Why don't the attendants want to bring the meal to my room?

[Ryan]

Well, if the OP's question was "Should I be asking for this stuff?", from her perspective, the answer appears to be no - non-disabled passengers shouldn't be asking for this. From the Service Manual, it appears that they should offer in-room meal service if passengers ask for it, but abled-bodied passengers shouldn't ask for it if it's not something that Amtrak only offers to disabled people.

That's not what it says. It's saying what the car attendant should do, not the passengers.

It says that the service must be proactively offered to disabled passengers by the car attendant, but anyone is welcome to ask the car attendant for in room service.

Edit for context. I agree completely with GML (quite the surprise, I know).

 

[rusty spike]

I have no facts to back this up but I suspect the ADA law requires Amtrak to "offer" Meals in-room to disabled passengers, hence the mention of it on Amtrak.com. But the fact remains that some "able-bodied" passengers want meals in their room. Why, is their business. but in-room meal service is "available" at the passenger's request. And it's really a moot point; it was the attitude of the OBS staff that is the real issue here IMHO.

 

[Steve4031]

Not everybody who rides the train understands all of these details. The employees need to understand that and patiently work with the passengers. The problem isn't overly demanding passengers, but wildly inconsistent service.

 

[FormerOBS]

Venture Forth: I don't know whether Waffle House was charging a to-go fee at the time my friend worked there, but if they did I'm pretty sure she didn't get the extra money. Yet it did cut into the tips she could get from her sit-down customers.

ADA is irrelevant. Long before the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, it was S.O.P to offer meals at seats to disabled passengers. Of course, the disability isn't always obvious, and this can lead to misunderstandings. In my experience, it has always been Amtrak policy to provide meals in rooms to anybody who asks for it, with priority being given to those having physical difficulties.

In over 20 years in O.B.S., I recall exactly ONCE when this was a problem. A passenger spent the whole evening in the lounge car, and his son (late teens) told me the family wanted the beds to be turned down between 9:00 and 9:30, while the family was in the dining car for dinner. I had no reason to think there was any reason to disturb the man in the lounge to ask him any more questions. When the 9:00 dinner seating was beginning, the man told me he wanted his dinner in his room. I had made commitments to several other passengers to make up their beds at that time, and told him so. He could have had what he wanted if he'd made a timely request. I could have gone to the diner for his meal around 8:45, served it around 9:00, made several beds for other passengers while he ate, cleared the dishes around 9:25, and made up his bed at 9:30. He could have had what he wanted. Instead, he decided to spring the news on me at the worst possible time. In doing so, he deprived me of the opportunity to set up a plan to give him the service he wanted.

This is all doable if adults will simply behave like responsible adults. As I said above, the attitude thing is not something I would try to justify.

 

[the_traveler]

And here comes an able-bodied passenger who is simply too lazy to walk to the dining car to stuff food into their face.

That isn't always the case.

Sometimes, people can walk, but they have asthma or COPD and can't walk farther than the length of one car before getting short of breath.

Sometimes people are sick and don't want to infect others.

Sometimes, they have a psychological issue, like social anxiety, and don't want to sit and converse with strangers for an hour.

Sometimes, they have a kid who's in tantrum mode, and they don't want to subject the other diners to shrieking and wailing.

Just because someone can walk doesn't mean they don't have a host of other issues going on; who are you to interrogate and/or judge them?

And there are passengers like me. I can (and do) walk on the train - using the seat backs for balance - but normally use a walker. I have a balance coordination problem. Most times I do not even go to get coffee or tea, due to having to carry it back to my seat/room/table. This is also true when drinks are included in my BC fare.
So am I one of those "lazy people"? :huh:

I think many people feel like Amtrak owes them first class service because they are paying "xxx" amount of dollars. Amtrak does not advertise "first class service" they are advertising "Sleeping Class Service" and you are paying for the room and bed. Amtrak does not advertise a "First Class Attendant always on call for your every need." The fact that Amtrak charges "xxx" amount does not mean they owe you anything more than they advertised. In New York City there are very standard hotel rooms, such as the Holiday Inn Express by Penn Station, that charge $300-$400 a night. You don't get anything more than if you stay at a Holiday Inn Express in Seacaucus NJ for $120 a night. Same beds, Same free continental breakfast, etc. It would be silly for me to say "I'm paying $400 a night I expect a first class hotel with a mini bar, robes, and luxury down filled pillows" - just because the bill is $400 a night doesn't mean you get something different.. you get exactly what was advertised.. A standard Holiday Inn Express.

If a passenger got his/her room at low bucket and another got his/her room at high bucket for the same train, does the one who paid high bucket deserve more, just because they paid $300 more then the passenger in the next room? :huh:

 

[D.P. Roberts]

Well, if the OP's question was "Should I be asking for this stuff?", from her perspective, the answer appears to be no - non-disabled passengers shouldn't be asking for this. From the Service Manual, it appears that they should offer in-room meal service if passengers ask for it, but abled-bodied passengers shouldn't ask for it if it's not something that Amtrak only offers to disabled people.

That's not what it says. It's saying what the car attendant should do, not the passengers.

It says that the service must be proactively offered to disabled passengers by the car attendant, but anyone is welcome to ask the car attendant for in room service.

Edit for context. I agree completely with GML (quite the surprise, I know).

I don't read it that way at all. It's specifically saying what the passengers should do, and which customers are eligible for this service. "Passengers with a disability can request that meals be brought to their room or seat." It doesn't say that customers who don't have disabilities can do the same. It's the Amtrak Service Standards Manual that says what the car attendant should do - make it available to all passengers, and offer it to disabled people.

Together, it's clear that "In Room Meal Service" is NOT offered to all passengers, but only to disabled passengers, but they are required to accommodate you if you ask for it.

I just find it funny that in the thread that discusses the elimination of onboard amenities, many people are greatly upset because Amtrak's website states that those amenities (like wine and cheese tastings) are being offered. Yet nowhere in the "dining" or "onboard" sections of Amtrak's website are in-room meals offered - again, it may be somewhere on the website that I haven't found yet, but so far the only place I can find is in the "Passengers with Disabilites" section. So, I don't see the point in getting upset about Amtrak not offering a service that it doesn't actually advertise.

And personally, .I could care less about an employee's attitude. They either do their job, or they don't. I've encountered many friendly employees, both on Amtrak and elsewhere, who couldn't do their job. I've also encountered surly people who did their job well. I don't care whether they like their job or not, as long as they do the job they'r supposed to do. So to the OP's point, they'r supposed to do their job (deliver meals to you if you ask for it), and you ought to complain when Amtrak employees don't do their job. But personally, I wouldn't order a meal to my room because I'm not disabled.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Threads like this leave me wondering just how bad it has to get before someone is allowed to criticize Amtrak without having to suffer a deluge of bizarre and confusing explanations for why it's the customer who is at fault. This sort of response doesn't really make Amtrak look better, in my view anyway, but boy does it make us look a lot more biased against the passengers.

 

[TVRM610]

Threads like this leave me wondering just how bad it has to get before someone is allowed to criticize Amtrak without having to suffer a deluge of bizarre and confusing explanations for why it's the customer who is at fault. This sort of response doesn't really make Amtrak look better, in my view anyway, but boy does it make us look a lot more biased against the passengers.

Well this isn't a "Let's encourage people to take Amtrak and always trust that the Customer is ALWAYS right" forum now is it? It's an Amtrak discussion board! I think it's pretty fair to look at both sides of the coin here. The OP didn't mention if the sleeping car attendant had been polite or rude from the beginning of the trip... it's really hard to judge the situation. Same with the Dining car situation... if the car was full and the OP interrupted a server while they were trying to attend to seated passengers I can understand a little bit of frustration.

It's true that a first time amtrak passenger wouldn't know the protocol.. well then simply ask! The LSA's come by to take reservations.. ask then. Or ask the SCA "What can I do to get my meal delivered to my room"

If the OP feels like either staff member was rude then by all means they should write a letter to Amtrak. I've been treated rudely by Amtrak employees and I report them. (For me, that is by far the exception and not the rule). But I'm only hearing one side of the story here.

 

[guest]

You can try to spin it or complicate it or whatever: The customer asked a reasonable question. The Amtrak employee exhibited a bad attitude and inexcusable so-called customer service. Plain and simple.

 

[Ryan]

I don't read it that way at all. It's specifically saying what the passengers should do, and which customers are eligible for this service. "Passengers with a disability can request that meals be brought to their room or seat." It doesn't say that customers who don't have disabilities can do the same. It's the Amtrak Service Standards Manual that says what the car attendant should do - make it available to all passengers, and offer it to disabled people.

Together, it's clear that "In Room Meal Service" is NOT offered to all passengers, but only to disabled passengers, but they are required to accommodate you if you ask for it.

I'm not sure what part of "'At Seat' or 'In Room Meal Service' is available to all passengers" is unclear.

Edit: You got the quote wrong. It's "Any passenger who has a disability must be offered “In Room Meal Service”, not "Passengers with a disability can request".

 

[me_little_me]

In summary, Amtrak on-board service is VERY inconsistent ranging from outstanding to downright rude and in violation of Amtrak Standards and management is unwilling to do anything about it.

Union rules are not the problem. Management is.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Ridiculous statement. Both are significant problems.

 

[Ryan]

The new Blue Book has slightly different language:

10. At Seat/In Room Meal Service

a) General Information

• “At Seat” or “In Room Meal Service” is

available to all passengers.

• Those passengers who are disabled or find it

difficult to walk to the food service car are always

to be offered, and then provided this service.

• There is no charge for room service.

 

[tonys96]

Ridiculous statement. Both are significant problems.

Ridiculous statement. Rules are there so everyone...management, employee, customer, can know what to expect and what is expected. Any one of the three not living up to their commitment causes a problem.

 

[northnorthwest]

Wow--look what happens when I leave this board for a day!

Thank you to those who suggest I contact Amtrak. I will do that.

I would only add that there is a route guide in the room. In the route guide it gives a list of the train personnel and their description. One of the things it mentions about the sleeper car attendant is that this is the person who can have meals brought to you in the privacy of your room. It certainly doesn't say anything there about having to be disabled or anything else.

One of the reasons I chose Amtrak for these trips is that I wanted a certain quiet experience where I could relax and have peace and quiet and focus on a certain project. As part of that I wanted to have a quiet, distraction-free meal on the occasions I mentioned. Again I don't need to give these reasons, but I mention them because if that is not possible, I will be less likely to choose Amtrak.

I have also had attendants who are very professional. I know it is possible to do the job the right way.

And as to the poster who suggests that I am able-bodied but "lazy", that is just a ridiculous attack with no basis. If you are interested, I can send you my CV….

 

[D.P. Roberts]

I would only add that there is a route guide in the room. In the route guide it gives a list of the train personnel and their description. One of the things it mentions about the sleeper car attendant is that this is the person who can have meals brought to you in the privacy of your room. It certainly doesn't say anything there about having to be disabled or anything else.

Oooh, good catch. I didn't think to look in the individual route guides, but they do say that meals in sleepers are an option - no mention of disabilites. I stand corrected.

 

[VentureForth]

Route guide also says that a coach attendant provides pillow service.

Ouch.

 

[rrdude]

Maybe Amtrak should have this posted in every OBS's on-board accommodation. I used it in my company as did many corporate Human Resource and Customer Service Depts. I'm not sure of the original source.

A customer is the most important visitor on our premises.

He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him.

He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it.

He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it.

We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.

WOW!

I too do not know the origin of that, but it is my "tag line" on my job-related discussion-board postings, and I have been known to covertly place these words all around our office. (I work for small s/w company, that generally sells to dealers who re-sell our product to restaurants. Often our staff forgets that the restaurant owners themselves, are also out customers........"

 

[FriskyFL]

So the SCA is empowered or entitled to determine who he/she believes is "disabled" before offering at-seat meal service? So if I don't look the part, it's SCA discretion? WTH?

 

[fairviewroad]

So the SCA is empowered or entitled to determine who he/she believes is "disabled" before offering at-seat meal service? So if I don't look the part, it's SCA discretion? WTH?

I wouldn't read too much into that. "Offering" is a proactive courtesy but it's quite clear that one doesn't need to have been offered this service in order to use it.

 

[Ryan]

Not to mention, there's probably a strong correlation between "disability requires in room meal service" and "that room is the H-room".

 

[FriskyFL]

Not to mention, there's probably a strong correlation between "disability requires in room meal service" and "that room is the H-room".

So the plot thickens...another unwritten policy? Those disabled passengers unable to secure the H room aren't entitled? What about passengers who aren't disabled, but manage to book the H room last minute? This is insane. Complete overthink cluster f*ck.

 

[D.P. Roberts]

Not to mention, there's probably a strong correlation between "disability requires in room meal service" and "that room is the H-room".

So the plot thickens...another unwritten policy? Those disabled passengers unable to secure the H room aren't entitled? What about passengers who aren't disabled, but manage to book the H room last minute? This is insane. Complete overthink cluster f*ck.

Well, that's probably why the first part says that everyone is ALLOWED to have meals in their room. It is apparently up to the SCA's discretion to OFFER meals, but people who are disabled and ask should receive them and are entitled to them.

I think that in-seat meal service (like most onboard amenities) is a lot like the attendant call button on a train or an airplane. Yes, the attendant is supposed to respond when you hit the call button. But if everyone hits the call button 52 times every flight/trip, they can't possibly respond to all of them, especially in a timely manner. And if one person keeps hitting the button every five minutes, I could see the attendant perhaps trying to take some steps to help the customer understand what the button is really for.

If everyone suddenly decided that they didn't like community seating and wanted to eat in their rooms, the system couldn't possibly handle it - the SCAs would be completely overwhelmed. So, Amtrak offers in-room dining to everyone without actually advertising it broadly, while making sure that disabled passengers know about it. From there, they just hope that people will be reasonable about it and not overwhelm the system.

The problem appears to show up when SCAs and dining car staff decide for themselves when they're feeling "overwhelmed" by meal requests, and take it upon themselves to let passengers know, in a very unprofessional manner, that they're feeling overwhelmed right now - even when they should have the capacity to handle it.

 

[Ryan]

Not to mention, there's probably a strong correlation between "disability requires in room meal service" and "that room is the H-room".

So the plot thickens...another unwritten policy? Those disabled passengers unable to secure the H room aren't entitled? What about passengers who aren't disabled, but manage to book the H room last minute? This is insane. Complete overthink cluster f*ck.

You're reading waaaaay too much into all of this.
Overthink Clusterflock, indeed.

I'm sure it's nowhere this complicated in practice.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Well, that's probably why the first part says that everyone is ALLOWED to have meals in their room. It is apparently up to the SCA's discretion to OFFER meals, but people who are disabled and ask should receive them and are entitled to them.

To my understanding anyone in a sleeper and disabled passengers anywhere on the train have been entitled to meal service being brought to them. Amtrak has chosen to make this whole process extremely vague and tedious and some SCA's are more than willing to take advantage of that, but nonetheless this is how it has worked for as long as I can remember.

I think that in-seat meal service (like most onboard amenities) is a lot like the attendant call button on a train or an airplane. Yes, the attendant is supposed to respond when you hit the call button. But if everyone hits the call button 52 times every flight/trip, they can't possibly respond to all of them, especially in a timely manner. And if one person keeps hitting the button every five minutes, I could see the attendant perhaps trying to take some steps to help the customer understand what the button is really for.

Americans have long been trained to never push the call button unless it's some sort of emergency. An emergency where bringing an irritable hag into the equation somehow improves the situation. Even then we're trained not to expect immediate assistance. However this was not always the case, even back during the early years of Amtrak. To this day in some societies passengers still push the button to request basic services like drinks or snacks or tissues or trash collection or what have you.

If everyone suddenly decided that they didn't like community seating and wanted to eat in their rooms, the system couldn't possibly handle it - the SCAs would be completely overwhelmed. So, Amtrak offers in-room dining to everyone without actually advertising it broadly, while making sure that disabled passengers know about it. From there, they just hope that people will be reasonable about it and not overwhelm the system.

If everyone stopped eating community style in the diner and simply ate in their rooms then wouldn't all of the dining staff be free to take food to everyone's room? Seems like the wait staff could manage one or two sleepers worth of diners during the hours that they typically serve a single meal. Even in the case where half of the sleeper compartments want to dine in their room and the other half want to eat in the diner are you telling me that an SCA cannot deliver a dozen meals over the course of two or three hours?

The problem appears to show up when SCAs and dining car staff decide for themselves when they're feeling "overwhelmed" by meal requests, and take it upon themselves to let passengers know, in a very unprofessional manner, that they're feeling overwhelmed right now - even when they should have the capacity to handle it.

Maybe they really can't handle it. Maybe they're just really slow workers or they have some sort of mental deficiency or they've been coddled with kid gloves far too long. Maybe Amtrak doesn't advertise these sorts of services because deep down they know their own workers better than anyone else. Maybe the whole disabled thing is really more of a legal issue than a service performance issue, at least in Amtrak's view.