Refund procedure for cancelled train unacceptable . . .

[Amtrak OBS Gone Freight]

I don't think Amtrak's policy or practice in this circumstance is reasonable or responsive to its good customers who have been seriously inconvenienced through no fault of their own. I have seen that others have also posted grievances in this forum about what they encountered from Amtrak in similar circumstances, including one who finally received a check with 10 percent deducted improperly, despite his refund request arising because of cancelled service. I know Amtrak emphasizes its commitment to its customers, but I feel more as if I'm dealing with an unresponsive and tone-deaf government agency then with an entrepreneurial enterprise concerned about nurturing long term good will with its customers. :angry:
Reactions? Experiences of others? I would be interested to hear from you!

You make some good points....

So even though you have made your trip to WAS to exchange the tickets for a refund, have you any plans to at least address this with higher management at Amtrak? It still wouldn't hurt to at least write a letter to the president and CEO of Amtrak. His name is Joseph Boardman (I guess he's the one we have now!!!--sarcasm) Being the situation is resolved, I doubt you will receive any further recourse. But you should at least consider that action. A copy of the same letter to customer relations/service wouldn't hurt either.

OBS gone freight....

 

[jackal]

I don't think Amtrak's policy or practice in this circumstance is reasonable or responsive to its good customers who have been seriously inconvenienced through no fault of their own. I have seen that others have also posted grievances in this forum about what they encountered from Amtrak in similar circumstances, including one who finally received a check with 10 percent deducted improperly, despite his refund request arising because of cancelled service. I know Amtrak emphasizes its commitment to its customers, but I feel more as if I'm dealing with an unresponsive and tone-deaf government agency then with an entrepreneurial enterprise concerned about nurturing long term good will with its customers. :angry:
Reactions? Experiences of others? I would be interested to hear from you!

You make some good points....

So even though you have made your trip to WAS to exchange the tickets for a refund, have you any plans to at least address this with higher management at Amtrak? It still wouldn't hurt to at least write a letter to the president and CEO of Amtrak. His name is Joseph Boardman (I guess he's the one we have now!!!--sarcasm) Being the situation is resolved, I doubt you will receive any further recourse. But you should at least consider that action. A copy of the same letter to customer relations/service wouldn't hurt either.

OBS gone freight....

I hate to suggest it, as I'm not a fan of Congress micromanaging Amtrak, but I've heard that cc'ing your senator and representative (and perhaps even other political figures--the DOT secretary and even the President, though that might be going too far) and noting such on your original letter to the Amtrak president helps gets results.

 

[Walt]

Many online stores do not reimburse the cost of shipping a return back to them regardless of the reason, and some don't even refund the original shipping charge (i.e. they'll return the $29.99 you spent on the product but not the $5.99 they charged to ship it to you or the $8 you spent to ship it back to them).

My experiences have been the reverse.

Even though their "official" policy might even state they will not pay for return shipping, if the reason for the return is due to their own fault, the store will automatically offer to email me a pre-paid UPS/Fedex return label.

If one wants an example of a good, customer friendly, company, if one buys a cell phone thru Verizon's own website, they will include a pre-paid return label right in the box, "just in case".

 

[Bolt]

You make some good points....So even though you have made your trip to WAS to exchange the tickets for a refund, have you any plans to at least address this with higher management at Amtrak? It still wouldn't hurt to at least write a letter to the president and CEO of Amtrak. His name is Joseph Boardman (I guess he's the one we have now!!!--sarcasm)

I hate to suggest it, as I'm not a fan of Congress micromanaging Amtrak, but I've heard that cc'ing your senator and representative (and perhaps even other political figures--the DOT secretary and even the President, though that might be going too far) and noting such on your original letter to the Amtrak president helps gets results.

Both excellent suggestions. Thanks A OBS GF and jackal. Now that the urgency is off for me personally, I'll probably send a letter or two, cc'ing my Congressional reps, in the next couple of weeks or so. What I've done already is follow-up on my email contact with Amtrak customer service to provide them with a link to this discussion, and a PDF copy of it, and urge them to share it with senior managers. I'm an incurable optimist, and so think it likely that someone who could work change within Amtrak might actually take a thoughtful look at this narrative. Hope springs eternal . . .