posted
“One last thought. Guests may be called passengers.” --Amtrak President and CEO David L. Gunn, in closing his message to employees yesterday.Posts: 149 | From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
They're not going to send all the employees to "Train Manners School" to be re-taught this now, are they?
Posts: 553 | From: Flagstaff, AZ USA | Registered: Apr 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
That line gave me a good laugh. Gunn serves his common sense with a little dollop of humor.
But it was the paragraph that preceeded it that caught my eye:
"I also spoke to you recently of an effective management structure. This week, we will begin the move back to a traditional railroad structure, which should be in place early in the next fiscal year. We will have an operating department, a mechanical department, an engineering department, etc."
What a concept!
------------------ Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth. -Mr. Toy
posted
I too caught that about "guests" now being called "passengers." To me, that sounds like a step down in AMTRAK's "satisfaction guaranteed" commitment, kind of like they are "downgrading" the status of passengers. As far as the rest of the proposed restructuring is concerned, I am not sure if that will be good or bad -- I guess there will no longer be an "Intercity business unit," and a "west coast business unit" -- I thought the individual business units were a good thing, since they could concentrate on one or two routes and make them better, rather than have to deal with the entire system at once. I guess we'll see...........
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
To (mis)quote someone on the All_Aboard mailing list, guests are happy to sit around and look at your drapes for hours, but passengers actually want to go somewhere.
Besides, it just looks wrong that the current wording of certain timetable footnotes is, for example, "stops only to discharge guests."
Posts: 112 | From: North Hollywood, California | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
This guest crap is nothing but semantics. I don't care what I'm referred to as, as long as I board a clean train, am assisted by helpful and friendly employees and get to my destination fairly close to on time. I would also like to have all the services that should be available, for instance the Pacific Parlor Car on the Coast Starlight. It would be nice too, to be kept up to date on any problems enroute & how they will be taken care of.
quote:Originally posted by RRRICH: I too caught that about "guests" now being called "passengers." To me, that sounds like a step down in AMTRAK's "satisfaction guaranteed" commitment, kind of like they are "downgrading" the status of passengers.
That's not how I saw it. Many service oriented companies try to use "feel-good" language formulas under the mistaken idea that perfectly good words like "passengers" or "customers" are somehow inadequate. Usually companies resort to feel-good language and other behavioral formulas instead of actually improving service. I've worked for companies that thought that way. As I see it, Gunn's comment means that substance will take precedence over style. That wins a lot of points in my book.
------------------ Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth. -Mr. Toy
quote:Originally posted by Mr. Toy: That's not how I saw it. Many service oriented companies try to use "feel-good" language formulas under the mistaken idea that perfectly good words like "passengers" or "customers" are somehow inadequate. Usually companies resort to feel-good language and other behavioral formulas instead of actually improving service. I've worked for companies that thought that way. As I see it, Gunn's comment means that substance will take precedence over style. That wins a lot of points in my book.
Mr Toy...That was exactly my take on the quote too. It's about time Amtrak did really Walk the walk and not just Talk the talk. I find the term "passenger" is more closely related to "customer" whereas "guest" makes me think of someone staying in your house that you are anxiously awaiting to leave.
[This message has been edited by Ken V (edited 06-07-2002).]
posted
I would much rather be a "passenger" than a "guest". And so on and so forth...the honesty and candor is appreciated. Still, it's ok by me if they keep the "Guest Rewards" name for the frequent rider program.
Posts: 874 | From: South Bay (LA County), Calif, USA | Registered: Aug 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
Why not "Amtrak Rewards" for the travel rewards program. One more chance to get in some brand identity. Guest Rewards implies a program for a hotel chain. American Airlines gets in that "last lick" with "AAdvantage"
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
