Advice please - reservations cancellation

[user 6862]

Well our luck ran out, we found out we are not Peter Pans.

Rosie has a major retina problem and has to get treatment quickly. If it's done in the US she can't return home for between a month to several months as she will not be allowed to fly, plus we have a fabulous eye hospital nearby in London who will see her immediately we turn up.

We had to cancel our Amtrak journeys from LAX to WAS and WAS to NYP, so far so good. Amtrak deducted around 25% of the value of each ticket and then issued us with E Vouchers for the balances. We did ask for a cash refund of the balance and initially thought the E-Voucher was a promissory note for us to get cash on. As most here know E-Vouchers expire in 12 months and  are not directly transferable, so we have a couple of vouchers that we are 99% sure we can never use. We have since learned we can't just get a cash refund for the balance.

The agent did suggest that after the holiday we phone again and ask to speak to someone either in the refunds department or speak to the 'customer services'. Now read on hear there are 2 types of customer service. One has power to do something and the other tries to help, but can't remember which can make decisions.

Of course our minds are elsewhere at the moment, have I missed a trick here, should I have accepted E-Vouchers? Arranging these and other US cancellations from Europe will be a little more tortuous, but would like to put everything in order and try to claim as much back that we have the right to. This will be a big hit mainly due to last minute airfare costs, any money coming back will help.

Informed advice gratefully received, thanks

 

[AmtrakBlue]

As I recall, this was several years ago with a different type of voucher, you could buy someone (you trust) a ticket or tickets to “anywhere” with the vouchers (in their name) and they can cancel their ticket(s) and get new vouchers in their name. They would, of course, pay you for the initial tickets.

Hope someone with knowledge of the current ways speaks up soon.

 

[cpotisch]

Wow, so sorry to hear about this.

The agent did suggest that after the holiday we phone again and ask to speak to someone either in the refunds department or speak to the 'customer services'. Now read on hear there are 2 types of customer service. One has power to do something and the other tries to help, but can't remember which can make decisions.

Customer service really just means any standard Amtrak phone agent, so you need to call 1-800-USA-RAIL and ask for Customer Relations. CR is in charge of refunds and compensation. They have always treated us well, and though we have never had to cancel trains due to something like this, I like to think that if you explain your situation and provide proof of Rosie's retina problem, they may be able to wave the fees. Good luck.

 

[Ronbo]

So sorry about your current situation! Hope everything works out well for you guys.

 I was really looking forward to future posts about your journey here in the USA. However....life is like a box of chocolates!

 

[flitcraft]

Oh, no!  What rotten luck!  I am so very sorry to hear about your misfortunes.  I really hope that you can press the right buttons to get Amtrak to refund your money.  

If you need more contact information, you can try Christopher Elliott's consumer help site, www.elliott.org. It has lots of free information about how to resolve problems--especially travel-related ones. If you click on the company contact link, and then on mass transit, it has several contact points for Amtrak, including [email protected] and [email protected] (especially for international travelers). There's also a forum and links to his own services (which are definitely non-profit, and I think but am not sure, free of charge.)

We'll all be thinking of Rosie and rooting for speedy recovery, and wishing you all the best on getting the refund resolved quickly.

 

[Acela150]

I like to think that if you explain your situation and provide proof of Rosie's retina problem, they may be able to wave the fees. Good luck.

Actually you're correct on this. If you provide proof to Amtrak they'll refund the full amount. 

My suggestion is to call Amtrak. Explain that you were issued eVouchers and that you wanted to ticket price refunded back to your Credit Card they should be able to take care of you. There are only two reasons that this would be an issue. 1 the fares were non refundable or two you paid in person at a ticket office in cash. If you paid cash then you can't get a refund "in cash". It'll automatically be put into an eVoucher. 

 

[John Santos]

Is the 25% charge a new policy?  About 4 years ago, I had a ticket BOS->SEA->MSP->BOS (LSL and EB, roomettes except the MSP->CHI segment), and 2 days before my scheduled departure, my mom was hospitalized, and I had to cancel.  They gave me the full value in a voucher, which I eventually used for the same trip a year later.  I'm pretty sure they didn't charge me a cancellation fee.  I'm not sure if the second trip was slightly more or slightly less than a year after the cancelled trip, though I did make the reservations for the 2nd trip 3 or 4 months in advance.  I don't remember having to tell them the details of my mother's condition (extremely serious) and they certainly didn't ask for any sort of proof.

Anyway, I hope you can get a full refund or at least a full value voucher, and get to take your trip some day.  And maybe you don't have to actually use the voucher in 12 months, but just book the trip using it within 12 months.  Since you can usually make a reservation 11 months in advance, this might give you 23 months.  Worth checking out.

Hope the surgery is successful and your wife makes a full recovery.

 

[Acela150]

Is the 25% charge a new policy? 

About a year now.  

 

[cpotisch]

About a year now.  

I would have sworn it was well over a year. When we booked Roomettes for me, my mom, and grandfather in April 2017 (traveling late June 2017), we thought he had to cancel, and weren't too thrilled about that because of the 25% fee.

 

[PRR 60]

The 25% penalty went into effect on 3/20/18.

Post

 

[John Santos]

Is it possible there was previously a penalty if you wanted a refund, but no penalty if you were willing to accept a voucher?

 

[pennyk]

Is it possible there was previously a penalty if you wanted a refund, but no penalty if you were willing to accept a voucher?

Yes.  As far as I remember, that was the previous refund policy.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

It's possible that Amtrak will waive all rules and fees and even reverse an already processed transaction, but this is a good example for how purchasing travel insurance can help recover money otherwise lost to adversity.  I'm starting to purchase it more frequently because (1) rules for recovery are becoming more much more restrictive over time and (2) as I get older I have a greater chance of suffering some sort of setback.  That's not to say I would purchase Amtrak's insurance specifically; just that travel insurance in general can be helpful in these sorts of cases.

 

[jebr]

1@v v[/USER]: You may be aware of this already, but if you have Skype or can install it on your computer (and have a microphone and speakers/headset,) calls to USA toll-free numbers, including Amtrak's 1-800-USA-RAIL, are free even if you're outside of the USA. That may lead to a quicker response or make it easier to explain the situation than using email while saving on any applicable international long-distance charges.

 

[user 6862]

Thanks for all the inputs into the refund question, will digest all this information in a day or so and get to work on it. Back in Essex, UK literally 90 minutes ago after spending the afternoon in Moorfields Hospital in London, and it looks like better news than hoped for.

The doctor is 90% certain there is no damage to the retina although there was a haemorrhage behind it? The hospital want to be 100% sure and have made an appointment for Rosie to re-attend tomorrow morning at a different clinic in the hospital. If today's diagnosis is correct the problem is self healing with no lasting damage...  wonderful news.

Rosie would like to thank everyone for their thoughts and good wishes, she has already perked up no end. You are a very nice group of people, thank you.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Thanks for all the inputs into the refund question, will digest all this information in a day or so and get to work on it. Back in Essex, UK literally 90 minutes ago after spending the afternoon in Moorfields Hospital in London, and it looks like better news than hoped for.
The doctor is 90% certain there is no damage to the retina although there was a haemorrhage behind it? The hospital want to be 100% sure and have made an appointment for Rosie to re-attend tomorrow morning at a different clinic in the hospital. If today's diagnosis is correct the problem is self healing with no lasting damage...  wonderful news.
Rosie would like to thank everyone for their thoughts and good wishes, she has already perked up no end. You are a very nice group of people, thank you.
 

Great news!

 

[jebr]

Good to hear that it's likely there's no permanent damage. Best wishes for good news at the appointment tomorrow!

 

[Bob Dylan]

Wonderful News Guys! Best to Rosie! :hi: ^_^

 

[caravanman]

Glad to hear that things are going well for Rosie. I attended Moorfields myself when I was a railway employee and had grit in my eye at work. Fabulous place!

Ed 

 

[user 6862]

Amtrak is alive and well!

Contacted Amtrak Customer Relations this afternoon, no outcome as yet apart from stating it is possible to get at least a partial cash refunds, not eVouchers.  The service was exemplary, the agent Aaliyah was totally professional and a sweetie at the same time.

We were requested to supply evidence of the  2 Moorfields Hospital visits and diagnosis, but this is fair enough and easily done. As far as the original explanation of the situation and why eVouchers may not work for us it was over in minutes with a promise that the cases for the 2 journeys would be put to the people who make the decisions.

As a worst case scenario for us I can confirm what was mentioned above. The 12 month eVoucher duration stands, future bookings can be made until the last day of the voucher's validity. You can book on the last day up to I think 11 months ahead, so have almost 2 years to take make another journey. This was precisely confirmed by the agent.

Last piece of info until now. The email used is [email protected], not customer relations, and this type of situation is called a 'hardship case', not sure why though.

We have no expectations at all, anything positive is a bonus, but as everything Amtrak (and beyond sometimes) we couldn't have done this without the help from here. We now feel blackmailed to return to an Amtrak journey earlier than we thought.

 

[tricia]

Thanks for the update--so nice to hear some good news!

Hope recovery is continuing to go well. Best wishes for future travels.

 

[flitcraft]

I'm so happy to hear that Rosie's prognosis is so positive, and that Amtrak may well do the right thing for you. Interesting to me--I just booked a big Amtrak trip for my brother, sister in law, husband and me involving four trains and ten days. I ended up doing the booking by phone with a very nice agent, who told me about the refund policy, but she spontaneously said that in case one of us suffered a medical issue, we should contact Amtrak's customer care for a full refund.  She did say we'd need documentation, but that's entirely reasonable. If she's right about that, it suggests that you may well get a full refund in your case.

Fingers crossed for you...

 

[user 6862]

Hope you'll write about your journey and thanks for your kind thoughts. Most things turn out ok in the end just not always the way you think it will.

 

[user 6862]

An update and a question.

Well, Customer Support were fantastic, all handled by a single agent. The last email we received from Amtrak CS was 8 weeks ago, it stated the claim had been agreed and a refund would be paid to the card we bought the tickets with. Then a day later could we confirm our post code/zip code. This done and a further confirmation that the credit would be paid within one or two billing cycles. Not sure what a billing cycle is but it didn't sound too long.

After not hearing for 5 weeks I wrote again, no reply. After 7 weeks I wrote again, no reply. 3 Days ago I wrote again to the 4 separate email addresses I have, one was the address to send the medical documents to and two different ones for Customer Support plus one other. 3 days on and no reply.

I know there was major disruption due to flooding and many trains were cancelled. Customer Support must have been and maybe still are over-run, but that happened about 6 weeks after the claim was agreed.

My question is this. Is there a known problem with the Customer Support department at the moment or am I being too hasty in chasing them for an answer? If it's the norm that Amtrak take 4 months to refund tickets then I'll be patient, but not answering or acknowledging emails is quite poor service.

I haven't phoned so far as at this point I would like a written record, are the only results obtained by phoning?

Any ideas as to what may be happening please?

 

[Ryan]

Billing Cycle is typically a month.

That sounds like a long time to wait for a refund. Phoning may be your best bet.