Don't lose your return ticket - lesson learned

[amtrakwolverine]

Last year on the California Zephyr, the guy in the roomette next to mine got his travel times mixed up and had arrived the day before the date printed on his ticket. Since the roomette apparently was available all the way through his destination, they let him travel anyway. I was surprised they allowed this -- but at least he hadn't lost the ticket.

that conductor or sleeper attendant must not be too worried about his/her job.

 

[AlanB]

Last year on the California Zephyr, the guy in the roomette next to mine got his travel times mixed up and had arrived the day before the date printed on his ticket. Since the roomette apparently was available all the way through his destination, they let him travel anyway. I was surprised they allowed this -- but at least he hadn't lost the ticket.

that conductor or sleeper attendant must not be too worried about his/her job.

I highly doubt that the conductor would be fired for something like that. Perhaps if the room had indeed been booked and there were no other rooms available and he turned away the person with the correct ticket, maybe Amtrak would discipline him a bit.

But if the room isn't already sold and/or there is another room available on the train, then the conductor is simply providing good customer service. He's helping someone out who screwed things up and made an honest mistake, but still did pay his/her fare. Maybe they caught a break on the buckets, but otherwise Amtrak did get paid for that room and rail fare.

So no, I can't imagine that Amtrak would fire him or discipline him over something like this.

 

[printman2000]

Last year on the California Zephyr, the guy in the roomette next to mine got his travel times mixed up and had arrived the day before the date printed on his ticket. Since the roomette apparently was available all the way through his destination, they let him travel anyway. I was surprised they allowed this -- but at least he hadn't lost the ticket.

that conductor or sleeper attendant must not be too worried about his/her job.

I highly doubt that the conductor would be fired for something like that. Perhaps if the room had indeed been booked and there were no other rooms available and he turned away the person with the correct ticket, maybe Amtrak would discipline him a bit.

But if the room isn't already sold and/or there is another room available on the train, then the conductor is simply providing good customer service. He's helping someone out who screwed things up and made an honest mistake, but still did pay his/her fare. Maybe they caught a break on the buckets, but otherwise Amtrak did get paid for that room and rail fare.

So no, I can't imagine that Amtrak would fire him or discipline him over something like this.

It would seem to me that the conductor must have called it in. Otherwise, that room could have been sold down the line.

 

[lthanlon]

It turned out that the guy who was a day early had a ticket for a roomette that had been sold. However, they put him in another one that apparently was free. I don't know who made the decision, but a couple of personnel were involved and they consulted with someone on the radio.

 

[Big Iron]

He was in a sleeper he is supposed to have an attendant to do things for him. Putting down the beds is the attendants most basic role. Some attendants are great and give you personal attention, and will have a conversation with you. Others will simply take care of your bed and keep the coffee machine stocked, and spend the rest of their day in the dining car. Then there are attendants like your son encountered, or didn't encounter. The attendant who shouldn't be an Amtrak employee. Who provide 0 service, and manage to stay hidden the entire trip. You should contact Amtrak about this attendant, even though he doesn't have a name the train and date of travel and car number are enough for Amtrak to track them down. Regardless of who you are if your in a sleeper your attendant is supposed to fulfill some tasks. Some go above and beyond, and those are the great attendants that are tipped well and praised here on the board. Your son obviously didn't encounter one of those.

Below is the e-mail I sent to Amtrak after my recent trip. A tale of two trips.

Please forward this e-mail to Customer Service. I travelled on Train #29 from Washington to Chicago on January 8, 2010. I want to compliment the sleeping car attendant, Brenda. I've had her on other trips I've taken on the Capitol Limited and she is the most wonderful Amtrak employee that I have encountered. She is professional, hard working and friendly. She did a wonderful job taking care of me and the other passengers. She kept the car (2900) in pristine condition throughout the trip. The bathrooms were flawlessly clean, as if no one had used them. There were numerous passengers in the car who were transferring to trains in Chicago that had been cancelled because of weather. She was peppered with questions about connections and was able to handle them effectively and in such a manner to allay the fears of those passengers and allow them to enjoy their trip to Chicago. Please accept my thanks for a most enjoyable trip on Amtrak due to the efforts and abilities of Brenda.

I encountered the almost complete opposite on my return trip on the Cardinal on 1/9/2010, car 5000, room 8. Rasheed was the car attendant that trip. He was missing in action for 90% of the trip from Chicago to Charlottesville. The toliets stopped working about 2 hours out of Chicago. No announcement was made and when I asked Rasheed at the Indianapolis stop about the toilets he blamed it on "maintenance" in Chicago. He offered no suggestions of where sleeping car passengers should use restrooms nor offered any insight as to if/when the problem would be resolved other than saying they would probably thaw out somehwere in Virginia. The interior of the car was filthy and a greenish pool of slimy water was in the sink next to the coffe urn and ice bag. Again he blamed maintenance for not fixing the sink in Chicago. He announced breakfast at 7:30 when the diner opened at 6:00 and never made a lunch announcement. I certainly understand that weather creates difficulties with trains and plumbing so my complaint isn't about a late train or no toilet. It's about how problems are handled. Brenda handled problems of a more significant nature to Amtrak's advantage while Rasheed allowed issues to go unresolved cultivating a negative perception of Amtrak's ability to properly serve passengers.

Please let us know if you receive a response.

.

I received a response from Amtrak Customer Service. They sent me an e-mail today (2/5) in response to my e-mail to them on 1/12 asking me to call which I did. The woman was polite and informed and summarized my e-mail exactly. She said that there are good service attendants and bad ones and that my e-mail would be forwarded to their respective managers and placed in their personnel files. She offered a discount coupon which I politiely refused as I did not think that a personnel issue warranted some sort of discount. My point was made as I wanted to praise good service and alert them to poor service.

 

[AAARGH!]

I received a response from Amtrak Customer Service. They sent me an e-mail today (2/5) in response to my e-mail to them on 1/12 asking me to call which I did. The woman was polite and informed and summarized my e-mail exactly. She said that there are good service attendants and bad ones and that my e-mail would be forwarded to their respective managers and placed in their personnel files. She offered a discount coupon which I politiely refused as I did not think that a personnel issue warranted some sort of discount. My point was made as I wanted to praise good service and alert them to poor service.

Good for you!

I'm curious though, how much did they offer?

 

[Bob Dylan]

I received a response from Amtrak Customer Service. They sent me an e-mail today (2/5) in response to my e-mail to them on 1/12 asking me to call which I did. The woman was polite and informed and summarized my e-mail exactly. She said that there are good service attendants and bad ones and that my e-mail would be forwarded to their respective managers and placed in their personnel files. She offered a discount coupon which I politiely refused as I did not think that a personnel issue warranted some sort of discount. My point was made as I wanted to praise good service and alert them to poor service.

Good for you!

I'm curious though, how much did they offer?

Im glad you heard back also! If everyone reported the outstanding and the invisible staff Amtrak would be better for everyone! The way I read your post though it was not just a human service deficiency but also equipment! IMO you should have taken the travel voucher, Im also curious what they offered, and knowing this bunch bet someone (ie me! :lol: ) would take any vouchers off your hands if you didnt want them! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Big Iron]

I received a response from Amtrak Customer Service. They sent me an e-mail today (2/5) in response to my e-mail to them on 1/12 asking me to call which I did. The woman was polite and informed and summarized my e-mail exactly. She said that there are good service attendants and bad ones and that my e-mail would be forwarded to their respective managers and placed in their personnel files. She offered a discount coupon which I politiely refused as I did not think that a personnel issue warranted some sort of discount. My point was made as I wanted to praise good service and alert them to poor service.

Good for you!

I'm curious though, how much did they offer?

Im glad you heard back also! If everyone reported the outstanding and the invisible staff Amtrak would be better for everyone! The way I read your post though it was not just a human service deficiency but also equipment! IMO you should have taken the travel voucher, Im also curious what they offered, and knowing this bunch bet someone (ie me! :lol: ) would take any vouchers off your hands if you didnt want them! :lol: :lol: :lol:

I'm sorry to report that I did not ask, sorry folks. The equipment issue (toilets not working in sleeper) was satisfactorily mitigated by the fact there was an empty Horizon coach behind the sleeper that I used. It was a farther walk than in a Superliner but BOY what space was had in the accessible restroom. In the "for what its worth category", my son and I were bustituted from PGH to WAS a few years back and we had bedroom E. I felt a bit cheated by the change in accommodations so I asked for, and got, a refund of $68.00. The refund was, almost to the mile, pro rated by the number of miles travelled versus the cost of the bedroom though we did not get the lunch we were entitled to. There was 2 dozen doughnuts and bottled water on the bus!!!

 

[Big Iron]

I received a response from Amtrak Customer Service. They sent me an e-mail today (2/5) in response to my e-mail to them on 1/12 asking me to call which I did. The woman was polite and informed and summarized my e-mail exactly. She said that there are good service attendants and bad ones and that my e-mail would be forwarded to their respective managers and placed in their personnel files. She offered a discount coupon which I politiely refused as I did not think that a personnel issue warranted some sort of discount. My point was made as I wanted to praise good service and alert them to poor service.

Good for you!

I'm curious though, how much did they offer?

Im glad you heard back also! If everyone reported the outstanding and the invisible staff Amtrak would be better for everyone! The way I read your post though it was not just a human service deficiency but also equipment! IMO you should have taken the travel voucher, Im also curious what they offered, and knowing this bunch bet someone (ie me! :lol: ) would take any vouchers off your hands if you didnt want them! :lol: :lol: :lol:

I'm sorry to report that I did not ask, sorry folks. The equipment issue (toilets not working in sleeper) was satisfactorily mitigated by the fact there was an empty Horizon coach behind the sleeper that I used. It was a farther walk than in a Superliner but BOY what space was had in the accessible restroom. In the "for what its worth category", my son and I were bustituted from PGH to WAS a few years back and we had bedroom E. I felt a bit cheated by the change in accommodations so I asked for, and got, a refund of $68.00. The refund was, almost to the mile, pro rated by the number of miles travelled versus the cost of the bedroom though we did not get the lunch we were entitled to. There was 2 dozen doughnuts and bottled water on the bus!!!

I'd be interested in hearing from other forum members/guests what sort of compensation they received for a similar situation. Or dis-similar situation. Trying to learn of the path not taken when I refused the coupon.

 

[the_traveler]

I'd be interested in hearing from other forum members/guests what sort of compensation they received for a similar situation. Or dis-similar situation. Trying to learn of the path not taken when I refused the coupon.

On a trip from KIN-NYP-ATL round trip, where 2 of us had a sleeper and w had problems on 3 of the 4 trains, I received a voucher worth $300.

And on a cross country trip where many things went wrong, including a bustitution that that was messed up so bad that I arrived at my connection point 12 hours late, and I was not offered a hotel at all, so I cancelled the rest of my trip and headed home. I wrote to the President of Amtrak, and I received a voucher for $500!

However, most vouchers may be in the $25-$100 range.

 

[Dovecote]

I'd be interested in hearing from other forum members/guests what sort of compensation they received for a similar situation. Or dis-similar situation. Trying to learn of the path not taken when I refused the coupon.

I received a $75 voucher after discussing details with a Customer Relations representative on the substandard services received on a December Acela trip in the first class section.