RAILforum: Amtrak "Transportation Certificates"

This is topic Amtrak "Transportation Certificates" in forum Amtrak at RAILforum.

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Posted by EngineerRichard (Member # 3556) on :

Hello all,

OK, I had a rough experience with Amtrak (not necessaraly the Fault of Amtrak) and I called Customer Service and was told I would get a certificate. We did not discuss the amount at the time.

They ended up giving me a certificate set to the value of the transportation only that I paid. Needless to say my 'out of pocket' expenses due to the mis-aligned trip was way more than that.

I have 'heard' as much as $350 has been offered in the past.

Is there a rule of thumb for the amount given out? Have you had any experiences in this arena?

I am interested in learning about your experiences and/or knowledge here.

Thanks in advance for your insight.

Richard

------------------
EngineerRichard
Host of
Lets Talk Trains
http://letstalktrains.us

Posted by Edith (Member # 3100) on :

I recently went from coast to coast round trip and definetely had problems on every train. I wrote to Amtrak and detailed the problems (toilets went out, electrical system turned all the lights on 4 times during the night, rude employees, etc). I was called by AmTrak and was offered a $250 rebate on my next trip if I traveled within one year. Not good for me (senior citizen who saves for a minimum of 2 years to take a trip). The person I spoke to didn't seem to understand that and said she had no other options. Needless to say I was not pleased at all. A lousy trip which will make me think hard next time I take a vacation. And I have taken AmTrak before: I was prepared for late trains, etc., but not for rude employees and malfunctioning equipment.

Posted by Geoff Mayo (Member # 153) on :

With all due respect, Richard, Amtrak may well have given you all you were entitled to. It is impossible to say without knowing more details, but let's say for example you would have arrived exactly one day after you were supposed to. Amtrak got you to your destination with "reasonable" speed - that's pretty much all that is relevant in the contract you signed up to. A schedule is an indication, not a guarantee, of time. The fact you chose to bail out at some point was your choice, not Amtrak's. A full refund sounds pretty good to me.

So what happened - what trains, between which points, how late or what happened, and what was your alternative means of transport?

Geoff M.

Posted by Charles Reuben (Member # 2263) on :

For those of us accustomed to traveling by train, delays, broken equipment and stressed out employees are par for the course.

The issuance of "certificates" used to be standard operating procedure up to a few years ago. That is, until Amtrak discontinued its "Satisfaction Guarantee" policy.

And who can blame Amtrak for discontinuing this policy? When you're riding on somebody elses' rails and they put the needs of freight before that of human cargo, you know that some passengers are gonna get screwed in the end.

Anyway, I would think that you were lucky to have gotten a certificate, all things considered. These days Amtrak takes responsibility for lost connections and not much else. At least that's my understanding.

For this reason, I take nothing for granted these days when traveling by Amtrak. For example, I always assume the train will be a minimum of six hours late (but these days it always seems to get me to my destination an hour earlier).

As railfans I believe we must be very forgiving of Amtrak. These are troubled times we live in and they despirately need our support.

Chuck Reuben www.freewebs.com/chucksville
(stop by and sign my guestbook!)

Posted by EngineerRichard (Member # 3556) on :

OK, I give. I'll give more details. I did not the first time because I did not want to get lost in the details. I was looking for what is 'normally' done.

Dear Geoffm, with all due respect, you are the one that I need to give details to. Where in the world did you get the idea that I 'choose' to get off? Oh so far from the truth.

This was #2 from LAX to ORL (never made it), it was terminated in Sanford as is the case with late Sunset Limited trains. There was literally 3:45 until the turnaround departure from Orlando and that was not enough time for me to do anything except stay on the train. I know that was not going to be the case.

Because of the lack of turnaround time for me I rescheduled my return trip to the next train after this consist, 2 days out.

Now lets talk about the time I had a room - in a car that did not have working toilet facilities. Then lets talk about the 5pm dinner reservation that ended up being served at my seat at 7:30pm WITHOUT salad, bread, butter, drink or desert - AND - they charged full bore for this. Then we can get into the young car attendant who did NOT want to be there in the first place AND totally mis-handled a young couple tream who were only on board to steal passengers things from their luggage. Then there was the conductor who NEVER answered the PA system call 4 times to deal with it.

Not all Amtrak employees are on the negative side of things. The conductors are lucky they only have to deal with the public for max 12 hours.

What I have mentioned here is only part of what was experienced that is under Amtrak control.

I wont even get into the delays caused by host railroads. After all we arrived short two stops, 14 hours late. Not all host RR either. Biggest delay was in Houston where we had to wait over 4 hours for a pilot engineer to take us around a 24 car derailment.

Now, extra meals, extra lodging extra . . . . you get the picture. Is all of that worth only $50. I think not.

Just because I travel using Rail Sale does not make me a second class citizen. Thank heavens that I traveled prepared for 'extra' expenses. Not that I wanted them!

Please remember, I am trying to get a sense of what is customary here. I don't want to be given anything not deserved or trying to get a free ride (sorry about the pun!).

Please continue to let me know your thoughts on this AND please stay with the facts.

Thanks again,
Richard