JoanieB said:
It doesn't matter what the LSA *thinks* , they are wrong and at fault.

It's not the fine print either, it's quite obvious and, not only that, it's standard procedure and there is not excuse for no following it.
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There are times, and this is certainly one, where being reasonable takes persistence over procedures and the manual. That is what an intelligent person would conclude.

No where else in Amtrak, is two or more people assigned to sit in one seat. Not even in lower priced coach. One seat = one person is the rule-of-thumb. And anyone looking at a roomette would see simply two seats (and not all that wide of a seat).

There is no excuse to follow something you know is dead-set wrong. I applaud the LSA for taking the high road and using his/her brain. More people should do that.
 
According to your post above, that would also exclude a husband and wife and their 6 month old baby. (What you said was 2 seats for 3 people doesn't cut it - even though the 6 month old will always be held and sleep in the same berth as one of the parents!)
 
Guest said:
JoanieB said:
It doesn't matter what the LSA *thinks* , they are wrong and at fault.

It's not the fine print either, it's quite obvious and, not only that, it's standard procedure and there is not excuse for no following it.
Click to expand...
There are times, and this is certainly one, where being reasonable takes persistence over procedures and the manual. That is what an intelligent person would conclude.

No where else in Amtrak, is two or more people assigned to sit in one seat. Not even in lower priced coach. One seat = one person is the rule-of-thumb. And anyone looking at a roomette would see simply two seats (and not all that wide of a seat).

There is no excuse to follow something you know is dead-set wrong. I applaud the LSA for taking the high road and using his/her brain. More people should do that.
Click to expand...
This of course, is diametrically opposed to the rules in the AMTRAK procedures that the LSAs are supposed to follow. ..
 
While we did have a bed for every body, having 4 roomettes and the family bedroom for an extended family trip of 5 adults and 6 children in 2006, there were many hours along the way where two of the kids shared my mother's roomette in order to watch videos and play on her laptop. I think the published rule of 1 adult with two children is quite reasonable.
 
Guest said:
JoanieB said:
It doesn't matter what the LSA *thinks* , they are wrong and at fault.

It's not the fine print either, it's quite obvious and, not only that, it's standard procedure and there is not excuse for no following it.
Click to expand...
There are times, and this is certainly one, where being reasonable takes persistence over procedures and the manual. That is what an intelligent person would conclude.

No where else in Amtrak, is two or more people assigned to sit in one seat. Not even in lower priced coach. One seat = one person is the rule-of-thumb. And anyone looking at a roomette would see simply two seats (and not all that wide of a seat).

There is no excuse to follow something you know is dead-set wrong. I applaud the LSA for taking the high road and using his/her brain. More people should do that.
Click to expand...
The LSA did not use his/her brain... they didn't follow official procedure.

Make all of the excuses you want but, as much as you might not like it, you are absolutely, unequivocally wrong

roomettepax_zps16ba2c31.png


• Each person in the room, up to the maximum

permitted, will receive complimentary meals

in the Dining Car.

Here's the link to current Amtrak procedure manual.

Service Standards Manual Revised October 2012

I haven't found any part of the official service standards manual that states:

'The procedures in this manual are open to interpretation, use your brain and do the best you can to alienate and aggravate our customers. You know, the very people that make your job possible'.

The sleeper charts begin on page 482 or, from the table of contents, section 8-68

I found the complimentary meal info in the 'onboard upgrades section' on page 484 or section 8-71
 
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