Whats with the secrets?

I have always wondered why some of the employees who work the big rides, top thrill dragster in perticular, are sometimes rude when it comes to breakdowns. I know that sometimes they may not know what is going on but other times it seems like they do and just dont say anything. Now I dont want to make anyone look bad, or say anything negative about people, but I have always wondered this. I mean one time it was like 3 hours of waiting during a breakdown and during that time it was down mechanical, then down weather (on a sunny non windy day) and then down mechanical again. All which launching trains. I just dont get it...Has anyone else experienced this type of thing on any of the rides?

I'd imagine they get pretty damn sick of dealing with people contstantly saying: "omg, when will it reopen." "omg, what happened." "omg, will i be able to ride today." I know if I answered the same question every 30 seconds, i'd be a little irritated also.

Often times on Dragster the crew knows exactly what's wrong with the ride, but then other times they don't. It's park policy for the employees not to divulge any information about what causes a ride to go down. If the ops tell guests an approximate time on when it will be up, another problem may arise after the current problem is fixed that could cause further delays. So their original time estimate would be off and it might annoy/anger some guests. And trust me, the last thing Dragster ops need is more angry guests.

Why are the ride ops a little annoyed at people's questions? Because I guarantee that they have been asked the same questions hundreds of times every day. After a while it can drain your enthusiasm for the job.

Simple Answer: If they tell you what is wrong, they could be fired (and yes, it has happened before.)

Yeh Park policy. I don't think an employee is going to risk getting fired to satisfy a guest with information that they really don't need to know.

Employees are technically not allowed to say anything other that what the speil cards say. If they tactfully make statements that do not in any way shape or form induce panic or general negativity about Cedar Point, than they won't get in trouble. In most cases, this would mean they cannot divulge the actual cause of the downtime. Most guests simply do not have the mechanical/electrical knowledge prerequisite to fully understand what is happening. Usually blanks are extraneously filled with overeccentric ideals.

If you think about the education requirement to work at Cedar Point as a ride host, you might better understand why this policy is in place.

"I know if I answered the same question every 30 seconds, i'd be a little irritated also."

"Because I guarantee that they have been asked the same questions hundreds of times every day. After a while it can drain your enthusiasm for the job."

It's no excuse. Part of customer service is dealing with rude, idiot and/or annoying customers. If you can't handle it then you need to find a job in another field. Just because you answered a question 1000 times doesn't mean you get to have an "attitude" with the 1001st.

I fully understand why the policy is in place, but i still always want to know why the ride is down....

I'd imagine they get pretty damn sick of dealing with people contstantly saying: "omg, when will it reopen." "omg, what happened." "omg, will i be able to ride today." I know if I answered the same question every 30 seconds, i'd be a little irritated also.

Perhaps they shouldn't have selected an occupation that puts them in contact with thousands of curious people a day. Any other line of work and people on this site would jump all over someone for that response. However, I can see the reasoning behind not telling people why the ride is down.
*** Edited 4/10/2005 12:27:08 AM UTC by Winston306***

It's one thing to say what an employee should say, and what really happens when you're being cussed at and threatened...which happens very often at Dragster's entrance. Hence the need for security there almost all the time.

So you want to get someone fired? That's big of you.

To 99% of the employees, it's not an occupation, it's a summer job that ends for most after a few months. If you require that every single person who works there be uppidy and all smiles all day, then you would find yourself a closed park because they wouldn't be able to find enough staffing.

*** Edited 4/10/2005 12:31:25 AM UTC by CP_bound***

Being polite and patient is that rare a quality in people? Ah yes, I forgot, this is America. I'm not trying to flame employees or anyone's response here. I just know what he means because I have seen and experienced such responses from CP employees before. It really is a valid question to ask a person working a ride when it might be back up and running. Sure, they may not know, but it's not a question that is out of left field. I wouldn't go ask someone working Power Tower when Dragster would be up and running. I bet crew members do encouter some very rude people when asked this question. But I venture to think they are not the norm, just the ones that stand out in ones mind.

Yea, I understand that it is most likely "Park Policy" that you "cant say anything to guests" but I think that the policy itself - not those enforcing it - is lame. I mean obviously if I pay $40 to $50 to get into the park and the star attraction is down for some reason and I have been waiting for three hours, I think I deserve a little more information than "its down." Secondly, I aggree with those who said "if you cant handle being asked the same question over and over again then you needed to choose another occupation." I work retail, I get asked the same stupid questions by people everyday, if I gave attitude to a single person I would most likely get fired...the same should apply. However, I should say that MOST Cedar Point employees are cool and are a pleasure to deal with. Only a handful have been, through my experiences, rude.

To 99% of the employees, it's not an occupation, it's a summer job that ends for most after a few months. If you require that every single person who works there be uppidy and all smiles all day, then you would find yourself a closed park because they wouldn't be able to find enough staffing.

*** Edited 4/10/2005 12:31:25 AM UTC by CP_bound***

If someone can't be respectful in their job, then they should not work to represent the park.

It's not like the ride ops want to keep secrets from you, they just have to. For one thing, if an employee were to tell the guests that, oh our ride is down because 'x' isn't working properly, then that could induce panic among the guests. Sometimes the employees know what happened and why the ride is down, and sometimes they don't know. It isn't that the guests don't have the knowledge to understand why a particular ride went down, it is a liability for the park. The employees shouldn't be rude to you when you ask what is going on with a ride, but you might have caught them on a bad day or something. As a guest you have to remember, the ride ops work six days a week, for 10-12 hours a day, and those are long days for anyone. I'm not saying that is okay for an employee to be rude to any guest, just that it MIGHT happen.

I hear you, I just think that it would be nice to have a little more information. I dont think I am the only person who shares this opinion...or am I?

No ride op is stupid enough to jeopardize the rest of their summer and a bonus worth hundreds if not over a thousand dollars to tell you what is wrong with a ride. Right.

Also, you cannot understand the number of times this past summer I was asked why Dragster was down. I would simply reply with 'I don't know I didn't even know it was down until just now when you said something' and many guests would be upset with my answer. It takes every part of you to restrain from telling them 'Let me look into my crystal ball hold on' or something else smart-assed. *** Edited 4/10/2005 1:12:54 AM UTC by bholcomb***

BPMCH02 said:
I hear you, I just think that it would be nice to have a little more information. I dont think I am the only person who shares this opinion...or am I?

We understand that you want to know. However, you are not going to get any information. That is all.

At Honey Baked Ham, where I work as a manager of the call center during the holidays, I can tell you that Cedar Point shares the same policy regarding public relations as Honeybaked Ham has.

When the big snow storm hit and airports went down all over, Honeybaked Ham had lots of angry customers, however, to avoid the possiblity of the operators giving customers the wrong impression or information, they were given a script of what to say to the angry customers.

Cedar Point's ride problems are no different. If you are smart and observant enough, it shouldn't be too hard to decipher what's wrong with the rides anyway.

I'll give you a Dragster specific reason why it does no good to tell a guest what is actually wrong with the ride even if the ride op actually knows.

Imagine a certain set of circumstances that lead up to a terminal rapid momentum transfer and the ride goes down. If you were to ask me, a ride op: "What's wrong with Dragster?"; and I were to respond: "There was a terminal rapid momentum transfer."

Would that honest response have done you any good? Would you know what that even meant? Would that response help you know how soon the ride will be back up and running? Odds are that that honest response would do you no good, so why even give it?

With that honest response you are only able to make the same interpretation as from the statement: "Dragster is currently down due to mechanical reasons." From a management aspect it is far simpler to train your employees to say that generic statement than it is to train your employees to provide technical descriptions of, in Dragster's case, the 3,573 different things that can potential cause the ride to close.

I work at brandywine ski resort and this applies no matter where you work. If the same customers keeps asking the same questions after you've told them, it gets a little anoyying and you just want to scream at them. So i can see why the ride ops get a little upset.

At least at a ski resort you don't have a 100 degree sun beating down on your head all day :)