Complain about a product or service

Amtrak • Abusive staff • Poor security • Slipshod safety • Late, late, late • Thrown Off • Luggage problems • Express shipping • Just plain bad --- News • Feds Developing Positive Train Control Regulations • House Joins Senate in Boosting Rail Travel • Lone Congressman Can’t Kill Amtrak • Lack of Federal Funding Could Kill Amtrak • Amtrak Attempts a Makeover • Amtrak Delays Leave Passengers to Fend for Themselves

To put it mildly, train travel in the U.S. is off the rails. Amtrak lives from moment to moment, totally dependent on the Congressional whim of the moment. The equipment is rundown, the tracks are a mess and the train crews are, all too often, ill-trained, rude and even downright abusive.

Here are a few of the more recent complaints we've received ...

Alan of Haleyville, AL June 13, 2009

I am a retired Law Enforcement Officer. In all the times I have taken Amtrak, The vast majority of my travels have bun at least cordial, if not fun. Yesterday (6/12/09) was absolutely the worst. From Train Conductor E. Badger down to the Stewards/Porters was the worst I have ever seen.

Myself and my family, some of which were experiencing Amtrak for the first time, were coming back home from New Orleans. After stopping in Meridian, MS One of our seven seats was given away while two members of my family were off the train (with permission) stretching their legs and taking pictures from the platform. I was "cat napping" in my seat. So I was not aware that they had left. My one Grandson (8 yrs. Old) came and sat in the empty seat next to me and that woke me up.

I look and notice the two front seats that had been occupied by my Daughter and 4 yr old Grandson were now occupied by two gentlemen who had evidently just boarded. I then noticed my 4 yr old Grandson was across the isle setting on my 12 yr old Son's lap. My Daughter and Son-in-law returned, noticed that my Daughter and 4 yr old Grandson's seats were no occupied by someone else and sat in the seat across from me. I tried to tell the Porter/Steward what was going on. He asked me "how many tickets do you have?" I said "Seven". I told him per Amtrak safety policy I had purchased him a ticket and told him my Grandson was setting on my Son's lap. He ignored it and walked away.

A couple of minutes later a Female Amtrak employee came from the back of the car and asked me "how many paying tickets I had. I again said I have "seven" including my 4 yr old Grandson who was now being forced to set on another family member's lap. She then walked away. Nothing else was said. Before we got to Birmingham, I advised another female Amtrak employee that I wished to speak to the train Conductor about filing a complaint. She was very nice and stated "yes sir, I will tell him you wish to speak with him". Within 3 minutes I was told by my Daughter (I am legally blind and could not see him), the Conductor and this same female employee we walking down the isle toward us.

As they passed and I could see well enough to see it was the conductor, he was passed my seat. My daughter by the way, told me she heard the female employee say as she was pointing to at me "that gentleman would like to speak to you regarding a complaint". After he passed by without stopping I said; "excuse me Sir, are you the Conductor"? After he replied formally "Yes I am". I stated "Sir I have a complaint". He said VERY loudly, "What's the problem?" I told him that my 4 yr old Grandson, a paying customer was being forced to set on a family members lap.

I must note here that when we boarded, the Amtrak employee (the first gentleman I mentioned about) had placed the hand written little with the letters "BHM" in the seat in front of mine, indicating those two seats were, of course, occupied. Mr. Badger's exact response was; "So, what do you want me to do about it?". (Mr. Badger had to clearly see my 4 yr old Grandson now setting on my Daughter's lap beside him). I stated; "I want you to make it right Sir". he then started walking away. At this point I asked for Mr. Badger's name. He stopped walking and stepped back and again VERY loudly said [his name]. I want to stress that during the stop, I was told by my family, that my 4 yr old Grandson had went over to set on my 12 yr old Son's lap so he could see and wave to his Mother and Father who were standing on the platform.

I am very very upset about this. It is not about the small fee for my Grandson. I could not care less about that. It is the, I feel, Federal Safety violation that was committed in front of these Amtrak employees. On the trip to New Orleans from Birmingham on Tuesday, June 9th, we hit a car near Bessemer Alabama and came to a quick stop. Nothing happened, fortunately, that I am aware of to put a member of my family in danger but it is the point of the matter. Amtrak obviously is concerned about the safety factor and requires travelers with children older than 2 to purchase a ticket for the child. Why didn't employees feel this way? With Amtrak's noticeable decline in travelers over the years, incidents such as this are not going to cause people to come back again. As I said, there were other incidents we observed involving other travelers and even more that I could add about our experience but I think I have stated enough for now.

Erin of New York, NY May 31, 2009

I have been riding Amtrak for 10+ years and have typically had mixed experiences (some ok, some not ok). Most recently though, I had an extremely offensive and what can only be called, abusive, trip due to a conductor aboard the NYC to Albany train. This conductor had extremely erratic behavior, burst out without provocation and swore in front of several passengers.

I realize that the Conductors are there to help the train run smoothly and keep things orderly. This Conductor ignored these responsibilities while on an absolute power trip. I am filing a formal complaint with Amtrak and would be very surprised if this was this individuals first complaint.

Pamela of Port St Lucie, FL May 31, 2009

It started with just making a reservation which seem to be hard for reservation to get it correct. My family of 4 (2 adults, 2 handicap kids) were put on different trains at different times... it was a mess... I made reservations though a live person and let them know my children’s needs because one of them needed wheelchair access. I also had to call 4 times to get the wrong information on my bags. Our train was leaving at 7:24 on Sunday the 24th of May 2009. We got at the station at 6:30pm and no one was in site...

so I got out of my car and went to find someone to get a wheelchair for our son. I started to head down a long covered walkway when I notice some young lady coming down with Amtrak on her jacket she told me I would have to wait for help she was working with another customer. I told her that I needed to go get my tickets so I did. I went into the building went to a window that seemed to be no one around I said Hello and some guy ( dark complication Indian I believe) told me to come over to where is window was so I went over to the window and give him my ID he proceeded to verbally attack me and my daughter saying we should have been here one hour later and that I was lucky he was going to help with my tickets and continued to be abusive verbally and told me to sign my tickets I told him I was missing some tickets he started arguing with me again and becoming abusive and told me that he gave me my tickets already I told him that he did not give me any tickets and he told me that this was my fault for his mistake because I was late to get to the train station.

I got my tickets after 30 minutes of him lecture me and become abusive. I went outside and told a gentleman that I needed asst for I had handicap reservations he did not listen to me and also became abusive verbally telling me to calm down and shut up. I was really upset because they wanted to take my son out of the wheelchair without my approval. When we got on the train I ask for a tray for my son and was told there was none available. The car we were in was very cold, I asked for blankets I was told they had not a thing to give us. The bathrooms were dirty with no soap and floors were dirty and we spent 21 hours in a very cold car. I talked to the conductor and was told that there was nothing he could do for us… we got into new York and he did not get any better there we had a red cap person tell us that we had to remove my child out of the wheelchair because he needed it for someone else I told him no that I called and made reservations for this situation and I was not taken my child out of the wheelchair until we get on another train we were waiting for. He became upset and treating us with that we may miss our train …

we finally got to Albany and the next morning on May26th I called the customer service because I had 2 children who were running fevers and I could tell both of them were way to cold and was getting sick… we moved south to Florida because our children can not medically take the cold and I and my husband were very concerned for there health. When I called the customer hotline I was told supervisors do not talk to customers they were only there for administrative reasons only and corporate did not want to talk to customer s either… I told them I was very concerned about my ride back to Florida because of the cold and was told that there was not a thing Amtrak could do for me. If I wanted a sleeper then I would have to come up with more money... we were heading back to Florida on the 27th of May and I was very concern about the condition of the train for my family health they could care less I was told all they have to do for us is get us from AA to BB and that is all. I called our children’s doctor because we were very concerned on there health and the fact they were running fevers and seem to have an upper respirator infection. We went to sears and purchased 2 big blankets and thought that would help just in case. It did not it was so cold in the car we were in and I ask to conductor to please let us go into a warmer car and was told they did not have any more room. I asked about the sleeper was told that I would have to come up with more money to go into a warm car...

I did not have any extra money I did not need the food I just wanted a warm area for my children. He said there is not a thing he could do for me…. I got home and called my pediatric doctor and both of my children have upper respirator infections and it was caused my condition on the train... I also was in the emergency room with an upper respiratory infection. My husband also got one to… Amtrak was cold hearted and uncaring about there customers. All they care about is the money and nothing else.

Mike of warren, MI May 4, 2009

I researched my trip on line. I then called to verify the schedule directly with customer servies at Amtrak. My trip was to start in Chicago and to end up in Royal Oak MI. On line is stated a estimate of 6 hours for the trip. When speaking directly with Amtrak to verify the length of travel time. I was also told approx. 6 hours. To my horror the trip took 9 and a half hours!!! I understand things can get alittle behind. But 3.5 hours behind is over doing it. The train left on time. There was two inspections. None of them took over 30 minutes. As we stopped at stations for people to board and get off . This also only took a few minutes. No explaination from Amtrak why it took almost 4 hours longer than the scheduled time frame. I have drove myself this same trip and it took me alittle under 6 hours. That included me stopping for a rest room break and to get something fast food to eat. I thought the train would save me the stress of driving and wear and tear on my van. The trip was a night mare unless you are prepared to spend 10 hours sitting on a train. It was horrible and I will never use the train again.

Ken of Springfield, OR April 21, 2009

I put my 16 year old daughter on the 5:30am train in Eugene for a 60 mile trip to Salem, which is supposed to arrive there at 6:42am. When the train arrived at Salem no one announced the arrival, nor were any doors opened to allow anyone off even if they knew that this was their stop.

When my daughter contacted me by cell phone at 6:50 saying that she was still on the train and traveling. Kitty, the assistant conductor, informed me that she was told not to announce the arrival because their were people sleeping and they didn't want to wake them. When I asked how logical was it not to announce the arrival because people who may need to get off were sleeping.

I was then told they would let her off at the next stop some 30 mile past here destination and that I could pick her up there. They assured me that my minor daughter would be safe. As it turns out they stopped at a random railway crossing were there was a Mexican restaurant. They gave my wife the wrong address, didn't even bother going into the restaurant to make sure it was safe.

My daughter had to wait 2 hours until my wife finally found the restaurant.

When I finally got ahold of a customer relations agent they said sorry but since she had an adult ticket she was considered an adult and told me that they were sending me a 14 voucher for the price of the ticket.

I am still pissed, I contacted my congressman, Peter DeFazio. who happens to be on the House Transportation and Infrastructure committee. He is also on the trains and hazardous transportation subcommittee, I am hoping this will give me some satisfaction. I also called our state paper and they sounded sympatheic and may feature this fiasco in the paper. I don't want money, I want every employee that was on that train that day FIRED WITH MALICE. I want Amtrak's executives to acknowledge that as a pseudo corporation that they could give a shit about customer service. They answer to no share holder they answer to no one. I agree that they provide an essential public service but even public buses have better public relations than Amtrak. Let's face it a condutor's job duties are limited: check ticket, announce arrivals and departures, and open and close the damn doors. If they had simplly done those simple things this type of crap wouldn't have happened.

the consequences of this event caused my wife to miss 7 hours of work, drive 200 miles for a simple 60 mile trip. And the psychological trauma has been especially difficult for my 16 year old daughter, put off a train in the middle of no where, where she doesn't know anyone, that she has never been, sitting in a restaurant where they speak limited english. On top of that when they stopped the train everyone on the train was watching and wondering why this little girl was being kicked off the train. Even the people at the restaurant wondered why she was kicked off the train. Talk about one scared humiliated young girl.

Bill of Fredericksburg, VA April 3, 2009

Ok, here goes... WHO: April, VRE, Amtrak. WHAT: Virginia Railway Express (VRE) has a partnership with Amtrak to let commuters ride the Amtrak if they purchase a step up ticket for 10. The problem is, there are no VRE employees to ask questions to so I posed my questions on how to do this to the Amtrak employees and conductors. Of course, they all gave me wrong answers which resulted in my getting very rudely dealt with by the Amtrak conductor who did not want to hear any explanations. Yesterday I went to Alexandria and purchased a step up ticket.

When I got on the Amtrak, the conductor looked at my step up ticket and asked for my VRE pass. I showed it to her and she immediately said this is the wrong ticket. I said it was for the correct zones and she replied you need to pay a full fare. I said no I don't, I have a step up ticket to which she said it's not validated. I told her I had no idea I had to validate it because when I rode 2 days ago, everything was ok and when I purchased the ticket and asked the Amtrak ticket seller if I had to validate the VRE ticket he told me no, as long as it covered the zones I was ok.

She looked at me and said, I'll be back through to collect the full fare. I told her I didn't know from who but I wasn't paying anything else. She then said I had to get off in Woodbridge (about 30 miles from where I live). I said why can't I just validate the ticket in Woodbridge and she said because I won't let you back on the train without a full fare. Of course then the conductor who checked my ticket 2 days ago and said it was ok walked up and asked her if there was a problem she needed his help with.

At that time I just stopped talking because I know Amtrak, they'll call ahead and have the police arrest me for refusing to pay or something. I contacted VRE to complain and only got the rules told to me. I let them know I had no problem following the rules if they were told to me correctly. VRE is usually no help other than refunding the 10 step up fee.

As a result, I had to wait at the train station for the commuter (VRE) train, which was still about 90 minutes out. I was also embarrassed as this is the 2nd time something like this has happened. I have tried the step up 3 times and got booted off 2 of the 3 times. Both times I followed what the Amtrak employee told me to do, to the T, however because it wasn't what the conductor on the train wanted, they both booted me off. On both occasions, the conductors were very rude and abrupt.

Robin Altman, Md of Wyomissing, PA March 30, 2009

I had a ticket for the Acela Express leaving at 7:30 am. The women waiting on people behind the counter were the rudest people I have ever dealt with. I asked what track the train left from, and woman #1 replied, Why can't you see that? Tell me why you can't see that!. There was a comuter train leaving on the same track, 5 minutes before, and I got on it by mistake.

The man on the train said it happens all the time. After an hour I finally got back to Back Bay and had to get another ticket. Woman #2 told me she had never seen anyone take a commuter train by mistake, and would charge me 30 dollars extra to take the 9:20am acela train. When I objected, the manager said it was my own fault that I took the wrong train. She was unapolagetic, nasty, and ended the conversation with We won't miss your business.

I am disgusted with Amtrak. Their employees behind the information and ticket counter are rude and discouteous, not to mention unhelpful. This was the worst traveling experience of my life. I'm a 45 year ol woman, and haven't been treated with such apalling disrespect by anyone in my life.

I will be 2 hours late for a doctor's appointment, and I am extremely upset

Ruth of Charlotte, NC March 27, 2009

On March 13, 2009 the ticket agent told everyone at the last minute that no bags would be checked due to the fact that he had to sell tickets. It was the worst scene. I had a large piece of luggage, and a carry on that I had to struggle up two flight of steps. The conductor wanted to know why we had all of the luggage. I was in tears! I am on a nebulizer, and have had a total knee replacement. I wrote to AMTRAK concerning this incident, and would you believe AMTRAK sent me a voucher for 25.00(Which I plan to return). The 25.00 voucher was a slap in the face, and a total insult for what I went through at the Birmingham, AL AMTRAK station. I was traveling on Amtrak's Crescent.

Due to the fact that I have a prescribed nebulizer, I was totally out of breath due to the fact that I had to take the luggage up two flights of steps. Since I have a total knee replacement, my knee was paining after the two flights of steps.

Arthur E. Brush of Placentia, CA March 25, 2009

At 4:40/AM my friends joined me at the Fullerton Train Station which services both AMTRAC and MetroLink passenger trains. The machine which issues ticket also serves both trains. This was the first time either Ron or Scrub had ever used this service or this machine. When I arrived at the station both Ron and Scrub were attempting to get tickets. Ron purchased a ticket from Fullerton to the Los Angeles Union Station and then to get to the Wilshire/Vermont station on the RedLine. They didn't know that the one MetroLink ticket served both. He purchased an AMTRAC by mistake for 11.75 and it gave him a ticket for the subway also.

When I arrived, I showed them how to get the correct ticket, it cost 6.00. Scrub had purchased one on MetroLink but had failed to get a senior 6.00. The one Scrub was 11.40. All of us are 70 plus years old, it was 4:40 in the morning, poorly lit and very confusing. When the day at the Shriner's Hospital where we all volunteer. We went to the Union Station AMTRAC ticket office and asked for a refund for the unused ticket. We were told that they would not refund any money, the tickets were good and the mistake was [theirs].

We know the mistake was and that we should have known better. We were not trying to defraud AMTRAC. All we wanted was a refund for a ticket that was not used. I don't think that is unreasonable.

Donna of Keyesport, IL March 18, 2009

While riding Amtrak train 393 from Chicago to Centrailia Illinois on March 17,2009 there were individuals drinking beer that was not purchased from the snack car, beer that they had presumably carried on with them, since they did not purchase it in the snack car as they do not sell beer in cans. They were drinking, talking very loudly and cursing very loudly and there were children present on the car. The conductor only came through to get tickets when he knew new passengers had gotten on and did not come through to check to be sure every one was safe. There was a couple argueing very loudly and no one came to make sure they would quiet down.

The drinking was done by both black and white travelers and the party went on from Chicago all the way to Centralia. they should have been escourted off the train by at least Lincoln, Illinois. We have ridden the train numerous times and have NEVER had passengers act in this manner. The conductor should have made his presence known and made trips through the cars to make sure other passengers are safe.

We are planning another trip on Amtrak and want to make sure we and other passengers do not have to put up with this type of behavior. When the passengers in question got off the train, they had a good time talking about how the train ride was, since no one did anything to them about their drinking and partying. We rode from Boston to Chicago and NEVER did we see anyone take a beer from the lounge car and take it to their seat. These passengers should have been escourted off the train and made to find another way home. They had drunk enough, they were getting loud and obnoxious, and noone wanted to listen to them.

We and other passengers were made very uncomfortable because of the language and use of sign language. The conductor sat in the snack car and in the car ahead of our car and did nothing to make sure the passengers were kept safe. This is a bad way to run a business. And a bad way to run a train. I am sure I am not the only one who does not like to be subjected to this kind of behavior.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Follow us on Twitter.