QuikTrak Problems?

[arrow3]

I had this problem about a year ago in Penn Station Newark. It printed some of my tickets and then just said "Out of Service". I stood there for about 20 seconds and nothing happened. I turned to walk to the agents to see what happened, but I decided to look back at the machine just in case. It's a good thing I did because the rest of the tickets had come out of the machine, but it still said "Out of Service".

So, my advice for anyone that's in this situation - don't leave! The tickets eventually will come out.

 

[caravanman]

One of the main reasons for not getting the tickets too early, is that it seems to be easier to cancel, alter or obtain a refund if the tickets haven't yet been printed.

We all know that machines can fail at awkward moments.. How you get on after that is down to human nature, will the conductor help you out, or make difficulties, just a matter of luck I guess..?

Eddie

 

[GoldenSpike]

members on this forum swear up and down that you should use the QT machine and get your tickets the day your train arrives. but what if the above happens. no live ticket agent during the day and the machine is down and your train is 1 hour away. can the phone agents contact the conductor of train and change it to pickup on board. and FYI NOT ALL stations have more then one machine.

Worse-case scenario all one would have to is board the train and explain the problem. The itinerary would be easy for them to determine and take appropriate action.

 

[IHC]

Two weeks ago I took the Capitol Corridor from Great America (GAC) to Oakland (OKJ). GAC is not staffed and has two QT machines. I went to go purchase my ticket from the QT machine and both said "out of order". So, I had to purchase my ticket from the conductor on board. (And now I'm dealing with AGR to get the points).

A couple of other folks also boarding at GAC had already purchased and paid for their tickets on the website, and were going to pick up their tickets from the QT machine. Obviously they couldn't.

Upon boarding, the conductors were very rude to everybody who didn't have tickets. They gave them all the 3rd degree: "When did you buy your ticket? Why did you not pick it up at the QT, etc. They said they have to call via cell phone and verify all this and if they can't find the tickets they have to charge them again on board!

The conductors then had to call one of the staffed stations to verify all this. By the time I had gotten off the train, they still did not have answers.

So, what if they called a staffed station, and had them print out the tickets there? What if they were round trip tickets? How could the customer get their round trip ticket? What if the ticket agents steal the tickets and say we can't find the reservations?

What an absolute mess!

 

[amtrakwolverine]

i pay with debit card all the time online and i have the sign here on the ticket. I always sign my ticket and have my ID in hand so if needed i don't have to fumble around trying to find it.

 

[Cristobal]

Two weeks ago I took the Capitol Corridor from Great America (GAC) to Oakland (OKJ). GAC is not staffed and has two QT machines. I went to go purchase my ticket from the QT machine and both said "out of order". So, I had to purchase my ticket from the conductor on board. (And now I'm dealing with AGR to get the points).
A couple of other folks also boarding at GAC had already purchased and paid for their tickets on the website, and were going to pick up their tickets from the QT machine. Obviously they couldn't.

Upon boarding, the conductors were very rude to everybody who didn't have tickets. They gave them all the 3rd degree: "When did you buy your ticket? Why did you not pick it up at the QT, etc. They said they have to call via cell phone and verify all this and if they can't find the tickets they have to charge them again on board!

The conductors then had to call one of the staffed stations to verify all this. By the time I had gotten off the train, they still did not have answers.

So, what if they called a staffed station, and had them print out the tickets there? What if they were round trip tickets? How could the customer get their round trip ticket? What if the ticket agents steal the tickets and say we can't find the reservations?

What an absolute mess!

You must be in my neighborhood. GAC is my CC station of choice with it's free parkingand being only a few minutes away. OKJ is also my lunch stop for points runs (House of Chicken & Waffles and Hahn's Hibachi so far).

Back OT...

3 weeks ago one of the QT machines at GAC was 'out of service' but the other one worked for me. Yesterday they were both up and running. I also book online and just use the bar-code scanner to print my tix. I've always hoped that having the confirmation email printed and with me might save some headache if, by chance, both machines are down and not printing tix. Maybe this is not the case?

 

[IHC]

I've always hoped that having the confirmation email printed and with me might save some headache if, by chance, both machines are down and not printing tix. Maybe this is not the case?

From what I saw, apparently not...

From now on I suggest/recommend if anyone is planning to use a QT machine at an unstaffed station on the Capitol Corridor, to wait and buy the ticket at the machine itself, not on the website with the hopes you'll just pick up your ticket at the QT machine. You might get double charged...and yelled at by a conductor.

 

[IHC]

You must be in my neighborhood. GAC is my CC station of choice with it's free parkingand being only a few minutes away. OKJ is also my lunch stop for points runs (House of Chicken & Waffles and Hahn's Hibachi so far).

Another good point run is to Berkeley, and having a few beers and dinner at Brennen's, which is inside the old SP station there at the Berkeley stop.

http://brennansberkeley.com/

 

[Cristobal]

You must be in my neighborhood. GAC is my CC station of choice with it's free parkingand being only a few minutes away. OKJ is also my lunch stop for points runs (House of Chicken & Waffles and Hahn's Hibachi so far).

Another good point run is to Berkeley, and having a few beers and dinner at Brennen's, which is inside the old SP station there at the Berkeley stop.

http://brennansberkeley.com/

Thanks for that link. I may have to check it out on a future points run just to change things up a bit.

OKJ is pretty hard to beat though. My stop there yesterday surprised me with a boat show going on. It is certainly a stop where it is pretty easy to kill an hour or two by just walking around the farmer's market and such.

Oh yeah...

The weather there yesterday was absolutely gorgeous! Sunny and temps in the 70s. Not a bad way to spend some time between trains while walking off a very filling lunch.

 

[AlanB]

i pay with debit card all the time online and i have the sign here on the ticket. I always sign my ticket and have my ID in hand so if needed i don't have to fumble around trying to find it.

Your debit card is still acting as a credit card in this case however. Amtrak doesn't know if the number you entered was a "real" credit card or a debit card acting as a credit card. So you have to sign your tickets.

However, if you went to agent and used your debit card as a debit card by entering your pin number on the keypad, then you would not have to sign your ticket. Mind you some agents don't know the rules and will still want you to sign the ticket. But it's not necessary when you've used your pin number to buy the tickets.

 

[AlanB]

I've always hoped that having the confirmation email printed and with me might save some headache if, by chance, both machines are down and not printing tix. Maybe this is not the case?

From what I saw, apparently not...

From now on I suggest/recommend if anyone is planning to use a QT machine at an unstaffed station on the Capitol Corridor, to wait and buy the ticket at the machine itself, not on the website with the hopes you'll just pick up your ticket at the QT machine. You might get double charged...and yelled at by a conductor.

Having the printed email at least gives you some proof that you did indeed pay for tickets, and it does provide the conductor the reservation number which makes the process much easier. But it is still a hassle for the conductor unfortunately, and on the NEC you can't normally do that at all, as the conductor can't cut tickets on the NEC.