I recently decided I would try to do some personal enrichment activities, one of which is to travel. And, one aspect of that is to travel using trains. So, in the last year, I’ve taken 3 trips via Amtrak. So far, no leg has been longer than one day, so I’ve booked conventional coach passage – no sleeper. In those 3 trips, I have had two serious customer service problems.
The first problem occurred last year on my return leg of an all-day trip. I had never seen this before but on this trip they assigned seats. Normally getting on a train has been like Southwest Airlines, you get on and look for an open seat. I was second in the queue for seats, only one seat had been assigned in the entire consist of the train. I asked for a window seat facing the ocean. I was given an aisle seat away from the ocean. This really burned me because the main reason I take train travel is to watch the country side. Something I can’t really do when I’m driving.
The woman in the seat next to me must not have been used to crowded trains because when I boarded, she had her luggage and bags filling my seat. I explained I had the seat and she moved her bags to the floor around our seats. She was knitting and had yarn out, all over the place. Since things were crowded, I looked around to see if I could find another location. The car was almost filled. The next car only had 3 people in it. I asked if I could into that car. “No,” I was told, that’s for people going to a different locations – this didn’t make any sense to me since the entire train was going to the same places. I was told I could go to the observation car. I tried that, and it was full. So I went back to the empty car and sat. I was told I couldn’t sit there. I said I would move back to my assigned seat before we got to our next stop and stay there until all tickets were collected after the stop. No, the conductor replied, I couldn’t even sit there temporarily. I went back to my seat. Here’s an entire train car with only 3 people sitting in it. Rows and rows of empty seats. The next car, packed full.
About halfway into the trip, the woman next to me with the knitting and all the baggage was to exit. She started gathering up all her belongings. I stood up to get out of the way so she could function. The conductor told me I wasn’t allowed to stand in the aisle. I explained the woman next to me was exiting. The conductor told me it didn’t matter. I had to sit in my assigned seat. So, I sat down while this woman had to reach and climb over me to gather her belongings. It was very awkward and unsafe for her. Another passenger took her place and talked on her cell phone for most of the trip.
I thought, they are sure working hard to not want me to travel on Amtrak.
This month….
I make a reservation online. I did it at the last minute, so I didn’t have the tickets mailed to me. The station I would use is unstaffed and I would get my tickets from a machine. I’m smart enough to know not to count. So the evening before, I walk down to the station (a mile down the beach) to get my tickets. The machine isn’t functioning. I hop in my car and drive the dozen (?) miles to next station. One machine doesn’t work. The other can’t find my reservation. This is a staffed station, and it’s still open. I go in to see the agent. The station agent can’t find my reservation. They search using my name, my credit card, nothing. So, I buy two new tickets, having to pay a little more now ($4).
When I get home and have the credit card transaction numbers, I call Amtrak to get a refund of the additional tickets. I have to wait on the phone for about 10 minutes. Then the agent on the phone says they can’t tell whether the first set of tickets were issued or not. So I’m put on hold while they try to find out if the tickets were used. After a five minute way, the agent comes back on and says the tickets were never used, and they refund me the price of the initial reservation. Okay, but I point out I should get a refund for the higher amount. I should have been able to use the cheaper tickets, I was forced to buy the new ones because Amtrak couldn’t locate the reservation. The woman agrees but says she can only credit the unused tickets, but she would forward me to a customer service rep.
I wait 25 minutes on the phone to get the next customer service person. I explain the situation. She looks at my account and says she doesn’t understand, I’ve been issued a credit. I point out I was issued a credit for the smaller amount, I should have been credited the larger amount. She says that I get the credit for the tickets that weren’t used. I try to explain. She says when I re-booked, I have to pay the higher amount. I explain I didn’t rebook. She says this is what happens when make changes to my reservation. I explain I didn’t change the reservation. I wanted to use my old reservation but Amtrak couldn’t find it and give the tickets. I would LOVED to use the initial tickets. She says she can’t issue me a refund for tickets that are used, but I’m passed to a supervisor.
I’m now at the point where I realize I’m spending more time than the $4 is worth. But I explain things to the next person. After explaining the whole thing, she offers me a $4 credit voucher for future travel. I say “fine” to get off the phone.
I’m left wondering. First, no one was ever curious why they couldn’t find the reservation. Every time I told someone the reservation couldn’t be found, they accepted it. Second, they couldn’t tell whether a ticket had ever been issued. Wow.
Once again, I get the feeling they really don’t want my business.
Finally, I put “non-pol” on this thread. I would appreciate comments that are ideologically anti-government to be entered on a different thread. This isn’t to be a debate about whether Amtrak should be privatized or not. I’ve had bad customer service experiences with private firms, and I’ve had great service from other government entities (my local post office is terrific). My point is NOT about government versus the private sector. It is about good customer service versus bad.
Generally, I think customer service has gotten better in most places. And I’m almost always a very easy person to get along. For example, the other day I was checking into a hotel and the computers were down. The deskling apologized and explained they were working on it. The deskling kept talking, trying to explain when he didn’t know anything – trying to put me at ease. Lots of grumpy people sitting in the lobby waiting. I gave a big smile and said, “No problem, I’m going to go get dinner and check back here in a few hours. Thank you for letting me know.” Returned my bag to my car and went to eat (and drink beer at a brew pug – I was done driving for the night so I was cleared to imbibe). When I returned from dinner, everything was up and running.
If what I’ve experienced with Amtrak in only three trips, they’re losing customers.
The first problem occurred last year on my return leg of an all-day trip. I had never seen this before but on this trip they assigned seats. Normally getting on a train has been like Southwest Airlines, you get on and look for an open seat. I was second in the queue for seats, only one seat had been assigned in the entire consist of the train. I asked for a window seat facing the ocean. I was given an aisle seat away from the ocean. This really burned me because the main reason I take train travel is to watch the country side. Something I can’t really do when I’m driving.
The woman in the seat next to me must not have been used to crowded trains because when I boarded, she had her luggage and bags filling my seat. I explained I had the seat and she moved her bags to the floor around our seats. She was knitting and had yarn out, all over the place. Since things were crowded, I looked around to see if I could find another location. The car was almost filled. The next car only had 3 people in it. I asked if I could into that car. “No,” I was told, that’s for people going to a different locations – this didn’t make any sense to me since the entire train was going to the same places. I was told I could go to the observation car. I tried that, and it was full. So I went back to the empty car and sat. I was told I couldn’t sit there. I said I would move back to my assigned seat before we got to our next stop and stay there until all tickets were collected after the stop. No, the conductor replied, I couldn’t even sit there temporarily. I went back to my seat. Here’s an entire train car with only 3 people sitting in it. Rows and rows of empty seats. The next car, packed full.
About halfway into the trip, the woman next to me with the knitting and all the baggage was to exit. She started gathering up all her belongings. I stood up to get out of the way so she could function. The conductor told me I wasn’t allowed to stand in the aisle. I explained the woman next to me was exiting. The conductor told me it didn’t matter. I had to sit in my assigned seat. So, I sat down while this woman had to reach and climb over me to gather her belongings. It was very awkward and unsafe for her. Another passenger took her place and talked on her cell phone for most of the trip.
I thought, they are sure working hard to not want me to travel on Amtrak.
This month….
I make a reservation online. I did it at the last minute, so I didn’t have the tickets mailed to me. The station I would use is unstaffed and I would get my tickets from a machine. I’m smart enough to know not to count. So the evening before, I walk down to the station (a mile down the beach) to get my tickets. The machine isn’t functioning. I hop in my car and drive the dozen (?) miles to next station. One machine doesn’t work. The other can’t find my reservation. This is a staffed station, and it’s still open. I go in to see the agent. The station agent can’t find my reservation. They search using my name, my credit card, nothing. So, I buy two new tickets, having to pay a little more now ($4).
When I get home and have the credit card transaction numbers, I call Amtrak to get a refund of the additional tickets. I have to wait on the phone for about 10 minutes. Then the agent on the phone says they can’t tell whether the first set of tickets were issued or not. So I’m put on hold while they try to find out if the tickets were used. After a five minute way, the agent comes back on and says the tickets were never used, and they refund me the price of the initial reservation. Okay, but I point out I should get a refund for the higher amount. I should have been able to use the cheaper tickets, I was forced to buy the new ones because Amtrak couldn’t locate the reservation. The woman agrees but says she can only credit the unused tickets, but she would forward me to a customer service rep.
I wait 25 minutes on the phone to get the next customer service person. I explain the situation. She looks at my account and says she doesn’t understand, I’ve been issued a credit. I point out I was issued a credit for the smaller amount, I should have been credited the larger amount. She says that I get the credit for the tickets that weren’t used. I try to explain. She says when I re-booked, I have to pay the higher amount. I explain I didn’t rebook. She says this is what happens when make changes to my reservation. I explain I didn’t change the reservation. I wanted to use my old reservation but Amtrak couldn’t find it and give the tickets. I would LOVED to use the initial tickets. She says she can’t issue me a refund for tickets that are used, but I’m passed to a supervisor.
I’m now at the point where I realize I’m spending more time than the $4 is worth. But I explain things to the next person. After explaining the whole thing, she offers me a $4 credit voucher for future travel. I say “fine” to get off the phone.
I’m left wondering. First, no one was ever curious why they couldn’t find the reservation. Every time I told someone the reservation couldn’t be found, they accepted it. Second, they couldn’t tell whether a ticket had ever been issued. Wow.
Once again, I get the feeling they really don’t want my business.
Finally, I put “non-pol” on this thread. I would appreciate comments that are ideologically anti-government to be entered on a different thread. This isn’t to be a debate about whether Amtrak should be privatized or not. I’ve had bad customer service experiences with private firms, and I’ve had great service from other government entities (my local post office is terrific). My point is NOT about government versus the private sector. It is about good customer service versus bad.
Generally, I think customer service has gotten better in most places. And I’m almost always a very easy person to get along. For example, the other day I was checking into a hotel and the computers were down. The deskling apologized and explained they were working on it. The deskling kept talking, trying to explain when he didn’t know anything – trying to put me at ease. Lots of grumpy people sitting in the lobby waiting. I gave a big smile and said, “No problem, I’m going to go get dinner and check back here in a few hours. Thank you for letting me know.” Returned my bag to my car and went to eat (and drink beer at a brew pug – I was done driving for the night so I was cleared to imbibe). When I returned from dinner, everything was up and running.
If what I’ve experienced with Amtrak in only three trips, they’re losing customers.
