Compensation For Substandard Service

My wife and I just completed a trip from MSP to JAX. The trip was courtesy of AGR on a two zone roomette redemption award. Unfortunately the journey was riddled with problems. On our first leg of the trip we were bussed from MSP to CHI due to a very late Empire Builder (EB). On our third leg of the trip from WAS to JAX the dining car on the Silver Meteor (SM) broke down enroute and by the time it reached WAS it was not operating.

On the bus to CHI we made a lunch stop about three hours into the trip. Passengers were given a $5 limit on food purchases. On the trip to JAX make shift meals were prepared in the cafe car but due to a backlog of hungry passengers we were not served dinner until 10:30 PM. The following morning we were served a bare bone breakfast of cereal and donuts.

In my opinion compensation for this trip should be provided since two full meals were not served on the EB and make shift meals were provided on the SM. The dinner meal on the SM was actually good but waiting until 10:30 PM could have been avoided had food vouchers been issued to passengers waiting in WAS. The train was late arriving into WAS by around 90 minutes.

Regarding compensation, who should I contact, AGR or Amtrak? The ticket agent in MSP actually informed me that I should be compensated by AGR for the bustitution. I believe however that the compensation request should be directed to Amtrak on the substandard service for the events mentioned above. Any thoughts?

AGR will credit you for the bustitution, certainly. As far as the rest goes, its a crap shoot. Good luck, its worth a shot.

Sorry to hear about the poor service.

I took the Empire Builder in a roomette October on an AGR redemption. Due to trackwork, we were bused from LaCrosse, Wisconsin to Chicago. We stopped at the Burger King in Wisconsin Dells where we were given $5 to eat. We had also had problems in the roomette. The heat was stuck on in our car from Portland all the way to LaCrosse, and it was over 90 degrees in the room. Very unpleasant.

When I finally got home (after a couple of days in the Windy City), I called AGR. I explained my situation to the representative. She was very attentive and polite. She connected me directly to Amtrak customer service, and after a bit of time on hold, Amtrak gave me a travel voucher.

Given your circumstances, you should call AGR. Give all the details you've given here, and I think you have a very good chance of getting travel vouchers from Amtrak. Good luck.

I hope your next trip goes better!

Tracktwentynine said:

Sorry to hear about the poor service.

I took the Empire Builder in a roomette October on an AGR redemption. Due to trackwork, we were bused from LaCrosse, Wisconsin to Chicago. We stopped at the Burger King in Wisconsin Dells where we were given $5 to eat. We had also had problems in the roomette. The heat was stuck on in our car from Portland all the way to LaCrosse, and it was over 90 degrees in the room. Very unpleasant.

When I finally got home (after a couple of days in the Windy City), I called AGR. I explained my situation to the representative. She was very attentive and polite. She connected me directly to Amtrak customer service, and after a bit of time on hold, Amtrak gave me a travel voucher.

Given your circumstances, you should call AGR. Give all the details you've given here, and I think you have a very good chance of getting travel vouchers from Amtrak. Good luck.

I hope your next trip goes better!

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We had a similar AGR trip this spring from NOL to NYP~ Amtrak Customer Service didn't bat an eye lash in sending us a voucher even with a total AGR ticket.

I have a quibble: this was, for the most part, not "poor service", but equipment failure!! Amtrak will give you some kind of credit either way, but equipment failure is NOT the fault of the OBS or TandE personnel!!

Sounds like AMTRAK did everything in their power to get you to your destination.

I have been bussed before, and commented to AMTRAK afterwards that First Class/Sleeper passenger should get a little more than the Coach passengers - including food voucher, maybe a separate bus (and you get two seats), and an instant credit back for their upgraded fare. They said thanks for the comments back.

To call their efforts "substandard" is a little dramatic.

And to ask for "compensation", well, certainly you can ask, but ....

guest said:

I have a quibble: this was, for the most part, not "poor service", but equipment failure!! Amtrak will give you some kind of credit either way, but equipment failure is NOT the fault of the OBS or TandE personnel!!

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Since I'm the one who introduced "poor service" to the discussion, let me be clear. The crew on my trip on the Builder was great. The train was kept clean, food service was quick and tasty, and the train was on time for the entire journey. Similarly, my dealings with AGR and Amtrak Customer Service afterwards were polite and cordial.

However, I don't think that the phrase "poor service" can only mean bad customer service. Dovecote and Mrs. Dovecote booked what sounds like a wonderful trip, and Amtrak did not meet their expectations for a variety of reasons. The blame probably lies with BNSF or the weather for the late Builder. And the broken down Heritage Diner on the Meteor can probably be blamed on underfunding Amtrak since its inception.

Regardless of who is to blame, that qualifies as "substandard" service. And I'm sorry they experienced it. I'm sure if they call Amtrak, a customer service rep will also be sorry they experienced it. Hopefully, and most probably, Amtrak will recompense them for the problems.

I have been bussed before, and commented to AMTRAK afterwards that First Class/Sleeper passenger should get a little more than the Coach passengers - including food voucher, maybe a separate bus (and you get two seats), and an instant credit back for their upgraded fare. They said thanks for the comments back.

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At the end of the day when the call goes out from PHL, they just want to get everybody off the train and out of the way to minimize impact. People will complain no matter what will happen, their priority is to get you to the destination safely and as on time as possible. All other considerations, including comfort, are secondary when something goes wrong.

daveyb99 said:

Sounds like AMTRAK did everything in their power to get you to your destination.

I have been bussed before, and commented to AMTRAK afterwards that First Class/Sleeper passenger should get a little more than the Coach passengers - including food voucher, maybe a separate bus (and you get two seats), and an instant credit back for their upgraded fare. They said thanks for the comments back.

To call their efforts "substandard" is a little dramatic.

And to ask for "compensation", well, certainly you can ask, but ....

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Amtrak certainly did everything in their power to get me to my destination. I never said that their efforts to get me to CHI and beyond were "substandard". My issues deal with the services that were either not provided or substituted with a lesser equivalent. Perhaps I need to elaborate on the substandard services of the Empire Builder (EB) and Silver Meteor (SM) so I can not be classified as a drama queen.

From MSP to CHI we traveled in a bus instead of a train. The bus had passengers that were constantly on their cell phones annoying other passengers. Peace and quiet was nonexistent. This would not have been an issue to us had we have been traveling in our private sleeping car room. The bus had less leg room than a train. We traveled along interstate highways instead of the Mississippi River and other scenic areas. Scenery on the bus on I-94,90, etc. was certainly below the standard of traveling on the EB route. Traveling by bus as a whole was well below the standard of traveling by train.

Breakfast in MSP was provided on the bus and consisted of bottled water and donuts. Lunch along the way was at a Burger King on a grab and go basis. The five dollar food voucher was not sufficient to purchase a meal and drink. The two meals provided on the bus can no way compare to the dining car meals offered on the train.

Dinner in WAS (and for that matter breakfast in MSP) could have been provided to us in the form of food vouchers by the station agents and purchased locally. The WAS train was running late and surely the WAS Amtrak brass were aware that the dining car was inoperable. Food vouchers would have allowed us to eat a nutritious meal in MSP and at an appropriate time in WAS instead of 10:30 PM. Breakfast on the SM consisted of either cold or hot cereal, donuts, and milk. The meals were well below the norm than what you would have be offered had the dining car been operable.

As Tracktwentynine aptly states, my wife and I received services on the train that did not meet our expectations. I may only be a member of this forum for a short while but I know that several members have experienced similar services in the past. The have mentioned that they have been compensated when Amtrak comes up short with their expected services. I do not think it is unreasonable of me to ask for compensation and I will do just that in a few days.

I agree with Dovecote's basic position. But Amtrak's way of handling disruptions, whether due to the host RR, Amtrak maintenance failures, weather, suicide on the rails, etc. is to get you to your destination as quickly as possible; and then to compensate you for failure to receive what you paid for with vouchers for future travel. Being a frequent rider, I'm happy with that.

All the rest is quibbling over terminology.