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jimhudson said:
PaulM said:
jimhudson said:
I talked to Customer Relations after I Posted about this "Bug" a Couple of Weeks ago! I was told that Amtrak's Crack IT Department was "On It" but with the Mess Going on in WAS and the Roll Out of the New AGR Web Site perhaps they haven't gotten it entirely Solved Yet?? (ie Roomettes OK/Bedroom Bookings still Ripping Off On-Line Bookers!) :help:
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I know bashing "Washington" is great sport, but this is a new one. How in the world can you blame Washington for someone introducing a critical computer application that gets the formula 2 x C + S wrong? Especially, when it was working perfectly before.
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You misunderstood Paul, this is what the Agent told me when I called! I was thinking that with Everything going on @ Amtrak at the Time and the Stories of Amtrak trying to Save Cash that perhaps the IT Dept. was Shorthanded/and or Overworked and there was No Money for overtime to Deal with a Minor Glitch in the Software! My knowledge of IT Depts. is on a Par with the Inner Workings of the Vatican! -_-
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You might be right except for classifying what some are interpreting as a phoney-invoice scam as a "minor glitch". In any event, I think it's a bad strategy.

I may have forgotten something, but with the exception of allowing eVouchers to be redeemed on-line, all of the website changes I've seen in recent years are what I would call eye candy. Now I would not classify, for example, being able to book real AGR itineraries on-line or having all reservations appear in "My Account" as eye candy. As far as I can see, the only advantage of the the new display is that the total cost (at least once the bug is removed) is displayed one click of the mouse earlier. IMO this is counterbalanced by not being able to see the accommodation supplements and a confusing user interface, as evidenced by this thread.

So first of all, why did Amtrak rush the new version to market without testing the thing users are most most interested in: what's my trip going to cost? Secondly and more to your post, even if your "no overtime" conjecture is true, then I would let the future eye candy apps slip in order to give the highest priority to fixing an embarrassing current problem.

PS my knowledge of IT departments is 50 years old.
 
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RyanS said:
Have you called in and been denied a refund?
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Funny you should ask that. I recently priced CHM to NOL round trip. On both legs, the single traveler roomette supplement was $198. But when I went back and added a second, both supplements jumped to $233.

Now remembering the rumor that the bug only happens when you snagged the last room in a bucket, I decided to book it online and go for a refund, thinking that by the time I got through to an agent, the price might be gone anyway (I forgot that I didn't have to ask for customer relations to do this.)

Well anyway, when I called, the agent refused to admit the existence of the bug and put me off to refunds. Refunds also claimed there wasn't such a thing and put me off to customer relations. Customer relations also played dumb. But he did check the current roomette supplement and it was the lower $198. So he refunded the original CC charge and started over with the correct amount.

First of all, unless there was a cancellation or a price drop during my time on hold, the theory that the bug only happens to the last room in a bucket doesn't seem to be correct.

But the real question is what it it were the last room in the bucket. When the CR agent checked, he would have seen $233 as charged, or possibly even higher. If he wouldn't even admit there was a bug, how would a customer prove the correct price was $198?
 
This has been going on long enough, and per prior posts, Amtrak is aware of it, that it SEEMS like there is no desire to fix it, and it is simply a back-door way to increase revenues. Since this first surfaced here on AU, there have been service cuts galore, price hikes to previously discounted fares, and removal of a lounge on the AT replaced by a coach. It is my opinion that the "bug" in the website is just a part of this strategy.

When/if it gets fixed, I will retract that statement, gladly.
 
It's not defrauding. They know what price they are paying before they run their card. It's a questionable practice, certainly, but no more so then someone who pays $15 for a camera at a flea market when the vendor intended to take ten and priced it to allow for negotiation.
 
That's incorrect. It's bait and switch. It's illegal. You can't advertise a price a customer can't buy.

Having to go through customer service, customer relations, and Joe Boardman to get the published rate doesn't count as being able to get that fare.

To use your analogy, it's putting a price tag of $10 on the camera and when the customer takes it to the register, he gets charged $15. Customer says "What the..." and the vendor says it's tax. We all know it's not 50% tax, so what is it? Only after fighting or giving up, do you either get the advertised price or walk away from it. A few people who have cash burning through their pants - or who are uncomfortable with confrontation, which would be a majority of folks in face to face situations - will capitulate and say "Well, $15 isn't bad, so I'll go ahead and pay it".
 
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I'm not sure how "bait and switch" applies. The price shown on the website is the price paid.

The fact that a cheaper price available through another venue is irrelevant.

It's a crappy thing to do, and Paul's experience on the phone is even more crappy, but there's no way it rises to "fraud" or "bait and switch" levels.
 
Should adding a second passenger to a sleeper room change the cost of the room? The answer, of course, is no. However, with this glitch, the answer is yes. Price one person into a roomette, and the price of the room is XXX. Add a second person, and the room price goes up.

Amtrak admitted to the glitch over six months ago. A fix was promised. No fix to date.

By the way, the flea market analogy was hilarious. Just yesterday I took a trip on the Keystone line to Harrisburg and back. I booked my trip on-line. My mistake. I should have gone to 30th Street and haggled.

Amtrak: Cost is $27

Me: It's not worth more than $15

Amtrak: How about $24

Me: I'll go as high as $18

Amtrak: $20, and we'll throw in a Club Acela pass

Me: Deal!

Maybe Amtrak could send ticket agents over to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul for sales tips.
 
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PRR 60 said:
Should adding a second passenger to a sleeper room change the cost of the room? The answer, of course, is no. However, with this glitch, the answer is yes. Price one person into a roomette, and the price of the room is XXX. Add a second person, and the room price goes up.

Amtrak admitted to the glitch over six months ago. A fix was promised. No fix to date.
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I understand that.

My understanding is that if you look for a room for 2 people, you're shown the same (incorrect) price throughout the entire process. That's not bait and switch.

Venture Forth is seeming to claim you get presented one price somewhere on the website, and then the price gets jacked up when you go to book. That isn't the behavior I recall, so I tried to clarify with him. Maybe he'll come back and give a serious answer.
 
My experience is that if you book a room and ADD a second passenger, the room price goes up.

A while back, some apologists here were calling this a "glitch" that would be fixed soon. Just a programming error, nothing to be concerned about. Now they are playing semantic games, without concern for the primary underlying factor, that being that the price online for two in a room is STILL higher than the fare that can be obtained with a phone call. And nowhere on Amtrak's site does it mention that a lower fare may be obtained on the phone. Fraud? Not in the strictest sense. Bait & Switch? Not exactly. Backdoor fare increase on those who are not aware of the problem? Absolutely!

Call it what you want......but it IS intellectually dishonest.
 
Case in point:

CIN-CHI for May 1 on Cardinal.....1 pax coach $47...........bedroom $175...........

Same train Same Day ................2 pax coach $94...........bedroom $363...........
 
This is bad for Amtrak's reputation. Deservedly. This should have been fixed at least six months ago, and there's no excuse for not fixing it.

It is a good way to make sure that everyone uses the call center rather than the website. Which is contrary to Amtrak's stated desire to get more people to book via the website. So it's counterproductive from Amtrak's point of view.

Frankly, if I were the head of Amtrak's IT department, I'd be polishing my resume. Because if I were Joe Boardman, I'd be firing the head of the IT department for cause and without unemployment compensation, right now. It's worth destroying the responsible party's career permanently over stuff like this.
 
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tonys96 said:
Case in point:

CIN-CHI for May 1 on Cardinal.....1 pax coach $47...........bedroom $175...........

Same train Same Day ................2 pax coach $94...........bedroom $363...........
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Thanks for posting that - that confirms my memory. When searching for a room for two people, you're presented with the same price all the way through the transaction. It's more expensive than the price you would get if you called, but it's in no way a bait and switch.
 
Amtrak's pricing scheme must subscribe to the maxim "There's a fool born every minute."
 
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