Amtrak Office of Customer Communications
Chicago Union Station
210 South Canal Street
Chicago, IL 60606
USA

January 25, 1998

Dear Sir/Madam,

I'm writing today concerning a few issues I would like to discuss with you that I found on my vacation which I took on Amtrak from the 4th to the 17th of January.

My trip entailed a large round-trip across the US on board the Coast Starlight from Seattle to Sacramento (Jan. 4th - 5th), a Capitols Train from Sacramento to Emeryville (Jan. 5th), Bus trips to and from San Francisco (5th and 10th), a trip from Emeryville to Chicago on the California Zephyr (10th to the 12th), and a return trip from Chicago to Seattle onboard the Empire Builder (14th to the 16th). I also completed my journey from Seattle to Vancouver BC on the Mount Baker International on the 17th of January.

After getting rave reviews from Steve Grande (Author and Webmaster for Trainweb.com), the Coast Starlight Website, and the signs and posters in Seattle's train station about the Coast Starlight, I was expecting superior service...I'm afraid to say that the service I received was not superior, however, I did not make any complaints onboard the train as I was traveling on an Amtrak train for the very first time. It's difficult, if not impossible, to say what "superior" is until you've got a reference point to compare against. I did receive that reference point a few days later when I traveled onboard the California Zephyr to Chicago...It was there that I found out what the "normal" level of service is, and admittedly, the service there was far better than what I received on the Coast Starlight. Let me specify some points I believe could have been better.

1. I arrived at my coach car the morning of the 4th of January, and Mr. Smith (Coach Car Attendant) asked my destination and I replied that I was traveling to Sacramento. He then announced my seat number, and quickly gave directions on how I would find the seat (which I promptly forgot in placing my baggage on the racks). Unfortunately, the seat was an Aisle seat, which is something I almost always hate. A means of providing superior service would be to ask the customer what their preference is, if you're going to assign seats. Airlines and travel agents do this all the time. Some have preferences to be on the aisle, others would prefer to enjoy the view out the window. When I arrived upstairs in the car, I noticed that Mr. Smith was filling the car from the front to the back. I think he could have asked at that point and I would've found a seat more to my liking. Of course, seeing that this was my first trip, I didn't realize I could ask for a different seat until we were approaching Sacramento! Also, another option which I found far better later on in my journey was to let the customer pick the seat, and then make your seating charts from that.

2. Into the trip, I decided to visit the cafe car and pick up a snack or two. As I had arrived in the US with very little time to pick up some US Cash (I had Canadian Currency, which I knew would be unacceptable from the get go), I wanted to pay with my Visa card. The gentleman handling the cafe car was quite gruff with me when I asked if I could pay for a couple smaller items (a sandwich and a soda) with my Visa card. He said I couldn't use it. Only after prompting him did I find out that I could use it, but only on balances over $10. A fair policy, but nowhere did I see this policy listed in the 1997 (and 1998) Amtrak Travel Planners, or on any of the signs in the cafe car. I also inquired as to making the balance out for $30.00 on the card and giving me back change, and he replied (rather rudely I might add) no, and that he wasn't a bank. This is done in some circumstances here in Canada on Visa... And, after gathering enough items to actually use the Visa card did he insult me by asking if this was a real Visa card. My Visa card is issued by the CIBC, one of the big six banks in Canada, and has a slightly lower number of digits than most Visa cards. After working as a cashier in a grocery store in a tourism based town, I've seen a good number of different Visa cards. At NO time did I ever question a customer when they handed me a card which had a valid Visa logo on it. For the remainder of the trip to Sacramento, I felt quite uncomfortable in going down to the Cafe car because of his personality. A second time, I went down and this time I had cash on hand. He was slightly nicer that time, but his efficiency and speediness certainly was a little disconcerting.

3. There were announcements of a magician being on board and that he would be coming through the train during that evening that I was on the train. I wanted to experience his show, but for some unknown reason, he never showed up in my coach car. Needless to say, I was disappointed at this.

4. After I finished my dinner in the dining car, the Dining Car Steward was extremely slow (probably better than 8 minutes) in coming by to accept my and my table mate's payment for the meal. Several times he walked by, ushered in guests from both the Coach and Sleeping Car, but did not take the moment or two to accept our cash payments. Had this been a 4 star restaurant in a building, I would not have left a tip for the waiter because of this long delay in getting our check. It was quite obvious from a glance at my table that I was done with my meal and that I was playing around with my cash, waiting to spend it for the meal which I had just enjoyed.

Overall, I cannot say that I received "Superior Service" onboard the Coast Starlight... I did not make any mention of these things to the Chief, as this was my first trip on board an Amtrak train. Only after traveling some more on Amtrak did I find what the definition of "Superior Service" mean. I didn't complain onboard the train, so it couldn't be corrected immediately. This also was my first time actually traveling any major amount of distance inside the continental 48 states, so I suppose I could assume this was superior service by American standards. Whether you wish to honor your Service Guarantee or not, I'm not sure. I'll leave this up to you. I know that I would like to give you the chance to show me what Superior Service really is...

Here are some more points regarding my travels with Amtrak, not specific to one route.

Some of the bus drivers who drive the Thruway bus connections are far from friendly...When I presented my ticket to the driver at the bus that was going to San Francisco, and asked if this was the bus that went to the Shopping Center, she just took the ticket and told me to get on the bus. The poster on the bus didn't make any mention of the Shopping center, but did make mention of Union Square...a stop which I believe is not made anymore.

I was delayed 12 hours on getting into Seattle from Chicago onboard the Empire Builder...This was time that wanted to spend with a friend, and also to tour around the city and basically be a tourist. I'm enclosing the letter which was given to me by the Chief. I'm also enclosing the ticket stubs, and a photocopy of the receipt for my upgrade to a Sleeper (the time I actually spent in my private accommodations was severely cut short by the need to move us from the train to the busses, and the destination for the busses was Whitefish...the destination where I would be moving from my Standard bedroom back to my coach seat...I do trust you will take the upgrade into consideration when you process the transportation credit which I will be expecting from you.

The sleeper car which I was in from Columbus to Havre, MT had a shower which was too hot...I scalded myself slightly in trying to get myself clean. Unlike the Superliner II Sleepers (which I was in from Emeryville to Chicago), the Superliner I Sleeper Shower does NOT allow adjustment of the temperature. Not such a wise idea, and I hope that you could fix this problem in your Superliner I Sleepers until they get renovated into Superliner II sleepers.

The conductor whom I purchased the upgrade to a sleeper onboard the Empire Builder was quite insulting by his lack of tact and ability to read my drivers license. When he asked me why my credit card was in a different name from my drivers license I pointed out to him that my given names are on a separate line from my surname, as indicated by the drivers license. I prefer to not use my middle name on anything if possible, and that's why my credit card is made out to Jon Calon, not Jon Edward Calon which is indicated on my drivers license. This insult happened in front of the passengers in the section of the coach car where I was sitting...Had he read my drivers license properly, he wouldn't have had any problems in verifying my identity. He could have also escorted me to his office at the front of the train and then filled it out properly, and without causing me to be embarrassed. This was how the conductor on the California Zephyr handled the upgrade from Coach to Sleeper, and I was quite impressed at how he handled the entire thing. (He even made a call to the sleeping car attendant in the sleeper telling him to meet me and my luggage on the platform at Sacramento...something the conductor onboard the Empire Builder didn't do.)

While I realize that some things will be curtailed by the budget cutbacks being experienced by Amtrak's need to get off federal subsidies, cutting service levels will not help in getting and keeping customers. I'm quite willing to travel on Amtrak again to give you guys a second chance, but since my location is a good distance outside of the United States (well...out of the lower 48 states), I doubt that I will be able to travel on Amtrak within 1 year...the two weeks I was on vacation is the only time I have this year to get out of the Yukon Territory to experience Amtrak...If you are going to issue transportation credits for any rail travel onboard Amtrak, please ensure that I will be able to use them up to 2 years from the date of issue. I would appreciate that quite a bit. If you wish to contact me, please do so by any of the means listed at the top of the first page. Thank you for your understanding of my concerns regarding my travels with Amtrak.

Sincerely,

Jon Calon