Amtrak Survey Taker

[the_traveler]

I just got a call to take a survey about "my recent trip on the Cardinal". (That trip was in March 2009 - or maybe it was my "recent trip" in October 2008!) I know we have had this topic before, but some of the questions asked were dumb! :blink:

Survey taker (ST): "What is your home station?"

Answer (me): "Kingston."

ST: "What city and state is that in?"

OK, that may or may not be a dumb question.

ST: "How did you get to your home station (to begin this trip)?"

Me: "Car."

Later on -

ST: "How did you get from your home station?"

:blink: If I drove there, doesn't it seem likely that I would drive that same car home?

ST: "Where did you take this trip to?"

Me: "Birmingham."

ST: "What is the name of the station and city and state is that in?"

:blink:

ST: "When you took the Cardinal, where did you end the trip?"

Me: "I'm confused. Do you mean the trip on the Cardinal or the whole trip?"

ST: "Yes."

:blink: (And after I shook my head)

Me: "Charlottesville."

ST: "What is the name of the station and city and state is that in?"

:blink:

I eventually hung up, when it was obvious they had no idea! I do understand that they are not directly with Amtrak, so if I said "Union Station" they may not know if I meant Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles or Portland. However, if someone answers "what city" with "Birmingham", "Charlottesville", "Los Angeles", "New York" or "Kingston" - and those are the names of the stops - I think it is dumb to ask "What city and state is that in?"

I should have messed with his head on the answer for Kingston, and said "The station for Kingston, RI is located a few miles outside of Kingston, RI. It is actually in West Kingston, RI, which is actually in the Town of South Kingstown, RI." (That is the truth! :blink: )

 

[amtrak51]

I got the same call about a trip in September. :blink:

 

[GG-1]

Aloha

They called me about April on the TE. The poor guy could not hand how far my home station was, or that I flew to get to Fullerton, CA. He maybe figured it out when he asked my home Zip Code

 

[acelafan]

I just got a call to take a survey about "my recent trip on the Cardinal". (That trip was in March 2009 - or maybe it was my "recent trip" in October 2008!) I know we have had this topic before, but some of the questions asked were dumb! :blink:
Survey taker (ST): "What is your home station?"

Answer (me): "Kingston."

ST: "What city and state is that in?"

OK, that may or may not be a dumb question.

ST: "How did you get to your home station (to begin this trip)?"

Me: "Car."

Later on -

ST: "How did you get from your home station?"

:blink: If I drove there, doesn't it seem likely that I would drive that same car home?

ST: "Where did you take this trip to?"

Me: "Birmingham."

ST: "What is the name of the station and city and state is that in?"

:blink:

ST: "When you took the Cardinal, where did you end the trip?"

Me: "I'm confused. Do you mean the trip on the Cardinal or the whole trip?"

ST: "Yes."

:blink: (And after I shook my head)

Me: "Charlottesville."

ST: "What is the name of the station and city and state is that in?"

:blink:

I eventually hung up, when it was obvious they had no idea! I do understand that they are not directly with Amtrak, so if I said "Union Station" they may not know if I meant Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles or Portland. However, if someone answers "what city" with "Birmingham", "Charlottesville", "Los Angeles", "New York" or "Kingston" - and those are the names of the stops - I think it is dumb to ask "What city and state is that in?"

I should have messed with his head on the answer for Kingston, and said "The station for Kingston, RI is located a few miles outside of Kingston, RI. It is actually in West Kingston, RI, which is actually in the Town of South Kingstown, RI." (That is the truth! :blink: )

One word: Tragic!

 

[Long Train Runnin']

They called looking for me last Sunday. I wasn't home and my mom said they would would call me on Tuesday. Well its Saturday and I haven't gotten a call. Sounds like I might luck out by not participating.

 

[cpamtfan]

Wait I think I get it: You keep following their pointless questions and you get a voucher :lol: !

 

[Chatter163]

I received a call and took the entire survey. These are not pointless questions; they are what must happen, for sake of clarity, when untrained hourly telemarketers, rather than trained researchers, are used to record qualitative and quantitative data. The alternative is incomplete information obtained.

 

[the_traveler]

I received a call and took the entire survey. These are not pointless questions; they are what must happen, for sake of clarity, when untrained hourly telemarketers, rather than trained researchers, are used to record qualitative and quantitative data. The alternative is incomplete information obtained.

True, but if the question is "What station did you go to?" and you answer "Washington, DC" and you're asked "What city and state is that in?" - how do you answer? :huh: (It is not in ANY state! ) Besides, 99.999999999999999% of the people have heard of Washington, DC!

For that other 0.0000000000001% - I'll tell you. It's where the White House, the President, the Capitol, the Senate, the House of Representatives and the Supreme Court are located! It's also the capital city of the United States of America! You may have heard it mentioned on some news!

 

[Bob Dylan]

I received a call and took the entire survey. These are not pointless questions; they are what must happen, for sake of clarity, when untrained hourly telemarketers, rather than trained researchers, are used to record qualitative and quantitative data. The alternative is incomplete information obtained.

True, but if the question is "What station did you go to?" and you answer "Washington, DC" and you're asked "What city and state is that in?" - how do you answer? :huh: (It is not in ANY state! ) Besides, 99.999999999999999% of the people have heard of Washington, DC!

For that other 0.0000000000001% - I'll tell you. It's where the White House, the President, the Capitol, the Senate, the House of Representatives and the Supreme Court are located! It's also the capital city of the United States of America! You may have heard it mentioned on some news!

There is a special questionaire for those that live in/went to school in the original Confederate States of America as well as Oklahoma :lol: since they still think the Capitol is located in Richmond, Va. h34r: Believe it, they still call it the war between the states even though they werent states anymore but had pulled out of the union to form their own nation! Some, like our current Governor for life, still preach and dream this foolishness!

As they used to say, some people are so dumb they cant spell cat if you spot them the c and a!! :lol: Probably think Amtrak is headquarted in Mobile and go down to the station to catch the train and wonder why it doesnt ever show up!! :lol: ( since they live in the past they use the old time tables from the Southern roads that showed lots of trains! :lol: )

 

[Big Iron]

I received a call and took the entire survey. These are not pointless questions; they are what must happen, for sake of clarity, when untrained hourly telemarketers, rather than trained researchers, are used to record qualitative and quantitative data. The alternative is incomplete information obtained.

True, but if the question is "What station did you go to?" and you answer "Washington, DC" and you're asked "What city and state is that in?" - how do you answer? :huh: (It is not in ANY state! ) Besides, 99.999999999999999% of the people have heard of Washington, DC!

For that other 0.0000000000001% - I'll tell you. It's where the White House, the President, the Capitol, the Senate, the House of Representatives and the Supreme Court are located! It's also the capital city of the United States of America! You may have heard it mentioned on some news!

There is a special questionaire for those that live in/went to school in the original Confederate States of America as well as Oklahoma :lol: since they still think the Capitol is located in Richmond, Va. h34r: Believe it, they still call it the war between the states even though they werent states anymore but had pulled out of the union to form their own nation! Some, like our current Governor for life, still preach and dream this foolishness!

As they used to say, some people are so dumb they cant spell cat if you spot them the c and a!! :lol: Probably think Amtrak is headquarted in Mobile and go down to the station to catch the train and wonder why it doesnt ever show up!! :lol: ( since they live in the past they use the old time tables from the Southern roads that showed lots of trains! :lol: )

Actually.......South of the Mason-Dixon line the great war is known at the War of Northern Agression. Welcome to RVR.

 

[alanh]

Now, I think it's a little harsh. The survey takers are working from a script and do not have a list of stops and what routes they're on. They have probably been told to get the state to clarify the stops where the city name is the same. "Birmingham" is not enough; you could mean Birmingham, AL (BHM) or Birmingham, MI (BMM).

Washington, DC is clear enough because the DC is what it is instead of a state -- District of Columbia. But people will answer "I went to Washington" when they mean they went to the Space Needle.

I haven't done it to a train station, but I have gone by car to the airport and returned via taxi. A friend drove me there, but wasn't available to pick me up.

 

[the_traveler]

Now, I think it's a little harsh. The survey takers are working from a script and do not have a list of stops and what routes they're on. They have probably been told to get the state to clarify the stops where the city name is the same. "Birmingham" is not enough; you could mean Birmingham, AL (BHM) or Birmingham, MI (BMM).
Washington, DC is clear enough because the DC is what it is instead of a state -- District of Columbia. But people will answer "I went to Washington" when they mean they went to the Space Needle.

Yeah, I see you point (somewhat). But the same thing happened, when I said "Chicago", "Los Angeles" and "New York City"! How many cities can you name with those names? :huh:

And if I didn't know Amtrak (and unless I knew people there) when someone mentions Birmingham, I do not think of "Is it Birmingham, AL or Birmingham, MI"! And if someone mentions Ontario, I would not think of "Is it Ontario, CA or Ontario, OR or did he mean the Province of Ontario, Canada"!

I'm not saying anything bad about the city, but if someone says "I'm going on vacation to Vancouver!", I (and many others) think of Vancouver, BC and not Vancouver, WA! (I could be wrong, but I don't think the 2010 Winter Olympics are being held in Vancouver, WA!)