Serving Protocol In The Cafe Car

[Dovecote]

I witnessed a heated discussion between the Cafe Attendant and the Conductor on my recent trip on a NER from WAS>NYP. The Conductor was unprofessionally scolding the Attendant on serving protocol in front of me and another passenger. The topic revolved on the failure of the Attendant to provide a passengers item purchase in a cardboard carry tray. The Conductor told the Attendant that it was policy while the Attendant insisted it was not. The Attendant indicated that cardboard carry trays were provided upon customer request. She stated that she had several years of service and not once heard of this policy.

The conversation got heated enough that another Amtrak employee had to approach the Conductor and tell him it was inappropriate conduct in front of passengers. The Conductor ended the conversation by telling the Attendant that he would call her Supervisor. The Attendant said she would call her Supervisor as well for the proper ruling.

Out of curiosity, anyone know of the proper serving protocol in this incident?

 

[PerRock]

it might say in here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwoszLS0nWxPZ1A2YWhNYnNQVlU/edit?usp=sharing

I skimmed thru the section on Food Service and didn't see any requirements for the cardboard trays.

peter

 

[TVRM610]

Haha... I love those "I'm right / no I'm right" arguments. I wonder what started it though... seems like the Conductor wouldn't just be watching the cafe attendant for fun... I bet the Conductor noticed passengers leaving without trays and both hands being full which is dangerous cause then there is not a free hand to grab on to rails and seat backs etc.

I'm not sure about the policy.. but I can't remember purchasing multiple items and not being given a tray automatically.. it does seem like pretty standard procedure. And indeed it should be for safety IMHO.

 

[zepherdude]

I have always been given a cardboard carry all with my orders. Coffee n muffin or soft drink and hot dog is much easier to handle on a fast moving train (or slow moving train). The heated discussion was really bad in front of the passengers. If anyone should have called the supervisors, it should have been the passengers around the incident. Very tasteless to pull that in a public area.

 

[Ryan]

There's a really easy way to solve that argument without things getting acrimonious in front of the passenger:

"Show me the reference"

Best line I ever learned in the Navy. If you're going to claim that something needs to be done, or that it needs to be done a particular way, you're going to have to prove it.

"If you can't, STFU."

Problem solved. That's why I love having the Blue Book available and constantly agitate to see whatever passes for rules in the AGR arena.

 

[SarahZ]

Wow. That was extremely unprofessional. The conductor should have asked the attendant to take a break and then handled it in private.

The cardboard trays don't do much good, IMHO. They're so flimsy that I end up using both hands to carry them anyway, especially when they have a drink in them.

 

[TimSpencer]

too bad this exchange wasn't captured on video and posted on YouTube.

 

[TVRM610]

While I agree it's unprofessional... C'mon, we've all been in a situation where things get a little heated in front of co-workers and yes even the public sometimes. I know I have been on both sides of this.

I'm just guessing they were both to blame... Conductor probably said something sort of authoritive to the lsa and then the LSA said something like "mind your own business" and it went from there. Again just a guess.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Maybe they'd worked with the Infamous Miss Polly previously and learned Arguing 101 from the Queen of Mean!! <_<

 

[George Harris]

Given the normal "chain of command",if you can call it that on a train, so far as I am concerned the attendant should be looking for work. Also, it just makes good sense that if the order is more than one item to provide a tray whether requested or not. That is simple good service, and should not need to be explained to someone whose job is to provide service. Saying all this, being a fairly regular rider of the Amtrak California trains, I have always been given a cardboard tray without having to ask for it.

 

[cirdan]

I witnessed a heated discussion between the Cafe Attendant and the Conductor on my recent trip on a NER from WAS>NYP. The Conductor was unprofessionally scolding the Attendant on serving protocol in front of me and another passenger. The topic revolved on the failure of the Attendant to provide a passengers item purchase in a cardboard carry tray. The Conductor told the Attendant that it was policy while the Attendant insisted it was not. The Attendant indicated that cardboard carry trays were provided upon customer request. She stated that she had several years of service and not once heard of this policy.
The conversation got heated enough that another Amtrak employee had to approach the Conductor and tell him it was inappropriate conduct in front of passengers. The Conductor ended the conversation by telling the Attendant that he would call her Supervisor. The Attendant said she would call her Supervisor as well for the proper ruling.

Out of curiosity, anyone know of the proper serving protocol in this incident?

I don't know what is good serving protocol, but it's definitely bad staff protocol if staff argue in front of customers, or if supervisors discipline their underlings in front of customers.

 

[amamba]

Given the normal "chain of command",if you can call it that on a train, so far as I am concerned the attendant should be looking for work. Also, it just makes good sense that if the order is more than one item to provide a tray whether requested or not. That is simple good service, and should not need to be explained to someone whose job is to provide service. Saying all this, being a fairly regular rider of the Amtrak California trains, I have always been given a cardboard tray without having to ask for it.

I disagree, it is incredibly wasteful to give everyone a cardboard tray if they don't need it. I am 100% serious. It is a waste of money (cardboard trays aren't free) for the amtrak dining services and also bad for the environment.

 

[SarahZ]

Agreed. When they start to pop the tray open, I say, "It's okay. I don't need one." I do the same thing when they try to bag 1-2 small items at the grocery store.

 

[benjibear]

If you are buying one item like a bag of chips or candy bar, you probably don't need a tray. With drinks, they always have warm soda and give you a cup of ice which I think you need a tray but that is built into the price.

As far as being wasteful, you can say it is wasteful but they are handy when trying to navigate through a train around people, rocking back and fort, etc. There are alot of things that are wasteful but we do it to increase the overall safety of society.

 

[FriskyFL]

If Amtrak isn't recycling these trays, they should. Takes the "environment" issue off the table.

 

[RailRide]

The cardboard trays don't do much good, IMHO. They're so flimsy that I end up using both hands to carry them anyway, especially when they have a drink in them.

Since the drink is the usual point of instability, I usually grip the tray around the drink as I carry it back. The rest of the tray's contents usually don't weigh as much as the drink bottle and their center of gravity is below the tray top so they're not as likely to break free.

---PCJ

 

[SarahZ]

The cardboard trays don't do much good, IMHO. They're so flimsy that I end up using both hands to carry them anyway, especially when they have a drink in them.

Since the drink is the usual point of instability, I usually grip the tray around the drink as I carry it back. The rest of the tray's contents usually don't weigh as much as the drink bottle and their center of gravity is below the tray top so they're not as likely to break free.

---PCJ

I get what you're saying. I'll try that next time. Thanks.

I sometimes bring my purse with me, so my other trick is to stuff the drink in my purse and use the tray for the glass and whatever food item(s) I have.

 

[rusty spike]

"Green" issue or not, if you're carrying a couple of cups of hot coffee (or ice tea for that matter) through a coach at 79 MPH with me in an aisle seat, I would hope you have it in a tray. Hitting a high-speed cross-over are bad enough even if you have nothing to juggle.

 

[amamba]

If Amtrak isn't recycling these trays, they should. Takes the "environment" issue off the table.

Not really. Using something that you don't need is still wasteful. It still takes resources (ie, probably fossil fuels) to produce the tray and then recycle it. So yes, amtrak should absolutely be recycling the cardboard trays. And someone who is carrying a beverage should be offered a tray. But offering them to every single passenger, including someone who just got a bag a chips and nothing else, seems wasteful to me.

 

[Mike]

I recently rode on the Acela from NY-BOS and the cafe attendant was PAINFULLY slow and deliberate. I almost wanted to ask him if something was wrong. Anyone experience this at all?

 

[SarahZ]

Perhaps he was new?

 

[OBS]

Perhaps he was new?

No, this person has been this way for years...even when he worked in office for awhile. I think it might be some medication he takes or something...

ETA- A passenger and I were talking about him last week, about how he had a line 2 cars long...

 

[Steve4031]

He's being slow to turn people away.

 

[SarahZ]

Perhaps he was new?

No, this person has been this way for years...even when he worked in office for awhile. I think it might be some medication he takes or something...

ETA- A passenger and I were talking about him last week, about how he had a line 2 cars long...

That's too bad. Perhaps he needs to be given a different position, since that one is obviously too demanding for his condition.

 

[AlanB]

I once hit a cafe attendant on the Maple Leaf years ago who was horribly slow & inefficient. The best past is that he'd bark at the next person on line while waiting for the food in the microwave to heat up the current order "what do you want?" Then he would promptly forget what you said, as he rang up the other customer and have to ask you all over again what you wanted.

The line often extended out of the Club Dinette and into the coach next to it. It took him forever to ring up the sale and count out the change.

His crowning achievement was to make some poor young women, maybe 18 or so, cry. She was standing in the long line next to a table on which he had improperly piled his supplies. Out of the blue, with easily more than 25 to 30 trays left and the line out the door into the next car, he decides that needs to restock the trays. More likely he just wanted a break; but that's another matter. So he walks out from behind and down the aisle. The poor girl thinking that he's going to continue down the aisle, leans more into the table to try to get of his way. And he barks at her "Well if you don't get out of my way so that I can get the supplies, then I can't help anyone!" His tone was extremely nasty and like I said, he reduced her to tears.

When she finally got up to the counter, she was almost afraid to order anything.