VentureForth
Engineer
In this whole thread, this is the only point where I see that Amtrak did anything close to "handle the situation properly". And if this is indeed how Amtrak played (which I don't doubt), I am certainly disappointed as it is anything BUT proper.Spoke to a Customer Relations (thanks for the suggestion), she questioned my story then verified the train was stopped for under a minute, could not explain why someone didn't get off and look around for a ticketed passenger, apologized. Her concern was whether the conductor would allow him to board tonight with a ticket from yesterday. He needs to get to the next town, White Fish, that can issue tickets, and ensure that the train wont just drop him off and leave while he's waiting to reprint new tickets, leaving him stranded for another 24 hours. She told me what to have him say to the conductor, but with further thought decided to open a 'case file' to have a little more clout with the conductor. Either they'll wait for him at White Fish or allow him to go on to Portland on his day old tickets. Once there he has a delay that will allow reprinting for the rest of the adventure!! Skipping one of his planned stops further down the line, he'll end up home at the original planned time.
The fact that this is the SECOND time in recent days that this has happened. When something this egregious happens, I would expect bells and whistles on EVERY conductor's iPhone to go off and require an acknowledgement to avoid something like this.
As far as a proper resolution goes, the bare minimum should have been an immediate "Stay where you are - your ticket will be valid for the next train." Customer service should never try to confuse someone with going to the next stop, hope you can reprint your tickets, etc. etc. Conductors can make the numbers work. With E-Tickets, there is NO excuse.
Next, they should have done EVERYTHING possible to get your son to the train - though that would be pretty tough. If nothing else, transit to the next town and a hotel room would be what I'd ask for.
Finally, I'm not into firing for offenses like this as much as I believe that reprimanding is important. If a conductor can lose his job - or at least be lashed 40 times with a wet noodle - for letting a passenger miss his stop, I think the same action should be taken for not making due effort in picking up passengers.
Anyway, tonight's train seems to be running 2 1/2 hours late. I hope your son is aboard, warm, and fed!
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