STATION REFUSED TO CHECK LUGGAGE

[sunchaser]

Excuse me, but who are we to judge what is or is not trauma to another! If what happened to Ruth had happened to me I would have all to do to make the stairs, if I in fact made them at all; and I'm not even talking about trying to get luggage up with me!
I'm pretty sure I would have also been in tears and popping my pain and anxiety medication. The same goes for getting onto the train if from ground level and into my H room. So yes, I would have considered my experience as traumatic too!

On the other hand I probably wouldn't have felt insulted over only being given an apology and $25 certificate! I'd just be thankful that I was at least given some consideration for my TRAUMA!

Let's try giving the benefit of the doubt and show a little compassion and not ass-u-me what we have no real understanding or knowledge about!

Ruth, you have my compassion but keep the voucher and enjoy your hopefully traumaless next trip!

Skye,

I agree with you in part. Ruth does not say why she was in tears. Was it pain, or something else? I know that if I had to climb 2 flights with bags, it would be painful, in the least. But, I don't think it would be something that would make me that upset. My concern would have been for those around me that are needing more help. It seems that the train staff was unaware of the problem until the passengers started appearing with their bags. I would think that if the train staff had been aware, they would have attempted to assist more. Ruth, it is your choice whether you keep the voucher or send it back. I would hope that it doesn't cause you to avoid taking the train-it sounds like it was an unusual occurance. I hope that after Ruth's post that maybe, just maybe we all be more aware of our fellow passengers, and at least offer assistance if it's clear they are struggling. That being said, there have been times when I have offered assistance, and the person has refused it. They want to do it on their own. This does not stop me from continuing to offer help.

 

[Upstate]

On the morning of March 13th, the main Amtrak computer system crashed. You may have noticed this if you were trying to get a train status report through web or phone that morning. For an hour or so, no Amtrak station was able to print out tickets. That meant that there were a number of people who came to their station expecting to get tickets for that day's train and were unable to do so. These people were allowed to board without tickets.

You are saying that the system crashed in the morning for about an hour, but this lady was denied checking her baggage in the afternoon. That still doesn't explain anything.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

On the morning of March 13th, the main Amtrak computer system crashed. You may have noticed this if you were trying to get a train status report through web or phone that morning. For an hour or so, no Amtrak station was able to print out tickets. That meant that there were a number of people who came to their station expecting to get tickets for that day's train and were unable to do so. These people were allowed to board without tickets.

You are saying that the system crashed in the morning for about an hour, but this lady was denied checking her baggage in the afternoon. That still doesn't explain anything.

A system wide crash of that magnitude would have aftershocks going on for the entire day if not week.

 

[Everydaymatters]

Excuse me, but who are we to judge what is or is not trauma to another! If what happened to Ruth had happened to me I would have all to do to make the stairs, if I in fact made them at all; and I'm not even talking about trying to get luggage up with me!
I'm pretty sure I would have also been in tears and popping my pain and anxiety medication. The same goes for getting onto the train if from ground level and into my H room. So yes, I would have considered my experience as traumatic too!

On the other hand I probably wouldn't have felt insulted over only being given an apology and $25 certificate! I'd just be thankful that I was at least given some consideration for my TRAUMA!

Let's try giving the benefit of the doubt and show a little compassion and not ass-u-me what we have no real understanding or knowledge about!

Ruth, you have my compassion but keep the voucher and enjoy your hopefully traumaless next trip!

Skye,

I agree with you in part. Ruth does not say why she was in tears. Was it pain, or something else? I know that if I had to climb 2 flights with bags, it would be painful, in the least. But, I don't think it would be something that would make me that upset. My concern would have been for those around me that are needing more help. It seems that the train staff was unaware of the problem until the passengers started appearing with their bags. I would think that if the train staff had been aware, they would have attempted to assist more. Ruth, it is your choice whether you keep the voucher or send it back. I would hope that it doesn't cause you to avoid taking the train-it sounds like it was an unusual occurance. I hope that after Ruth's post that maybe, just maybe we all be more aware of our fellow passengers, and at least offer assistance if it's clear they are struggling. That being said, there have been times when I have offered assistance, and the person has refused it. They want to do it on their own. This does not stop me from continuing to offer help.

I have to wonder what has happened that some of the replies to Ruth's post are so uncaring. I don't think "trauma" is the correct choice of words, but that's not the point.

The picture of those stairs tells me a lot. I could have made it up those stairs, bad lungs and all, if I could have put my suitcase on the next step, caught my breath, moved up a step, then put my suitcase on the step above as I moved up one step, and gone up one step at a time. If there was no time to go one at a time and I had to hurry, I couldn't do it.

Some of the posters who chose to ridicule Ruth are completely healthy. I hope they can stay healty and never have to have their words come back to bite them.

 

[Upstate]

On the morning of March 13th, the main Amtrak computer system crashed. You may have noticed this if you were trying to get a train status report through web or phone that morning. For an hour or so, no Amtrak station was able to print out tickets. That meant that there were a number of people who came to their station expecting to get tickets for that day's train and were unable to do so. These people were allowed to board without tickets.

You are saying that the system crashed in the morning for about an hour, but this lady was denied checking her baggage in the afternoon. That still doesn't explain anything.

A system wide crash of that magnitude would have aftershocks going on for the entire day if not week.

In the original post she said that the agent was selling tickets so their computer system was working at that point.
Now I have never checked bags so I don't know how it all works, but in Tim in Wisconson's post he said that the tags were filled out by hand anyway.

 

[Neil_M]

For any able bodied person those steps are just a reminder you have too much luggage, and for any older or less able bodied people you would like to think that someone would help out.

I think the cries of "trauma" at the beginning are a bit drama laden......

 

[printman2000]

You know, we always pack two large suitcases that are checked and we all have an on-board bag. I I found out I was going to have to haul that all into a single level roomette, I would pretty hacked off as well. Amtrak should give them a better voucher than $25.

I am not sure if you were in coach or sleeper, but I agree that this is unacceptable.

I do not believe the system being down affects checking baggage. It is simply putting a preprinted tag on the bag for the final destination. I do not think there is any paperwork that has to be filled out. I may be wrong, but that is what I have observed.

 

[Tony]

Now I have never checked bags so I don't know how it all works, but in Tim in Wisconson's post he said that the tags were filled out by hand anyway.

At Orlando, the baggage check-in is at the far, far end of the platform. One would walk less, if one just brought their luggage directly to the train itself.

 

[Tim in Wisconsin]

You are saying that the system crashed in the morning for about an hour, but this lady was denied checking her baggage in the afternoon. That still doesn't explain anything.

It's a ripple effect. Once the system came back online, it then became the responsibility of a down-line station to ticket everyone who had boarded while the system was down. Passengers on a train need tickets, especially if they plan on connecting somewhere or going on a round trip. Amtrak's baggage system is excellent at moving luggage without losing or delaying it, but it is a little archaic in the time it takes to get bags ready to load. From my experience, it's not too hard to get a bag to a station located on the same route as yours; they'll have preprinted tags for that. If you're connecting, however, that's when things take a little while to prepare. They have to fill out tags by hand with train numbers, destinations, and locations of transfer for each bag checked. It should be modernized, yes, but this is the system they have to work with at this time.

The timing of the event in this thread matches well with my experience on that day, so that's why I theorized that the checked baggage issue was related to the system crash. People in Columbus, WI, were denied checked baggage for a train that called at 2:00 ET even though the system was back up before then just because there were so many tickets to print out and only one person to take care of it. It wasn't that big of a deal on my train because there's a lot of room for unchecked baggage on a Superliner-equipped train, the track is at ground level, and it's only three stops and 150 miles to Chicago where there's a lot more help available to deal with baggage.

I guesstimated that ARROW was out for an hour; it easily could have been longer. I can narrow the outage down to a specific range of times (and even though the events occurred in Central Time, I'm going to report them in Eastern Time to help compare): Whenever I'm scheduled to be on a train, I always check its status in the morning just to see how it's doing. At about 10:00 AM ET, I checked the website and saw that my train was running on time. At Noon ET I wanted an update and I got a system error through the website. Figuring that something was up with the web site, I called Julie, who was also unable to do anything. When I got to the station at 1:30 PM ET, I learned that the computers systemwide had been down but were running again. I didn't ask how long they were down; it wasn't my business. None of the passengers who boarded at La Crosse (scheduled for 11:47 AM ET, the train was a few minutes down) were able to retrieve tickets if they didn't have them in hand when they got to the station, and my station agent was frantically trying to get those tickets together in the half-hour he had available before the train arrived. Once aboard the train, passengers without tickets were to go to the dining car to collect tickets for the other legs from the conductor.

So, sometime between 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM EDT the system was down. It is entirely plausible that the system outage affected passenger boardings at both Meridian and Tuscaloosa. If you were to add those two stations together with the people in Birmingham that needed tickets, that's a lot of printing and it's easy to get overwhelmed. (This is what happens now that Amtrak charges a fairly hefty fee to have your tickets mailed to you; a lot of people aren't going to show up at the station with tickets in hand.) I could see the agent having time to deal with some but not all of the bags. Because of that, I could understand not collecting any of the bags instead of creating a rift between passengers who got special treatment and those who did not.

My question for those of you familiar with the Birmingham station is this: how do the handicapped get to the platform? There has to be some kind of publicly accessible elevator, I'd think, and the true issue is why weren't more people directed to that ahead of the train's arrival so that they could use it to ferry their luggage upward. That, and again, why no one stopped to help anyone else.

Look at it this way: A low-bucket one-way coach seat from Birmingham is $31 to Atlanta, $35 to New Orleans. That voucher can get you a long way towards a couple of cool places.

 

[Upstate]

From my experience, it's not too hard to get a bag to a station located on the same route as yours; they'll have preprinted tags for that. If you're connecting, however, that's when things take a little while to prepare. They have to fill out tags by hand with train numbers, destinations, and locations of transfer for each bag checked. It should be modernized, yes, but this is the system they have to work with at this time.

So check the bags down the line and it they are connecting tell them that they will have to recheck them at the connecting station. Easy enough. Its at least something more than completely blowing off the customer.

There are a lot of people on here making excuses on why we should accept Amtrak acting like a 3rd world train service.

 

[sunchaser]

Excuse me, but who are we to judge what is or is not trauma to another! If what happened to Ruth had happened to me I would have all to do to make the stairs, if I in fact made them at all; and I'm not even talking about trying to get luggage up with me!
I'm pretty sure I would have also been in tears and popping my pain and anxiety medication. The same goes for getting onto the train if from ground level and into my H room. So yes, I would have considered my experience as traumatic too!

On the other hand I probably wouldn't have felt insulted over only being given an apology and $25 certificate! I'd just be thankful that I was at least given some consideration for my TRAUMA!

Let's try giving the benefit of the doubt and show a little compassion and not ass-u-me what we have no real understanding or knowledge about!

Ruth, you have my compassion but keep the voucher and enjoy your hopefully traumaless next trip!

Skye,

I agree with you in part. Ruth does not say why she was in tears. Was it pain, or something else? I know that if I had to climb 2 flights with bags, it would be painful, in the least. But, I don't think it would be something that would make me that upset. My concern would have been for those around me that are needing more help. It seems that the train staff was unaware of the problem until the passengers started appearing with their bags. I would think that if the train staff had been aware, they would have attempted to assist more. Ruth, it is your choice whether you keep the voucher or send it back. I would hope that it doesn't cause you to avoid taking the train-it sounds like it was an unusual occurance. I hope that after Ruth's post that maybe, just maybe we all be more aware of our fellow passengers, and at least offer assistance if it's clear they are struggling. That being said, there have been times when I have offered assistance, and the person has refused it. They want to do it on their own. This does not stop me from continuing to offer help.

I have to wonder what has happened that some of the replies to Ruth's post are so uncaring. I don't think "trauma" is the correct choice of words, but that's not the point.

The picture of those stairs tells me a lot. I could have made it up those stairs, bad lungs and all, if I could have put my suitcase on the next step, caught my breath, moved up a step, then put my suitcase on the step above as I moved up one step, and gone up one step at a time. If there was no time to go one at a time and I had to hurry, I couldn't do it.

Some of the posters who chose to ridicule Ruth are completely healthy. I hope they can stay healty and never have to have their words come back to bite them.

I hope you haven't misunderstood my post. I for one was not ridiculing her. As I said, it would be painful for me to carry bags up 2 flights. And I probably would need a breather at the top, as well. I understand she was frustrated, but she didn't say why she was in tears. She could have been in pain, but she didn't say. She sounded more angry & frustrated than hurt. She also seemed more upset that they sent a $25 voucher. What I meant is I may have been irritated temporarily, but not insulted if they sent me a voucher for $25. As a former customer service rep, I realize that there are situations you can fix. There are some you cannot. When we take our trip in June we will be using all carry on, 4 bags.

I may end up toting them all, or using RedCap where available. So I know that won't be fun, but if it has to done, it has to be done.

 

[Walt]

I have been reading through this thread, and one thing just sticks in the back of my mind.

As far as I know, no passenger is ever allowed to check their own luggage. You can't just walk up to the baggage car, and toss your own luggage in there. I can't envision any set of circumstances that Amtrak would do that.

So, what are we really talking about here? It can't be about checked luggage. So, could it just possibly be "carry-on" luggage? And the OP was unable to find someone (a "red cap" or similar) to carry their "carry-on" luggage up to the platform and onto train?

If I am wrong (which is certainly a possibility), maybe could explain how Amtrak exactly allows passengers into the baggage car? Tag your own luggage?

I don't think this is really ridiculing the OP to ask such a question. I am just trying to make sense out of this.

 

[Walt]

My question for those of you familiar with the Birmingham station is this: how do the handicapped get to the platform? There has to be some kind of publicly accessible elevator, I'd think, and the true issue is why weren't more people directed to that ahead of the train's arrival so that they could use it to ferry their luggage upward.

I have the same question. Is anyone familiar enough with this station, to say for sure if there is at least one elevator between street/station level and the platform level? Forget about lugging luggage, what about wheelchairs?

 

[sunchaser]

I have been reading through this thread, and one thing just sticks in the back of my mind.
As far as I know, no passenger is ever allowed to check their own luggage. You can't just walk up to the baggage car, and toss your own luggage in there. I can't envision any set of circumstances that Amtrak would do that.

So, what are we really talking about here? It can't be about checked luggage. So, could it just possibly be "carry-on" luggage? And the OP was unable to find someone (a "red cap" or similar) to carry their "carry-on" luggage up to the platform and onto train?

If I am wrong (which is certainly a possibility), maybe could explain how Amtrak exactly allows passengers into the baggage car? Tag your own luggage?

I don't think this is really ridiculing the OP to ask such a question. I am just trying to make sense out of this.

Ruth said in her post that all the passengers were not allowed to have their baggage checked at the counter. She also said the passengers were told that they were responsible for getting their own luggage to the train..So apparently no

RedCap available.

 

[had8ley]

My question for those of you familiar with the Birmingham station is this: how do the handicapped get to the platform? There has to be some kind of publicly accessible elevator, I'd think, and the true issue is why weren't more people directed to that ahead of the train's arrival so that they could use it to ferry their luggage upward.

I have the same question. Is anyone familiar enough with this station, to say for sure if there is at least one elevator between street/station level and the platform level? Forget about lugging luggage, what about wheelchairs?

To clarify some of the questions that have arisen; B'Ham has two clerks who serve as baggage man and ticket agent; there is no supervisor but there is a swing man to handle the off days of these two employees. There is also a one man extra board to cover B'Ham, Tuscaloosa and Meridian based out of Birmingham. There is a baggage elevator that also serves accessible pax; I don't know the operating status as of today. Maybe a call to the station would clarify its status.

You know fellow posters it is NOT a terribly hard job to be nice to people who subsidize your pay check and especially when you are only servicing one train in each direction in B'Ham. (#19 & 20.) The agent in Hammond, LA has been seen tagging checked bags as the headlights of #58 come into town. I doubt anybody has ever complained about the way he handles the paying pax. Why do Amtrak employees go out of their way to make life difficult for those that pay the excellent wages and benefits that they derive from their jobs? For the sake of repeating myself a major flaw in Amtrak's mode of doing business is too many managers are super glued to their desks. Only when management has to endure some of these hardships for themselves will we see a major turnaround in customer service. Until the worry is transferred to just what transpires on board, instead of OTP off the bumper, will we see any radical improvement in Customer Service.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

I admit that this was an unpleasant experience for our poster, but she is overdramatizing. $25 is a more than fair voucher for the experience.

I'm not healthy. I have CP, a released tendon in my right leg, and some seriously screwed up ankles. (you could call them permanently sprained, for lack of a better description) and I could have done that. I woulda griped all the way of the stairs, and if I ever saw that station attendant again, I'd read them the riot act for it, if I remembered the experience. I might have complained to Amtrak, but probably not- I've forgiven bigger errors on their part in the past.

However, I do agree with a few peoples comments: fact of the matter is, some of the people boarding this train had to be in decent shape. Hell, if I'm not carrying too much, I coulda helped. Walking and hauling hurts like hell, but I've gotten used to it years ago.

Amtrak screwed up with this, sure. But $25 is a more than fair voucher to cover it. I will also bet you that if there were people who were truly disabled, rather than uncomfortable, they would have been helped. Our OP didn't say she is a disabled, unhealthy, charity case.

Now, if you show me some evidence that there are people, like Betty, who simply couldn't have done this on their own (rather than being irritated by it- trust me, I'd have been irritated) not recieiving help, then I will join with the poster and Betty in saying that this was a ridiculous response for the incident. Some people just don't like being inconvenienced.

 

[tp49]

Excuse me, but who are we to judge what is or is not trauma to another! If what happened to Ruth had happened to me I would have all to do to make the stairs, if I in fact made them at all; and I'm not even talking about trying to get luggage up with me!
I'm pretty sure I would have also been in tears and popping my pain and anxiety medication. The same goes for getting onto the train if from ground level and into my H room. So yes, I would have considered my experience as traumatic too!

On the other hand I probably wouldn't have felt insulted over only being given an apology and $25 certificate! I'd just be thankful that I was at least given some consideration for my TRAUMA!

Let's try giving the benefit of the doubt and show a little compassion and not ass-u-me what we have no real understanding or knowledge about!

Ruth, you have my compassion but keep the voucher and enjoy your hopefully traumaless next trip!

If this were litigated any one of us could conceiveably be on the jury and thus have to judge whether it was a trauma.

 

[Shawn]

And I would have to say "no" on the trauma part. Yes, on the irritation part.

Trauma is something that causes injury to someone...that was not proven...

And agree with Lion!

Excuse me, but who are we to judge what is or is not trauma to another! If what happened to Ruth had happened to me I would have all to do to make the stairs, if I in fact made them at all; and I'm not even talking about trying to get luggage up with me!
I'm pretty sure I would have also been in tears and popping my pain and anxiety medication. The same goes for getting onto the train if from ground level and into my H room. So yes, I would have considered my experience as traumatic too!

On the other hand I probably wouldn't have felt insulted over only being given an apology and $25 certificate! I'd just be thankful that I was at least given some consideration for my TRAUMA!

Let's try giving the benefit of the doubt and show a little compassion and not ass-u-me what we have no real understanding or knowledge about!

Ruth, you have my compassion but keep the voucher and enjoy your hopefully traumaless next trip!

If this were litigated any one of us could conceiveably be on the jury and thus have to judge whether it was a trauma.

 

[RRrich]

I travel with my wife. At KCY and ALB we request transportation from the train to the waiting area or vice-versa. At other stations like CHI we use Redcaps.

If we were boarding at that station we would not have attempted those stairs - I could have done it but wifey could not have. If she had tried (which I would NOT have allowed) and collapsed we would have been severely upset. The clerk would have had to close the ticket counter and run the elevator. Disabled pax are not that unusual - some accommodation must be on the books for that station - or one man should NOT have run it. They have an extra board don't they?

 

[Everydaymatters]

Excuse me, but who are we to judge what is or is not trauma to another! If what happened to Ruth had happened to me I would have all to do to make the stairs, if I in fact made them at all; and I'm not even talking about trying to get luggage up with me!
I'm pretty sure I would have also been in tears and popping my pain and anxiety medication. The same goes for getting onto the train if from ground level and into my H room. So yes, I would have considered my experience as traumatic too!

On the other hand I probably wouldn't have felt insulted over only being given an apology and $25 certificate! I'd just be thankful that I was at least given some consideration for my TRAUMA!

Let's try giving the benefit of the doubt and show a little compassion and not ass-u-me what we have no real understanding or knowledge about!

Ruth, you have my compassion but keep the voucher and enjoy your hopefully traumaless next trip!

Skye,

I agree with you in part. Ruth does not say why she was in tears. Was it pain, or something else? I know that if I had to climb 2 flights with bags, it would be painful, in the least. But, I don't think it would be something that would make me that upset. My concern would have been for those around me that are needing more help. It seems that the train staff was unaware of the problem until the passengers started appearing with their bags. I would think that if the train staff had been aware, they would have attempted to assist more. Ruth, it is your choice whether you keep the voucher or send it back. I would hope that it doesn't cause you to avoid taking the train-it sounds like it was an unusual occurance. I hope that after Ruth's post that maybe, just maybe we all be more aware of our fellow passengers, and at least offer assistance if it's clear they are struggling. That being said, there have been times when I have offered assistance, and the person has refused it. They want to do it on their own. This does not stop me from continuing to offer help.

I have to wonder what has happened that some of the replies to Ruth's post are so uncaring. I don't think "trauma" is the correct choice of words, but that's not the point.

The picture of those stairs tells me a lot. I could have made it up those stairs, bad lungs and all, if I could have put my suitcase on the next step, caught my breath, moved up a step, then put my suitcase on the step above as I moved up one step, and gone up one step at a time. If there was no time to go one at a time and I had to hurry, I couldn't do it.

Some of the posters who chose to ridicule Ruth are completely healthy. I hope they can stay healty and never have to have their words come back to bite them.

I hope you haven't misunderstood my post. I for one was not ridiculing her. As I said, it would be painful for me to carry bags up 2 flights. And I probably would need a breather at the top, as well. I understand she was frustrated, but she didn't say why she was in tears. She could have been in pain, but she didn't say. She sounded more angry & frustrated than hurt. She also seemed more upset that they sent a $25 voucher. What I meant is I may have been irritated temporarily, but not insulted if they sent me a voucher for $25. As a former customer service rep, I realize that there are situations you can fix. There are some you cannot. When we take our trip in June we will be using all carry on, 4 bags.

I may end up toting them all, or using RedCap where available. So I know that won't be fun, but if it has to done, it has to be done.

No, I didn't misunderstand. I quoted you and Sunchaser because I'm in agreement with both of you.

 

[Everydaymatters]

I still don't think that Ruth meant "trauma" per se. But if she did, what is not traumatic to me could be terribly traumatic to someone else. If she was in tears, you can bet it sure wasn't a picnic for her.

I keep trying to find a word I would use for something that was a really terrible experience, that left me in pain, and was something I would never forget because of how miserable it was. Can any of you supply a word for that? What ever it is, I think that's what she meant.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

I still don't think that Ruth meant "trauma" per se. But if she did, what is not traumatic to me could be terribly traumatic to someone else. If she was in tears, you can bet it sure wasn't a picnic for her.
I keep trying to find a word I would use for something that was a really terrible experience, that left me in pain, and was something I would never forget because of how miserable it was. Can any of you supply a word for that? What ever it is, I think that's what she meant.

Bull.

Her post is about as histrionic as it gets.

 

[MattW]

I'm not sure this isn't a breach of contract on Amtrak's part. The OP paid to board at a checked-baggage station and got flatly told that they couldn't use the checked-baggage system. Fortunately, the conductors/attendants didn't refuse to allow the checked baggage on to the train when the online system always says that at non-checked-baggage stations that only carryon is allowed.

It sounds like the OP did everything right, and Amtrak did everything wrong in this case much as I love Amtrak.

 

[Ryan]

I keep trying to find a word I would use for something that was a really terrible experience, that left me in pain, and was something I would never forget because of how miserable it was. Can any of you supply a word for that? What ever it is, I think that's what she meant.

An inconvenience. Brought about by poor judgement (possibly), a bad situation (shorthanded, computer problems) and seemingly no decent human beings in the area to offer to help (if it was really all that much of a problem for this person to make it to the top of the stairs, which I'm not convinced of).

I find it interesting that the OP hasn't come back to clarify the situation at all - nowhere does she indicate that she let the agent that made the "no checked bags" announcement know that she was going to have difficulty reaching the platform. If she took the announcement for what it was, and did nothing to seek help, then obviously this is a case of overblown whining. If she sought help from the agent and was rebuffed, that could certainly change things, but I'm inclined to not fly off the handle and crucify Amtrak based on one side of the story missing several key facts. I'd like to say that I'm surprised that there are people willing to condemn Amtrak for the event with absolutely no way of knowing any more than was posted here, but that just seems to be how some people roll.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

I keep trying to find a word I would use for something that was a really terrible experience, that left me in pain, and was something I would never forget because of how miserable it was. Can any of you supply a word for that? What ever it is, I think that's what she meant.

An inconvenience. Brought about by poor judgement (possibly), a bad situation (shorthanded, computer problems) and seemingly no decent human beings in the area to offer to help (if it was really all that much of a problem for this person to make it to the top of the stairs, which I'm not convinced of).

I find it interesting that the OP hasn't come back to clarify the situation at all - nowhere does she indicate that she let the agent that made the "no checked bags" announcement know that she was going to have difficulty reaching the platform. If she took the announcement for what it was, and did nothing to seek help, then obviously this is a case of overblown whining. If she sought help from the agent and was rebuffed, that could certainly change things, but I'm inclined to not fly off the handle and crucify Amtrak based on one side of the story missing several key facts. I'd like to say that I'm surprised that there are people willing to condemn Amtrak for the event with absolutely no way of knowing any more than was posted here, but that just seems to be how some people roll.

IMHO the OP came here to rant, then leave. If she comes back I'm more than willing to offer her support and advice. But based on her post's content and style... something tells me she won't be back for awhile.