Comments on: Saturday Night at Amtrak http://www.davidhenderson.com/2009/04/20/saturday-night-at-amtrak/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=saturday-night-at-amtrak Writer, brand journalist, media strategist, Emmy Award winning former CBS News correspondent Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:02:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Johnnyhttp://www.davidhenderson.com/2009/04/20/saturday-night-at-amtrak/#comment-2794 Johnny Mon, 11 May 2009 14:12:46 +0000 http://www.davidhenderson.com/?p=3221#comment-2794 the timetable plainly says that the tickets are basically the same thing as money, they are irreplaceable. I find that silly, but it is true. If all amtrak stops had a ticket agent/quiktrak machine then this policy could go away. In fact.. it is recommended by many folks to not print tickets at all until you are about ready to get on the train, if at all possible. The amtrak cancellation policy is really liberal... UNLESS you print your tickets. the only people who actually have to print their tickets up front are those who don't live near a staffed station or their train arrives after station hours. This does not excuse bad customer service in general tho the timetable plainly says that the tickets are basically the same thing as money, they are irreplaceable.

I find that silly, but it is true. If all amtrak stops had a ticket agent/quiktrak machine then this policy could go away. In fact.. it is recommended by many folks to not print tickets at all until you are about ready to get on the train, if at all possible. The amtrak cancellation policy is really liberal… UNLESS you print your tickets. the only people who actually have to print their tickets up front are those who don’t live near a staffed station or their train arrives after station hours.

This does not excuse bad customer service in general tho

]]> By: Jay Beehttp://www.davidhenderson.com/2009/04/20/saturday-night-at-amtrak/#comment-2793 Jay Bee Sun, 10 May 2009 05:41:36 +0000 http://www.davidhenderson.com/?p=3221#comment-2793 Hmm...maybe it is time we take responsibility for our own actions? Lost tickets for example - try it with an airline or lost merchandise with any other merchant (oh Saks please exchange this L shirt for an XL even though I lost the L shirt - you know I bought it you can look it up in your computers.....) ID? Talk to TSA - I beleive they set the rules for what IDs are and are not acceptable. Maybe you would fee the Amtrak agent's family if s/he got fired for not following a policy??? Hmm…maybe it is time we take responsibility for our own actions? Lost tickets for example – try it with an airline or lost merchandise with any other merchant (oh Saks please exchange this L shirt for an XL even though I lost the L shirt – you know I bought it you can look it up in your computers…..) ID? Talk to TSA – I beleive they set the rules for what IDs are and are not acceptable. Maybe you would fee the Amtrak agent’s family if s/he got fired for not following a policy???

]]> By: Donna Toccihttp://www.davidhenderson.com/2009/04/20/saturday-night-at-amtrak/#comment-2726 Donna Tocci Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:27:50 +0000 http://www.davidhenderson.com/?p=3221#comment-2726 Sorry you had such a bad experience at Penn Station. Was there for the first time a week or so ago and found Amtrak there to be confusing and not helpful. I agree that Amtrak's customer service is not great. However, my experience at Stamford, CT has always been fabulous with the agents on site. It's the customer service on the phone that stinks. The last time I called them for an issue they said that their mix up was my fault and...you guessed it "there isn't anything we can do." Fail. Sorry you had such a bad experience at Penn Station. Was there for the first time a week or so ago and found Amtrak there to be confusing and not helpful. I agree that Amtrak’s customer service is not great. However, my experience at Stamford, CT has always been fabulous with the agents on site. It’s the customer service on the phone that stinks. The last time I called them for an issue they said that their mix up was my fault and…you guessed it “there isn’t anything we can do.” Fail.

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