WeekendTraveler

How would you handle this with Amtrak, if you were me?

Trip 1, Episode 1
When I boarded a long-distance train recently, I boarded through one sleeping car; my room was in the car next to it. After I boarded and was midway down the corridor, I heard am Amtrak employee screaming at me, and he aggressively approached me, screaming that I was ignoring him. I told him (angrily and forcefully) that he could refund my ticket and remove me from the train if he wanted. He screamed more and insisted that I go back to the doorway, get off the train and board through the right car, which I did.

Trip 1, Episode 2
The next morning, my sleeping car attendant (a different person) came by and pointed down the hallway, indicating that it was almost time to get off. When I left my room, I couldn't remember which direction to go; I saw another passenger in the vestibule of the next car, so I walked towards that vestibule and said good morning to that passenger. The same employee who had screamed at me the day before looked at me and said, "Your sleeping car attendant is at the other door and you'll have to get off there". I said, in a normal voice, "May I have your name, please?" and the employee turned away so that I couldn't see his namebadge. I was then able to see his name badge, and he shouted his name at me, and I said, "Thank you", and he screamed at me again. I walked to the other car and exited.

Trip 2, Episode 3
Yesterday, I took the same long distance train. When I boarded, I said hello to the sleeping car attendant at the door, and he told me to board and pointed me to my room.

It was the same employee who had screamed at me before. A few minutes after I got to my room, he came by and knocked on the door and said:

"I had you a few weeks ago and I'm not comfortable with you. You have to move to another car if you want any service on this trip." I asked him if I could just get a refund and not take the trip and he said no.

I responded, "May I think about it for a minute?" He answered, "There's nothing to think about. If you stay in this car, you're on your own. You need to move to another car."

I shook my head and said "no", in a normal voice. He said, "I'll have the conductor come by and talk with you."

When the conductor came by, he said, "I heard that you were offered the choice of moving to another car. He (the employee) said that he had you a few weeks ago and you were all over the place. You need to do what he says. I'd hate to have to interrupt your trip." Then the conductor left.

Later, the employee who had screamed did knock on my door to take my dinner order; I had already decided never to deal with Flexible Dining or Amtrak employees unless I had to, so I declined dinner. This morning, I didn't get a wake-up call at all, and another Amtrak employee (who was fine) came to my room and motioned when it was time to get off. The employee who had screamed did end up being the one who put the step box on the ground when I got off; I thanked him and he didn't respond.

How to Handle with Amtrak?
I find this type of customer service to be completely unacceptable. Would you raise Trip 2, Episode 3 with Amtrak? If so, what would you ask for, if anything?

I had contacted Amtrak about Trip 1 and only asked that the employee be re-trained. I did not ask for anything else. Amtrak didn't respond.

Now with Trip 2, Episode 3, I think it's time to contact Amtrak again.

I will accept responsibility in part for Trip 1, Episode 1; in retrospect, I should have simply apologized to the employee, rather than forcefully telling him that I'd take a refund in exchange for not taking the trip. But aggressively coming at me and screaming at me when all I did was board through another car was inappropriate. Further, coming up to me and affirmatively refusing to provide service wasn't appropriate.

I figure on Trip 2, Episode 3, the employee figured I'd complain about him and he didn't want to run that risk. If I were a truly unacceptable passenger, it wouldn't make sense to move me to another car; it would have made sense to put me off the train and refund my ticket, which I had offered to accept. Amtrak will certainly be receiving a complaint. If the screaming employee were smart, he wouldn't have mentioned the prior trip and would have bent over backwards to be as nice as possible, but he did the opposite.

Thanks.

zephyr17

Unfortunately, this kind of thing happens fairly frequently, although it seems one of the more extreme examples of OBS employees doing their own thing.

Since you have your train, travel dates and the attendant's name, I would contact Customer Relations and make a report about the "door" incidents on the initial trip. I have never experienced or heard of a car attendant getting torqued about which door you use, and I have had some bad ones. Unfortunately, emailing Amtrak is often worse than useless. The best option is to call, ask for an agent, and once you get an agent ask for "Customer Relations". Customer Relations staff is only there normal business hours M-F, Eastern Time. Unfortunately, you'll go through two hold queues, one to get to a live agent and another to get connected to Customer Relations.

If I were you, I'd put most emphasis on the treatment on the first trip. Go ahead and mention the second incidents.

Finally, don't expect to hear back about any discipline. Amtrak won't discuss personnel matters.

WeekendTraveler

Thanks, I appreciate your feedback.

What really bugged me was on the second trip- I was shocked that an employee would come up to me and say "I'm not serving you so you need to go to another car" (in summary), and shocked that I'd be threatened by a conductor. I'm shocked that Amtrak would hire someone with that belligerent attitude, and that someone who is that hateful would choose to be in a customer service job. But sure, I'll focus on the first trip as you suggest and will not ask about any discipline.

Would you ask for compensation?

I will be Select Plus after my next trip, but I'm not sure if that matters.

Thanks again.

timbeaux

My comment only refers to what I would have done in these situations. I would have pleaded ignorance, asked the employee to teach me the ways of Amtrak and guide me to where I needed to go or what I needed to do, even if I knew the employee is incorrect or rude. As my grandmother told me growing up, "One kills more flies with honey than vinegar."

I've traveled in sleepers enough that I can do everything for myself. Yes, I shouldn't have to do it for myself, but I can when needed to avoid nasty confrontations with surly OBS. Most times the rise in my blood pressure just isn't worth the confrontation as long as I can comfortably get from point A to point B.

zephyr17

Amtrak management has a decades long track record of not putting an emphasis on quality and especially consistency of on
board service. There are plenty of poor OBS crew out there, and plenty of good ones. They almost precisely follow a bell curve with no effort to weed out the lower end. The fact that this individual holds his position does not surprise me in the least.

The fact that there is no real enroute supervision of onboard crew is one of the symptoms of this lack of attention.

I do not know if I would seek compensation. In one of the few times I reported an OBS crew to Customer Relations for egregious behavior (usually I let the lack of a tip for really poor service speak for me), it was primarily to get it on record. If Amtrak does get enough complaints, they eventually will start action. If you were asking what I think reasonable compensation would be, I would think a partial (not full) refund of the accommodation charge on a voucher.

WeekendTraveler

Thanks! I think I’ll follow your words or wisdom and not ask for compensation; it’s just to put this on record and hopefully get Amtrak to work with the person to improve conduct. Thanks again!

WeekendTraveler

UPDATE

Thanks, everyone. I received an apology from Amtrak customer service and was informed that Amtrak has added the information to its "customer database" and shared the information with management.

I had previously bought a few more tickets on the same train that the hostile sleeping car attendant seems to work on. I assume that he'll come at me with a vengeance next time I'm onboard, so I think I'm going to try to get those tickets refunded and just not take Amtrak again.

Visconti

During my younger days (not implying that you're young, old, or somewhere in between), I would have reacted the way you had during that first incident. Actually, I may have even been a little more colorful in my language. Now, I've learned that it's better just to, as posters above have suggested, just saying something like, "Oh, I'm sorry. Forgive me, my first time (even it it weren't). Would you mind showing me the ropes?" Or, something along those lines.

I'd probably avoid any routes with the same attendant, since, at best, it'll an awkward situation that I suspect neither one of you would find comfortable.

danielonn

I would continue riding Amtrak even on the sane train. Look people have their bad days! Who is to say the same attendant will remember you in six months or a year? Maybe there will be a new conductor. Perhaps this attendant has acted the same way towards othere and has been written up and given a warning. If he does not shape up he may be fired.

What are the chances of running into the same attendant. a third time? I think they bid for their route and role and maybe they reassigned him to a subpar route as a consequence and is being retrained in Customer Service skills

WeekendTraveler

Thanks, I’ll consider taking Amtrak again.

You’re right- we all have bad days- but the sleeping car attendant was really out of line at the first incident, and instead of simply letting things go, he doubled down on his hostility/malice and kept at it, even weeks later.

danielonn

Great stance!

nerd

I like your version better! ("kills more files" / "catches more flies")

Bear96

The on-board staffing situation really is a problem. I love traveling by train, and used to work for Amtrak, but I can't in good conscience recommend long-distance Amtrak train travel to anyone else without the big caveats that (1) expect to be at least few hours late, and (2) expect the crew to be downright hostile and nasty for no reason.

More than 50% of the time those things don't happen, but they happen often enough that they need to be taken into consideration when planning an Amtrak trip, sadly.

WeekendTraveler

Thanks for your post. Out of curiosity: what makes Amtrak on-board staff be nasty and unhelpful (in my subjective view) more than airline staff?

Does Amtrak just not have selective hiring?

Are Amtrak riders tough to deal with?

Is there a culture of grievance within Amtrak?

In my view, don’t take a job unless you’ll enjoy it (at least somewhat), but I know that’s not a popular view.

Thanks.

River in Sight

In Mar 2021, I booked a bedroom for my family of three CVS-WAS - fares were reasonable and afforded more privacy. When we boarded at CVS, the attendant said the room had just come vacant and she would need time to clean it, so we should sit in the cafe car. After around 20 minutes, I wanted to use the bathroom and so I walked back to the sleeping car looking for a bathroom.. the attendant spotted me and immediately flew off the handle, told me she would come find me when she was done and I shouldn't be checking on her.. I mentioned I was only trying to find a bathroom, she told me to go back to the cafe car and followed me back there, continued to lecture me for what felt like 5 minutes about how she knew how to do her job, she could not believe how disrespectful I was coming to check on her, she had been working for Amtrak for so many years and knew how to clean a sleeping car, etc...

All this from a misunderstanding because I was trying to find a bathroom. Completely bizarre behavior and definitely left an impression in my mind about Amtrak's first class service. I have flown hundreds of segments in airline business/first class and simply cannot imagine being treated that way by an airline employee.