"If you think about it, almost all marketing systems are designed to track responses -- but not avoidances. How do you uncover the people who hate you and may pass that message on to others?
"A few years ago we got a phone survey from Amtrak, after taking the Acela express train from New Haven to Washington D.C. on a regular basis. The research firm asked questions on food, comfort, prices, then ended the call. We gave Amtrak high marks in every category. What the survey forgot to ask was about the conductors, whom we found the rudest of almost any customer-facing personnel in the universe. You see, Amtrak has a simple business process problem -- it expects passengers to close the overhead bins after putting luggage in them, but passengers are trained by airplanes to have flight attendants walk the aisles and close the bins for them. So instead of understanding this confusion, Amtrak conductors loudly chastise the train full of adults to snap to attention and close the bins -- rudely.
"As the train lurches forward, you can see business professionals and parents looking at each other in surprise -- wow, those conductors sound hostile.
"Amtrak, like many organizations, could use a simple tool to figure out who hates what, and perhaps it's something simple it could fix. A little complaint discovery goes a long way."
This surprised me. I've never ridden an Acela so was unaware of the overhead bins -- had no idea they had doors. Or do they? And if so, are conductors really this shirty about closing the doors?
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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posted
?? I have always closed my own overhead bin on the airplane.
Sounds like someone looking for something to gripe about. This is where someone should say, get a life.
Posts: 2808 | From: Olive Branch MS | Registered: Nov 2002
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On airplanes I've always left the bin open while other passengers stuffed their stuff in there, and the attendants walk down the aisle shutting them. At least on United, about the only airline I fly these days because it goes where I want to go and I have a United credit card. Maybe I should get an Amtrak credit card instead. It usually goes where I want to go, too.
In any case, George, if the conductors are being *ssh*l*s about the overhead bins, this is not a good thing. Nothing will spoil a train trip faster than a conductor who thinks the world owes him a living. I have run into them -- fortunately, not often.
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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posted
If an airplane overhead bin is full, or nearly full, or I'm one of the last on the plane then I close it. Otherwise it stays open.
Regarding opinion surveys, they're always geared towards the response they want, not what people actually want to say. On that basis I consider them nearly worthless.
Geoff M.
-------------------- Geoff M. Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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Most flight attendants would prefer that you NOT close the bins. They like to have some knowledge of where there is space that they can rearrange to accommodate late comers. This comes from the in-house source with year 39 starting on the 17th of December. Another piece of advice for roll aboards. Wheels out and down! Most bins will take a 22" rollaboard inserted shortside first and even more easily with the wheels out and down. Good luggage should have a handle on the bottom to make it easier to pull out at the destination.
Frank in dark, windy and cool SBA
Posts: 2160 | From: Santa Barbara, CA, USA | Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
It seems that there will always be certain conductors who have the need to find something to chastise the passengers about. For a long time, it was seat checks. Before 9/11, most of the "regular" trains in the NEC (now called Regionals) were unreserved. The rule was that if you left your seat for any reason, you were supposed to bring it with you and you'd catch you-know-what from the conductor if you didn't. At one point, they actually made announcements that you wouldn't be served in the cafe car if you didn't have your seat check. Now that all but a few short haul Amtrak routes are reserved, a ticket stub is all that is needed for proof of payment. As a result, some of the conductors are going through seat check withdrawal and have to find other ways to satisfy their maniacal quest for power and domination.
Lately the main outlet is the Quiet Car. Quiet Cars aren't all that quiet because the occupants thereof are constantly being reminded that they are in the Quiet Car and what the Rules of Behavior are. One time I was in the quiet car and the conductor gave a five minute lecture, as if we were a bunch of bad children, about the rules. A few years ago some of the Quiet Cars didn't have signs, which gave the conducors plenty of opportunities to play enforcer.
The overhead bins in the Acela do have rather large doors and when left open, it is pretty easy to bump your head on them, so at least they have a reason for going off on people. The irony of all this that the Acela is being marketed exclusively to lure business travelers from the air shuttles and discourage most of the people who have taken the train before from riding it.
Another possibility is the the small minority of conductors who do seem to enjoy chastising passengers may have retentive issues with their lower digestive tracts.
Posts: 49 | From: Brookline, MA | Registered: Sep 2007
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posted
Just to put things in perspective, here's a story about a crotchety conductor who actually threw a passenger off a train -- while it was moving. (No mention of overhead bin doors, however.)
ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia - A train conductor in the south of Russia has been charged with throwing a ticketless passenger off a train while it was travelling at over 70 km/h (42 mph), RIA Novosti reports.
The man was hospitalized with multiple fractures and head injuries.
The train, heading from the southern Russian resort of Adler to Russia's second city of St. Petersburg, was in the Rostov Region when the incident occurred.
According to authorities, the conductor had earlier taken the passenger on board without a ticket, started drinking with him, and then after an argument decided to forcibly eject him from the carriage.
"The train was moving at 74 km/h [46 mph] when the passenger fell out of the train," prosecutors said, adding that he "could have died."
The incident took place on October 5, but charges have only just been filed. The conductor has admitted his guilt and is now out on bail awaiting trial.
(This item was distributed Oct. 22, 2008, by RIA Novosti.)
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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I will pay attention to the next survey I get from Calif. Amtrak, but I believe there is a comments section at the end. If I met a rude anybody I would not hesitate to say so. Whether or not that will ever help fix anything is anybody's guess.
I've allways closed the train overhead doors - it is a different situation on a train. Even if full (not often) the train stops many times at stations, whereat people are removing and re-stowing bags. A plane doesn't do this, and there are less attendants per seat on the train to do it for you. However, on the Surfliner, the door were so small, it was hardly worth the fight to use the bins.
And Henry, now I will never drink with a Conductor!
Posts: 406 | From: La Grange, CA | Registered: Sep 2007
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Out here in the west, the seat check is exactly that, a seat check, not a passenger check. If you move to another seat, the conductors tell you to take it with you, but if you go the cafe car, you leave it at your seat so that no one takes your seat while you are gone.
Sounds like a real power trip to me.
-------------------- Railrev Escondido, CA Posts: 99 | From: Escondido, California | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by sbalax: Doors on the Surfliner? News to me. Maybe on that odd trainset with the single level cars???
Frank in cool SBA
Hmmm...I thought I remembered the problem with the small overhead-bin doors on the San Diego to LA ride, but it could have been the San Joaquins. Whichever train it was, the doors were so small only a purse or briefcase would have fit easily. My overnight bag is not large. But the open shelf style would work much better IMHO.
Posts: 406 | From: La Grange, CA | Registered: Sep 2007
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