Last year, I boarded an ACELA in Wilmington, DE. only to discover my FC seat was broken (there was a little sign on the saying so) and the attendant was profusely apologetic, even trying to see if she could clear a space me after PHL, but sadly the FC car was full till NYP (my termination point).
AMTRAK did right by me by refunding my entire ticket (not just the upcharge for FC) and also issued me a voucher (which was above and beyond the call of duty).
AMTRAK is really a decent operation (at least now a days) and many of the employees do seem to try hard, but it is rouge employees and their Let's Save AMTRAK Campaign One Meal at a Time that ruin the image of the company.
Dan