First time on Acela - wow does Amtrak suck

Railjunkie, your $.02 is well spent, and I think we're saying much the same thing in different ways. My only add on would be the folks who act with impunity because "the union will protect me". They belong up to their waist in snow wrestling with boxcar brake hoses, but Amtrak doesn't offer too many opportunities of that nature.

What many nonunion people don't understand is that yes the Union will protect you. If you are filing because you are acting with impunity yes they will go through the motions but they won't put their A game into this fight.

Gilbert B Norman wrote: ↑Tue Jun 14, 2022 7:03 pm

Hotels? let's not go there as well. Two stays at "ostensibly four star" Hyatt Regency; well one in Greenwich CT had only Room Service; no bar; no restaurant, no housekeeping until you checked out (really don't miss that - until you run out of soap; those lotion bottles "don't cut it with me).

Wow. Seriously? I've known that hotel for years, ex#1 worked there, it was all that and a bag of chips. Their breakfast buffet was legendary!

I seldom run into a seat problem, whether it's plane, train, or sporting event. But when I have, I don't tolerate nonsense. I've been told in Yankee Stadium that I was sitting in the wrong seat when I had SEASON TICKETS. And found people in them telling me I must be mistaken and asking me for my tickets.

If I have a seat on the Acela and you're in it, we have a problem. GTFU and move. It's all how you deal with the situation, what presence you have. You have to lay down to be a doormat.

Jeff Smith wrote: ↑Wed Feb 15, 2023 8:02 am

Gilbert B Norman wrote: ↑Tue Jun 14, 2022 7:03 pm

Hotels? let's not go there as well. Two stays at "ostensibly four star" Hyatt Regency; well one in Greenwich CT had only Room Service; no bar; no restaurant, no housekeeping until you checked out (really don't miss that - until you run out of soap; those lotion bottles "don't cut it with me).

Wow. Seriously? I've known that hotel for years, ex#1 worked there, it was all that and a bag of chips. Their breakfast buffet was legendary!

Exit 5, vice 1, Sergeant.

The negative as noted, applies only to Greenwich. While he was still in the area, Otto met me there for Breakfast on several occasions. Well, that was then, this is now. Come this June, let's see if conditions improve (a Reception clerk told me during November it will; the hotel was sold - will still be managed by Hyatt - and new owners apparently announced to the staff, "things will change").

The other one, Hyatt Villa Christina, Brookhaven GA (Atlanta) was just fine, with its full service Breakfast and a nice Bar with a super Bartender, last year February '22; will be staying there next week, so we shall see.

I'm located in Stamford now, so let me know.

Red Wing wrote: ↑Wed Feb 15, 2023 7:32 am What many nonunion people don't understand is that yes the Union will protect you. If you are filing because you are acting with impunity yes they will go through the motions but they won't put their A game into this fight.

Agree, when both company and union are reasonable dealing with each other, and especially based upon my experience in one such flagrant case. A specific union employee whose job was subject to federal high pressure natural gas pipeline mandatory random drug testing, similar to railroad requirements, would when selected at the beginning of the shift immediately go to the bathroom to empty himself. Then at the testing location he would refuse to drink water to encourage the need to urinate saying he was not thirsty and was afraid he would choke. By the time that he had the urge to go and provide a urine sample the work day was over, so he spent the entire day indoors in a comfortable chair reading magazines or whatever instead of being outdoors performing hard labor for most of the day. Company management upon noticing this repeated behavior placed warnings in his personnel file and took certain sanctions when not resolved. The employee then filed a complaint with the state commission that regulated the company and administered the federal random drug program as permitted by federal regulations. A formal conference was convened at the state regulator office before regulatory senior staff, and I for legal and a human resources employee were assigned to represent the company. The union representative and union legal counsel represented the employee. I could see the facial expressions of the union representative and union counsel which clearly indicated how embarrassed they were about their union member's behavior. The company prevailed as the rep and counsel simply went through the motions at the minimum level. The story made the rounds and both reasonable union and management employees joked about it as the "pissing contest".

In roughly 2005, I got on a flight only to discover someone in my seat. Well into the digital era, the problem was that we both had a valid boarding pass for the same seat. Fortunately, the flight wasn't full. I don't remember who got the ticketed seat. It was all handled amicably by the two of us and the flight attendant. Strange though. Not exactly relevant to rail, but a story I thought worth telling.

My one and only to date experience with reserved seating on the railways of Great Britain was like that, York to London on LNER, alas pre-Azuma. We boarded the train in York only to find a couple (also foreign tourists) occupying our assigned seats. They absolutely refused to move even when I showed them our seating assignments, stating that they were told by the reservation agent that they could sit wherever they wanted. In the UK it can be quite a challenge to find the "train manager", but I asked my wife to just stay put, and after walking up and down the train for about 10 minutes I finally found him (in the cafe of course!). He went up to talk to the couple and then came back and said he "discussed procedure" with them, I was in the right, and if I wanted him to, he'd boot the recalcitrant couple out of our seats. However, he said he'd also found another pair of seats in the otherwise very full train and offered those instead. At this point it was a half hour into the trip and I'd had enough, so I claimed the seats, searched for and found my wife a couple of cars up, and the rest of the journey was uneventful. Not the best introduction to rail travel in the UK but in the end no international crisis was created and I wasn't left standing for the whole trip.

ryanwc wrote: ↑Wed Feb 15, 2023 1:24 pm In roughly 2005, I got on a flight only to discover someone in my seat. Well into the digital era, the problem was that we both had a valid boarding pass for the same seat. Fortunately, the flight wasn't full. I don't remember who got the ticketed seat. It was all handled amicably by the two of us and the flight attendant. Strange though. Not exactly relevant to rail, but a story I thought worth telling.

Heh, reminds me of a short story I wrote in the middle of No Novel November (a contest where you write short scenes each day of November). In (even) shorter (and more "normal"*) form, one of my odder (in relation to this board) characters was flying from northern California back to Baltimore on a red-eye off two tickets (because of how odd they were, they requested adjacent seating). One of said tickets was bumped, and the other landed them between two obese people that should really be hibernating for the winter... with no room to even sit. The character objected and complained to the flight crew, who escorted them off the plane to try to accommodate. That's when the computer booking error was found.

Said character ended up getting a ride back home on a retired F-15E double-seated Strike Eagle via a specialty airline... and eventually owing their own train engine/consist (see link in signature for that).

(* Note to say in my circles, there's a heavy dose of sci-fi taken and transgender issues are largely resolved. I've avoided use of the character's shi/hir pronouns here)

Now that we've thoroughly derailed this topic...