Amtrak blows

[amy]

Written from a p****d consumer to Amtrak...

To whom it may concern.

For the first time EVER, I booked train travel for my family from STL to Chicago and back, the weekend of Father's day. I was notified (via automated voice message) that my return trip was changed- without my approval- to reflect a bus trip home instead of my pre purchased train ride. The bus ride is much longer and if I wanted to ride a bus I would have booked a BUS trip. We booked and pre paid for this “train” trip, to give our 7 and 12 year old boys the experience of train travel. Instead of upgrading us we were downgraded. After several calls and several "customer service representatives" I was told Amtrak does not compensate folks for their scheduling issues.. “they are doing yearly rail work”.. Hmm.. maybe you could have told me that before I took off work, spent $1000 on hotel and paid for a train that WAS NOT GOING TO RUN THAT DAY!... What were my options you ask?......I could cancel my reservation ( of course I still have over $1000 pre purchased, non refundable hotel accommodations), take the bus or pay an additional $144 per room ( I would need 2) plus an “accommodation/rail fee” The “accommodation” fee was the exact amount of my initial purchase

( My entire pre paid purchase before rail work was scheduled $129.60- My purchase amount today to have the same train riding experience- $417.60).. and nothing from Amtrak to show their apologies , not even verbally apology… just a “well, there’s YEARLY rail work that day”.....

I travel Southwest airlines three times per week… and yes I have more than enough miles to travel for free. I could have flown for free but wanted so badly to give my boys a wonderful experience. Our boys will never know the hell you have put me through to ensure they have a wonderful TRAIN riding experience… I will never use your “services” again. Keep your free stuff… because I have already paid out of pocket. It’s like taking my wallet and spending MY money however you see fit. **** poor establishment and **** poor customer service. It actually makes me happy to say that I work for a very large company and many of my executive peers use Amtrak weekly- they now know about my first and last experience and they will be flying from now on. Check out Southwest airlines, DaVita dialysis and Disney.. The Hilton and the Ritz.. Do you know what they all have in common?? They train their staff to focus on making things right for the customer- “Service Excellence” “Through the eyes of the customer”. Their Service Excellence training programs are studied by business students at Harvard, Duke and Yale.. Do you know that every Ritz employee is given the authority every single day to expense up to $2000 per guest, per day to ensure they are happy with their level of service? Do you know how much money they actually use of that allowance? ….2%- that’s it. Do you know why? Because they make it right from the very beginning. Why are Southwest fares the lowest in the industry- why don’t they charge fees to check baggage? Because they have happy customers and provide service excellence therefore they have a stable business. They make it right! Have fun moving Coal- that’s where your kind of “customer service” gets companies these days- out of business.[/font]

 

[the_traveler]

Amtrak Unlimited (AU) is not affliated in any way with Amtrak. If you wish to complain to Amtrak, you must contact them directly. The best way is to call 1-800-USA-RAIL, ask for an agent, then ask to be connected to Customer Service. AU is a private site, made of of many people who like to ride trains, and we can and do provide information to riders, however we have no say in what happens with Amtrak. We can only direct those who have problems to contact Amtrak directly.

 

[MrEd]

Sorry about your experience amy.

maybe amtrak didn't know about track work when you booked the tickets.

 

[amamba]

Sorry your trip won't work out due to the track work. What about keeping your train reservation one way and then, rather than taking the bustitution, flying the other way?

 

[Ryan]

This is the kind of completely pointless rant that brings absolutely no conversation of any value.

 

[MattW]

The idea of anyone spending $1000 on non-refundable hotel accommodations, particularly for a trip a long ways off, and a long distance away sounds a bit fishy to me. For me personally, that's getting into the situation like with a cruise where I'd either purchase trip insurance, or just not make a non-refundable selection like that, though without further details as to the situation, I can't speculate as to what I would do instead of the non-refundable accommodations. But Amtrak is a travel service provider, not a train trip provider. Their job is to get a person from A to B as safely, and as on schedule as possible. Throwing the book at Amtrak for a bustitution in my opinion is a little like throwing the book at a city's rail transit system for bustituting between two stations when work must be done. My take is that Amtrak provided the OP with the means to arrive at their destination as well as they reasonably could and weren't obligated to adjust to the OP's situation.

 

[amamba]

This is the kind of completely pointless rant that brings absolutely no conversation of any value.

Let's place bets to see if the guest comes back. :lol:

 

[amtrakwolverine]

This is the kind of completely pointless rant that brings absolutely no conversation of any value.

Let's place bets to see if the guest comes back. :lol:

I bet 100 AGR points the guest does not lOL

 

[Tumbleweed]

Tough crowd tonight.....

 

[me_little_me]

The idea of anyone spending $1000 on non-refundable hotel accommodations, particularly for a trip a long ways off, and a long distance away sounds a bit fishy to me. For me personally, that's getting into the situation like with a cruise where I'd either purchase trip insurance, or just not make a non-refundable selection like that, though without further details as to the situation, I can't speculate as to what I would do instead of the non-refundable accommodations. But Amtrak is a travel service provider, not a train trip provider. Their job is to get a person from A to B as safely, and as on schedule as possible. Throwing the book at Amtrak for a bustitution in my opinion is a little like throwing the book at a city's rail transit system for bustituting between two stations when work must be done. My take is that Amtrak provided the OP with the means to arrive at their destination as well as they reasonably could and weren't obligated to adjust to the OP's situation.

I disagree totally. While legally you are right, Amtrak sells itself and people consider it to be more than just transportation. The OP was right in that had they wanted to take an (uncomfortable) bus - no walking around, no lounge, no diner, none of the things people take a train for - they could have (and probably still can) buy bus tickets.

And a short bus ride between two stations on a city subway can in no manner, shape, or form be compared to an intercity bustitution.

There is a reasonable expectation of service. There is also a reasonable expectation of customer service when there is a problem. Sometimes the service is just not available and nothing can be done but Amtrak at least owes the difference between the cheapest bus fare the OP could have purchased at the time of reservation and what they paid for the rail tickets.

You reserve a bedroom for a special trip across the country and then Amtrak tells you there are no rooms available and you will have to ride in coach. They just give you back the room money but not the rail fare. Would you accept riding cross-country in coach?

 

[pennyk]

If the OP thought AU was Amtrak, why would she title her post "Amtrak Blows?" It does not make sense to me. :wacko:

 

[A.J.]

I cannot stand people like this, who instead of dealing with adversity in an intelligent, adult manner, take on the attitude of a petulant teenager. If a train isn't running because of track work, there is no train, so asking for your "approval" isn't going to happen. things get cancelled whether you like it or not. moreover, it isn't amtrak's fault that you spent however many dollars on a trip. amtrak is still offering to get you from point a to point b. as a frequent traveler, I have had a great many reservations and bookings, some of them non-refundable. every now and then something happens and you lose money. but in all honesty, that's the risk you are choosing to take when you opt for that type of booking. you don't have to have a non-refundable reservation with a hotel. you opted for that and can still use it.

unfortunately, all of this is moot because I sincerely doubt the OP is interested in coming back to read anything any of us has to say. :angry2:

 

[jis]

"Blows" is the right word, since afterall this was mostly a venting exercise. The said "blowing" being done by the OP in the form of "blowing ones top". Hope this letting off of steam helped calm the OP down and helped bring peace to his/her mind.

 

[Donctor]

I'd be pissed too (though I probably wouldn't express my feelings this way). I've certainly felt this upset after spending hours dealing with less-than-competent Amtrak agents. Hopefully this is remedied, for the sake of the OP and and the kids.

Edit: spelling

 

[Steve4031]

To OP, this track work is actually being done to upgrade the tracks for hsr between Chicago and stl. By 2015, the travel time between chi and stl should be cut to 4 hours. I know this doesn't alleviate the inconvenience you experienced. Hope the explanation helps.

You will be traveling on a detour which will be a non stop ride to Chicago. Your children will still get to ride the train, and on rare mileage that rail fans go out of their way to ride. Hopefully you can still enjoy your trip to Chicago. If you have questions, please check back and ask. We don't work for amtrak. However we do want you to have an enjoyable trip.

 

[Peter KG6LSE]

rant or not. Lets face it .. You cant re route a train like a flight or a bus ...

Last i looked there is not a steering wheel in a genesis .

Iam sorry but the excuse off . we got you there right !? point A to B .. excuse is poor . this is not `79' .

the airlines is a grey biz. no one is super moody or super happy . its like they are just do there job and get on with life . most dont slack off most are not so happy they might as well be on some serious meds ..

Amtrack is black and white .

I would argue that the airlines customer consistency experience is way more close to 6 Sigma then amtrak..

You have some SUPER people working for them ..

Some darn good SCAs and people who Love there job .

But you have polly who I have never met and never want to .

but Lets face it ,, you and Me on this forum just put up with polly to enjoy Darrell ( a well spoken SCA in that thread ).

We tend to just blend it in to " the experience" of it all..

The real fact is Joe and jane 1st time rider is gonna be Real put off if he or she meets Polly before he or she meets Darrell .

Part is also that I dont need help any more with me riding........ I don't need to ever deal with a employee sans food on the train ..and handing my tix to the conductor .

The latter I dont have to evin talk too. ..

Thus my chances of "dealing" with a less then steller employes is statisticaly lower ... Think independent rider ..

Joe and Jane have to learn the ropes and ask more questions and are more likely encounter and have to deal with a Polly .

Peter

 

[NE933]

"Blows" is the right word, since afterall this was mostly a venting exercise. The said "blowing" being done by the OP in the form of "blowing ones top". Hope this letting off of steam helped calm the OP down and helped bring peace to his/her mind.

I'm very much into peace of mind. Tastes like grape. And letting off steam? Ohhhh, please, stop, don't get me started, the excitment with that kind of talk is getting me going "Woo woo! Wooooo woooooo!" in my livingroom, what will the neighbors think? Wait, I haven't seen any in awhile, maybe they're on that train-turned-bus now going somewhere. Or maybe I'm on it and just think i'm home in a lurid reverse hallucination, and two reverses make a non reverse...

 

[Blackshirt Husker]

The idea of anyone spending $1000 on non-refundable hotel accommodations, particularly for a trip a long ways off, and a long distance away sounds a bit fishy to me. For me personally, that's getting into the situation like with a cruise where I'd either purchase trip insurance, or just not make a non-refundable selection like that, though without further details as to the situation, I can't speculate as to what I would do instead of the non-refundable accommodations. But Amtrak is a travel service provider, not a train trip provider. Their job is to get a person from A to B as safely, and as on schedule as possible. Throwing the book at Amtrak for a bustitution in my opinion is a little like throwing the book at a city's rail transit system for bustituting between two stations when work must be done. My take is that Amtrak provided the OP with the means to arrive at their destination as well as they reasonably could and weren't obligated to adjust to the OP's situation.

I disagree totally. While legally you are right, Amtrak sells itself and people consider it to be more than just transportation. The OP was right in that had they wanted to take an (uncomfortable) bus - no walking around, no lounge, no diner, none of the things people take a train for - they could have (and probably still can) buy bus tickets.

And a short bus ride between two stations on a city subway can in no manner, shape, or form be compared to an intercity bustitution.

There is a reasonable expectation of service. There is also a reasonable expectation of customer service when there is a problem. Sometimes the service is just not available and nothing can be done but Amtrak at least owes the difference between the cheapest bus fare the OP could have purchased at the time of reservation and what they paid for the rail tickets.

You reserve a bedroom for a special trip across the country and then Amtrak tells you there are no rooms available and you will have to ride in coach. They just give you back the room money but not the rail fare. Would you accept riding cross-country in coach?

I agree--can see both sides of this, but tend to sympathize with the OP. Amtrak is both a transportation and train trip provider, but to folks like me who use the LD train ride as the bulk of the vacation (where time spent on the route is more important than the destination), the emphasis is on the latter. Let's face it--there are faster and more reliable options to travel cross country than passenger rail. If a passenger chooses to travel from Chicago to LA via train, they're not booking Amtrak for expediency or reliability (or at least they shouldn't, lol)--they're doing it because getting there is at least half the fun. So for those of us train zealots, the bus option is not an acceptable alternative. Doesn't make it Amtrak's fault when it happens, and I wouldn't swear off rail or come unglued if it ever happened to me, but I definitely would not be happy at all and there's almost zero chance that I'd actually take the bus instead of simply rescheduling the trip. Long distance bus rides are a miserable, miserable experience, and that misery increases exponentially when traveling with small kids.

To the OP: one thing you'll soon realize if you (hopefully) give Amtrak another chance is that you can call customer service and receive one response, then call back 3 minutes later and receive an entirely different answer to the exact same question. Unfortunately, it sounds as though you ran into one of a few "Guest Services" workers who, although technically correct in their response, didn't have much going for him or her in terms of people skills. Give them another call, and if you get any type of voucher for your troubles, book another trip with your kids. You won't be sorry, and it's an experience they'll remember for the rest of their lives.

 

[Trogdor]

The OP's rant really does seem quite childish. What's particularly curious is that the OP mentions that her executive peers use Amtrak weekly, yet they're going to stop riding Amtrak because of her single experience. One would think that said peers would have enough experience riding Amtrak to determine for themselves whether or not continuing to use the train is right for them.

I use the services of many companies with whom others may have had negative experiences. Yet, if I see nothing specifically wrong that applies to me, I'm not going to have someone else tell me to use a different company just because they had a bad experience.

Now, Amtrak notifies the OP two weeks in advance that there's a schedule change on one direction of the trip, and offers the OP alternatives. She doesn't like the alternatives, so she throws a tantrum.

I really feel sorry for the kids in this case, because they're going to be deprived of a train riding experience because of a parent's complex. If you really wanted to avoid the bus ride and still wanted the train experience, as others mentioned, you could take the train in the direction that it's running, and fly back on Southwest (which, for what it's worth, actually often does not have the lowest fares in the airline industry anymore, so the OP was wrong on that count).

The really sad part is that, if the kids ever do find out how she acted, then their only lesson in this is going to be "if at first you don't get exactly what you want, then *****, moan and give up." The lesson they won't learn is, sometimes life throws you curve balls, and you just have to learn to deal with it in a mature manner.

 

[johnny.menhennet]

The OP's rant really does seem quite childish. What's particularly curious is that the OP mentions that her executive peers use Amtrak weekly, yet they're going to stop riding Amtrak because of her single experience. One would think that said peers would have enough experience riding Amtrak to determine for themselves whether or not continuing to use the train is right for them.

I use the services of many companies with whom others may have had negative experiences. Yet, if I see nothing specifically wrong that applies to me, I'm not going to have someone else tell me to use a different company just because they had a bad experience.

Now, Amtrak notifies the OP two weeks in advance that there's a schedule change on one direction of the trip, and offers the OP alternatives. She doesn't like the alternatives, so she throws a tantrum.

I really feel sorry for the kids in this case, because they're going to be deprived of a train riding experience because of a parent's complex. If you really wanted to avoid the bus ride and still wanted the train experience, as others mentioned, you could take the train in the direction that it's running, and fly back on Southwest (which, for what it's worth, actually often does not have the lowest fares in the airline industry anymore, so the OP was wrong on that count).

The really sad part is that, if the kids ever do find out how she acted, then their only lesson in this is going to be "if at first you don't get exactly what you want, then *****, moan and give up." The lesson they won't learn is, sometimes life throws you curve balls, and you just have to learn to deal with it in a mature manner.

+ 1. Even if the OP stuck with the bus option Amtrak gave her, the kids were not being deprived. They still got their train ride, and I bet they would've loved it. I second or third the notion that the OP will not return.

 

[Anderson]

This is one of the cases where I will weigh in against Amtrak maximizing revenue, but I'd like to see the policy as "If we have to cancel your train and bustitute, we will offer you that option or the option of transferring to a different (still operating) train if one is available at no markup or we will offer you a no-questions-asked refund regardless of the nominal conditions of the fare."

The other thing that I will say is that if Amtrak bustitutes, they should at least partly refund the fare (perhaps shifting everyone to at least low bucket) and definitely refund/credit any accommodation charge (having never run into this, I don't know what the policy is). I'm sorry, but particularly on a longer trip...6-8 hours in a bus is no match for a similar amount of time on a train with even a cafe, to say nothing of hot meal service. I can see an exception when things are noted months in advance (i.e. the Cap), but in general...yeah, a bus isn't a train, and if I paid a good deal for that train ticket, it stands to reason that I'm paying for the train.

 

[Railroad Bill]

Decided to check Amtrak to see what her options might be on returning to St Louis on Fathers Day Sunday.

As of today, there were two roomettes available on the Texas Eagle. The price for four people in those two roomettes would be $314.

Although this is more expensive that four coach seats, it would provide a nice train ride in daylight hours, the experience of riding in a sleeper car, dinner for four in the diner before arriving in ST Louis, etc.

I suppose if I could afford $1,000 for a room in Chicago, I might opt to try the TE option. Perhaps the Customer Service agent may have been able to give them a break on the price?? not sure, but if you divide $314 by 4, that is only $78/passenger including dinner. Not a bad option in my opinion.

Advice Part 2. I never book a hotel with a non refundable rate. Too many things happen in life to lose that money. Most of the very nice places we stay have at least a two day option to cancel and most give us until 4pm the day of the reservation.

If you are still out there Amy guest-- move quickly, those two roomettes wont be there forever.

 

[Trogdor]

This is one of the cases where I will weigh in against Amtrak maximizing revenue, but I'd like to see the policy as "If we have to cancel your train and bustitute, we will offer you that option or the option of transferring to a different (still operating) train if one is available at no markup

They already do. It seems the issue is that on the Texas Eagle, perhaps only sleepers were available, which would be an upgrade from what the coaches would cost. Given the limited sleeper capacity on the Texas Eagle, and the fact that many rooms were probably already sold before the reaccommodation took place, you could, perhaps, reaccommodate a dozen (out of potentially hundreds) using that option before the Eagle becomes sold out, then you still have a bunch of other people to take care of.

or we will offer you a no-questions-asked refund regardless of the nominal conditions of the fare."

They already do.

The other thing that I will say is that if Amtrak bustitutes, they should at least partly refund the fare (perhaps shifting everyone to at least low bucket) and definitely refund/credit any accommodation charge (having never run into this, I don't know what the policy is).

They do refund the accommodation charge where the accommodation is not provided. Even in cases where you get bussed through a portion of the route, they will refund the accommodation associated with that portion you didn't get.

 

[Mackensen]

Decided to check Amtrak to see what her options might be on returning to St Louis on Fathers Day Sunday.

Advice Part 2. I never book a hotel with a non refundable rate. Too many things happen in life to lose that money. Most of the very nice places we stay have at least a two day option to cancel and most give us until 4pm the day of the reservation.

This. It's just asking for trouble and in no way can Amtrak be blamed for it.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

Decided to check Amtrak to see what her options might be on returning to St Louis on Fathers Day Sunday.

Advice Part 2. I never book a hotel with a non refundable rate. Too many things happen in life to lose that money. Most of the very nice places we stay have at least a two day option to cancel and most give us until 4pm the day of the reservation.

This. It's just asking for trouble and in no way can Amtrak be blamed for it.

Yep. Stuff happens that is beyond our control all the time. Leave yourself an out if you can. In this situation the OP has only themself to blame. Unpleasant reality, but reality nevertheless.

And for the record, Amtrak does blow... its horns at every grade crossing not in a 'quiet zone.' hboy: