Lake Shore Limited Trip

[Joshua]

Just got done taking a trip from CHI-NYP-CHI on the LSL, and I must say, it was a trip to remember. Left CHI on time, went to the dining car to have dinner, and this is what I got a kick out of. Dinner was served with plastic silverware on paper plates, and our salad dressing was being served out of little paper cups, which were being carried around in a Bud Light beer flat. Waitress had the personality of a wet sock, and you could hear the cook in the kitchen saying things that my grandmother would of slapped me for saying. When I made a comment to the waitress about the cook, she said, "Just pay no attention to him". Well, after dinner, I headed back to the room, and noticed that the beds were already made, and it was only 8:45! Well, being in the roomette, this left me and my traveling companion nowhere to sit and chit-chat. So we asked the car attendant to please put our seats back, to which he reluctantly agreed, (this, after tipping him BEFORE the train left CHI, to hopefully get better service.) Well, shortly after midnight, we came to a stop, in the middle of a Northern Indiana cornfield. I turned on my scanner in time to hear that Engine #2 had a penalty brake on and it could not be turned off. Well, being a smoker, THANK GOD the asst. conductor popped open the lounge door and let me smoke, as we were there for 2 1/2 hours while the conductor and engineer were on the phone with Amtrak Maintenance in CHI. Rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. And since I am a smoker, my sleeping car attendant just happened to find me a nice quiet place in the crew car to have a smoke once in a while. We arrived in NYC at 8pm, 4 1/2 hours late. On the return trip, I happened to have the same crew as the outbound trip, except we had a different sleeping car attendant. A couple hours before I left NYC, I started calling Amtrak to check on how many bedrooms were available on the NYP-CHI trip, knowing that sometimes I can get a discount to upgrade from a roomette to a bedroom onboard. Well, it seemed that on this trip, ALL the bedrooms were available, to my enjoyment. I got on the train, and gave my car attendant a nice tip, and said that we would like to upgrade to a bedroom from the roomette. Well, after we left NYP, we were moved to a bedroom, and told theta the conductor would come by in a bit to discuss the upgrade cost, well, he never did come by! Needless to say, we never paid Amtrak to upgrade, (although, the car attendant received a VERY healthy tip for the upgrade). The dining car staff, still had the same bad attitude, and the Chef had the same bad choice of vocabulary. No problems with the engines this trip, and we arrived in CHI just over a hour late.

 

[Amtrak Kid]

heh, it seems we share a common thing about our trip, poor dining car service (we had a refurb on the way back) and the train broke down in indiana as well. But you got luck because both of our locomotives were taken off for 2 hours. In the middle of summer. Its still my favorite train as i live right next to the tracks.

Corey

 

[Sam Damon]

I'd call 1-800-USA-RAIL to let them know about the dining car crew. Likewise, I'd also let them know about your sleeping car attendent on the return trip... but I wouldn't mention the "free" upgrade. I'd just say something like, "The sleeping car attendent on my return trip was just wonderful... real credit to Amtrak."

 

[Windy City LSA]

I'd call 1-800-USA-RAIL to let them know about the dining car crew.  Likewise, I'd also let them know about your sleeping car attendent on the return trip... but I wouldn't mention the "free" upgrade.  I'd just say something like, "The sleeping car attendent on my return trip was just wonderful... real credit to Amtrak."

Excellent suggestion! Please folks...report bad service...and spread the word!! More importantly, get names. We all wear name tags and/or ID badges. Much easier to identify the problem person if you have a name. Although Amtrak is working on it, there are still more than a few bad seeds out there. Think it's bad dealing with them for a meal or two...try working with them for 4-6 days straight!!! That statement may make me appear to be biased, but I sincerely believe the passenger is the number one priority, and should be treated respectfully. There are times where co-workers will report bad behavior, But it seems nothing is done. I truly believe Amtrak Management wants to flush these pests out. It couldn't hurt to have the assistance of passengers. I take pride in my work and strive to do a good job. Some of these people are an embarassment, and working with them is a nightmare.

I also encourage reporting exceptional customer service.