I have traveled AmTrak on & off for several years.
I can say their customer service has been on a
continual decline.
I boarded a westbound train in Scotia, N.Y. Last winter and put my carry-on bag on one of the lower level storage bins.
Upon doing so I proceeded upstairs to my seat in coach.
Realizing I needed something out of my bag, I went back down to the storage bin where I caught this guy trying to deboard the train with my bag in hand.
I mean I caught this guy red-handed in the act of theft!
As the train was about to leave the station I immediately tried to wrestle my bag away from the thief before he deboarded. A scuffle ensued whereupon the thief shoved me against the wall. I ducked, grabbed a canister of 17% pepper spray which I had inside my coat liner, and let him have it right in the face.
He went down like a sack of potatoes screaming, yelling, and writhing in pain from the highly concentrated spray.
Another passenger witnessed the entire event at the time.
Two AmTrak employees then accosted me and held up the train while they reported the incident to the station manager.
The manager comes out and I explain everything.
He called the police and I told them what happenned, too.
My witness had disappeared so the cops couldn't confirm anything though the thief still had my bag next to him on the ground.
I told the cops it was MY bag he had stolen, what contents they could find inside, and that I had acted in self defense against an attempted assault.
They searched my bag and found exactly what I said they would.
Yet in the end I got kicked off the train for using pepper spray (which is perfectly legal in upstate N.Y.By the way).
The station manager told me that I was lucky he was in a
good mood and to NOT try and reboard the train further on
down the line as those stations had been alerted about me.
Ughhh... Excuse me, sir.
Did I miss something here?
This jerk tried to steal my luggage, throws a punch at me, I spray the guy in self defense, and now the whole thing is MY fault?
Is something wrong with this picture?
What gives?
The cops led the thief away to who knows where and gave me a ride to the local Greyhound bus station — with my bag. There I had buy to buy another ticket to my final destination.
Later, I attempted to contact legal councel but they wanted a $5,000 retainer to look into the matter.
So much for that idea.
I have not riden AmTrak since nor will I again.
Their customer service and general attitude toward
the traveling public has been sorely lacking in
recent years.
I will drive, fly, or take the bus as a last resort.
But the train?..
I don't rhink so.
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