Customer Service Phone number to request refund
- Thread starter dande
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Do it in writing. https://www.amtrak.com/contact-us/email.html
Most people get emotional and angry when calling to complain and end up hurting their case. Write a reasoned complaint explaining what happened and why you deserve a refund or voucher. Read it over carefully, then copy it into the above email link. I think you would do better.
Most people get emotional and angry when calling to complain and end up hurting their case. Write a reasoned complaint explaining what happened and why you deserve a refund or voucher. Read it over carefully, then copy it into the above email link. I think you would do better.
the_traveler
Engineer
Call the regular Amtrak number (1-800-USA-RAIL) and ask the agent to be connected to Customer RELATIONS (not Customer Service). You’ll be connected to the right department.
Devil's Advocate
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Email is the same way for me. The most I've ever seen is a boilerplate response that accomplished absolutely nothing. In my experience Amtrak mainly responds to phone calls. Do be aware that Amtrak is much more likely to hand out a voucher toward future travel than a refund for past travel.
My best responses have been thru phone calls. Ive had the 12 hr late trains and no a/c in the Viewliner bedroom which I refused to ride in, etc. Best Ive gotten has been a voucher that was a reasonable figure and flown home from WAS to Florida within a few hrs for the Viewliner issue. Never close to a refund though.
Acela150
Super Buff
I can already tell you that you're not going to get a refund. If Amtrak was in the business of giving refunds, they wouldn't even come close to the financial numbers that they have.
This is how I can compare it. Say you go to a Mickey D's. You eat your meal in it's entirety and then say to a cashier, "Hey I ordered a Double Quarter Pounder without pickles and their were pickles on it". Naturally the cashier would ask for the sandwich back, and they would make a new one. BUT, if you already ate it, you don't have proof that they did put pickles on it. So they may offer you a store credit to come back.
So in this case, since you already traveled, why you should get a refund? I believe that it's in the Terms and Conditions that no one reads, they are obligated to get you from Point A to B. They did that.
Honestly writing snail mail and e-mails to Amtrak get everyone to one place when it comes to "I'd like compensation for my issue(s)". Absolutely no where. As stated above, call Amtrak and ask for Customer Relations. That department handles any and all complaints, and has the ability to offer you some type of good will credit for future travel. But as it's also been stated. Getting upset and emotional over it on a phone call will get you no where! They'll listen to your complaint, but the chances that you get some type of good will credit go down. I have called Amtrak very few times to complain about something that I had an issue with. But each time I talk to someone, I'm always calm, cool, and collected. And if I can I offer a suggestion of how my issue could have been prevented and can be prevented in the future, and I've received thanks from those Customer Relations agents who I give that constructive criticism to. Cause they hear the bad all day, and very rarely hear any good things. When they do hear the bad, how often do you think someone is going to say to them, here's an idea that could prevent this from happening again? I'm sure their are other people that do this besides me. The last time I called about an issue, it was a small issue that shouldn't have happened. I was on 2165 in FC from RTE-PHL. In FC when you travel through NYP you get a meal out of your origin station and after NYP. So I got a meal out of RTE, but I didn't get one out of NYP. Normally the LSA's will prioritize who gets served their meals first by their destination. PHL, WIL, etc. I will admit that the FC Car was sold out, out of NYP and it was very busy. But their is still no reason that I should not have received a meal in the 1 hour 10 minute trip between NYP and PHL. Especially when I've done the trip countless times and most of the time I've had my meal at my seat by the time we're going through Metropark. So I politely told the agent that in the numerous times I've done the trip in FC, this was the second time that I did not receive a meal out of NYP. I also explained to her that normally the LSA's will prioritize the meal service based upon destination, and that this crew wasn't doing this, and it may be a good habit for them to get into. The agent offered me a $50 good will voucher. Which covered about 1/3 of the FC upgrade charge that I paid.
This is how I can compare it. Say you go to a Mickey D's. You eat your meal in it's entirety and then say to a cashier, "Hey I ordered a Double Quarter Pounder without pickles and their were pickles on it". Naturally the cashier would ask for the sandwich back, and they would make a new one. BUT, if you already ate it, you don't have proof that they did put pickles on it. So they may offer you a store credit to come back.
So in this case, since you already traveled, why you should get a refund? I believe that it's in the Terms and Conditions that no one reads, they are obligated to get you from Point A to B. They did that.
Honestly writing snail mail and e-mails to Amtrak get everyone to one place when it comes to "I'd like compensation for my issue(s)". Absolutely no where. As stated above, call Amtrak and ask for Customer Relations. That department handles any and all complaints, and has the ability to offer you some type of good will credit for future travel. But as it's also been stated. Getting upset and emotional over it on a phone call will get you no where! They'll listen to your complaint, but the chances that you get some type of good will credit go down. I have called Amtrak very few times to complain about something that I had an issue with. But each time I talk to someone, I'm always calm, cool, and collected. And if I can I offer a suggestion of how my issue could have been prevented and can be prevented in the future, and I've received thanks from those Customer Relations agents who I give that constructive criticism to. Cause they hear the bad all day, and very rarely hear any good things. When they do hear the bad, how often do you think someone is going to say to them, here's an idea that could prevent this from happening again? I'm sure their are other people that do this besides me. The last time I called about an issue, it was a small issue that shouldn't have happened. I was on 2165 in FC from RTE-PHL. In FC when you travel through NYP you get a meal out of your origin station and after NYP. So I got a meal out of RTE, but I didn't get one out of NYP. Normally the LSA's will prioritize who gets served their meals first by their destination. PHL, WIL, etc. I will admit that the FC Car was sold out, out of NYP and it was very busy. But their is still no reason that I should not have received a meal in the 1 hour 10 minute trip between NYP and PHL. Especially when I've done the trip countless times and most of the time I've had my meal at my seat by the time we're going through Metropark. So I politely told the agent that in the numerous times I've done the trip in FC, this was the second time that I did not receive a meal out of NYP. I also explained to her that normally the LSA's will prioritize the meal service based upon destination, and that this crew wasn't doing this, and it may be a good habit for them to get into. The agent offered me a $50 good will voucher. Which covered about 1/3 of the FC upgrade charge that I paid.
SubwayNut
Conductor
I had really good luck with a carefully worded email a few months about describing the situation when our bag wasn't loaded onto the train in Chicago and there was a fill-in agent in South Bend who didnt fill out the proper missing baggage paperwork that also included a commendation for the excellent normal agent who called about 4 times and kept me well updated on the whereabouts of my bag, got a voucher for more than amount of our tickets
Devil's Advocate
⠀⠀⠀
I'm not sure this is the best example to use. If Amtrak was a McDonald's you'd point out that there are pickles on your burger but they'd just shrug because the next burger won't show up until tomorrow anyway. It's either eat the burger with pickles today or come back some other time and hope they get it right then. Not to mention that McDonald's has always replaced everything I've ever complained about, with or without any direct evidence, and if I didn't want a replacement they refunded my money. It's honestly pretty rare that they screw up bad enough for me to feel like I need to call and complain about it in the first place. For better or worse, a McDonald's meal doesn't really change all that much from visit to visit. Whereas Amtrak can be night and day from one train to the next.
