Interesting reading, apparently the Amtrak restroom issues are more prevalent system wide then I thought (eww).......
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/travel/amtrak.html
I had a mild chuckle at the Passenger boarding in Alton, IL to catch a flight at O'Hare, have to file that one under passenger stupiidty even with the planned get to Chicago Union Station 3.5 hours before the plane takes off.
Allowing 3.5 hours to get from CUS to O'Hare is cutting it close even under the best of circumstances. I wouldn't expect that passenger to know about the Blue Line, so a cab ride is going to take some time (probably an hour), check-in and clearing security during midday will take a fair amount of time, so a missed flight would be highly likely.
It seems a big percentage of the complaints have to do with late trains, followed by Amtrak people being rude. A percentage of the Amtrak rude people are Amtrak people in the call centers or in the stations. Also note the complaints between first time riders and repeat riders.
Makes me wonder about the CSI ratings now and how that survey is conducted, what questions are asked and how.
One thing about client satisfaction surveys from my own long ago experience is folks that had a satisfactory or mildly good time have to be goaded or persuaded to take the surveys (not a lot of motivation). The motivation are those that are really impressed or really disappointed. So you get two extremes reflected in the survey and nothing in between and primarily it is the negative folks that want to stick it to you.
Also, I saw it was noted elsewhere on the Internet that Amtrak accidently sent a customer satisfaction survey to victims of a train crash by mistake then had to issue a letter to tell them to disregard it........kind of strange but I wonder how many times they have done that without realizing it and nobody complaining.
CSSHEGEWISCH Allowing 3.5 hours to get from CUS to O'Hare is cutting it close even under the best of circumstances. I wouldn't expect that passenger to know about the Blue Line, so a cab ride is going to take some time (probably an hour), check-in and clearing security during midday will take a fair amount of time, so a missed flight would be highly likely.
If the passenger flies frquently, he/she would likely have TSA pre, so the time in security would be a lot less. Likely he/she would have checked in online and have a boarding pass on the phone. The blue line is not very convenient to get to but a cab right now at 9:00 am should take about 20-35 minutes.
CMStPnP It seems a big percentage of the complaints have to do with late trains, followed by Amtrak people being rude. A percentage of the Amtrak rude people are Amtrak people in the call centers or in the stations. Also note the complaints between first time riders and repeat riders. Makes me wonder about the CSI ratings now and how that survey is conducted, what questions are asked and how. One thing about client satisfaction surveys from my own long ago experience is folks that had a satisfactory or mildly good time have to be goaded or persuaded to take the surveys (not a lot of motivation). The motivation are those that are really impressed or really disappointed. So you get two extremes reflected in the survey and nothing in between and primarily it is the negative folks that want to stick it to you. Also, I saw it was noted elsewhere on the Internet that Amtrak accidently sent a customer satisfaction survey to victims of a train crash by mistake then had to issue a letter to tell them to disregard it........kind of strange but I wonder how many times they have done that without realizing it and nobody complaining.
It sounds like Amtrak's department for customer satisfaction is incomeptent and not high priority. That said, there are better methodologies these days to get a more representative sample. Uni Chicago and Michigan have excellent centers for that purpose.
Perhaps my travels have inured me to such things as train delays--especially when such delays are beyond Amtrak's control (on my last trip, we were delayed leaving Denver because of a forest fire in Utah; we ended up detouring across Wyoming, and UP pilots had to be called without advance notice).
I recall two greatly irritated events: once last year the car attendant did not ask if I needed help with my baggage as we were coming in to Chicago; I kept waiting for her to come back, but when it was evident she was not coming back, I started out the door of my room--and another passenger helped me down the stair. I use a rollator (often called a"walker"), which, except for the last time I boarded, is stowed with bagggage downstairs. When we arrived here, the attendant had to look in at least four compartments (accessed from the outside of the car) before he found my rollator. On the whole, every Amtrak employee has understood my needs for assistance.
Johnny
charlie hebdoMichigan have excellent centers for that purpose
Internally General Motors uses the U of M Consumer Sentiment Surveys for their Market Analysis or used to.
JPS1Without access to Amtrak’s customer satisfaction survey methodologies, we don’ know the specifics!
Obviously not. But if their in-house surveys of passengersare not using more sophisticated methodologies, they won't tell anybody useful info. This is now electronic, apparently. The last info I found said they had achieved 80% satisfied, but no details.The Consumer Affairs Board has only 75 inputs from 2018. This is little better or maybe worse than looking at Yelp.
charlie hebdo Obviously not. But if their in-house surveys of passengersare not using more sophisticated methodologies, they won't tell anybody useful info. This is now electronic, apparently. The last info I found said they had achieved 80% satisfied, but no details.
The September 2018 Monthly Operating Report, which reports select results of operations for FY18, shows a system wide CSI score of 77.7.
In any case, it is important to look at the results over a least a year, as opposed to several months, and preferably over three to five years to get a good feel for the trends.
Unless I see solid evidence that Amtrak's methods are seriously flawed, I tend to believe the outcomes are a reasonable reflection of the organization’s operations.
I give people and organizations the benefit of the doubt until shown otherwise. Call me naïve if you like, I am happy to wear it.
It would be informative if there were a J.D. Power rating, as there is with the airlines and airports. There isn't.
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