Penny Tarwater sent a message to Joseph Boardman that said:
On Sunday, November 22, 2015, my daughter dropped me off at the Kirkwood, Missouri Amtrak station following a visit to her home located two hours away in Illinois. My husband and I are frequent travelers on Amtrak\'s River Runner route between St. Louis and our home community, Lee\'s Summit, Missouri. En route to Lee\'s Summit on this particular trip, however, the train struck a boulder on the tracks that damaged the brake line beyond repair. Following a series of announcements and revised announcements by Amtrak personnel, it was decided that passengers would disembark from the train, board another train that would take us to St. Louis (past my original departure point at Kirkwood) and load us onto a charter bus that would be waiting at the St. Louis depot. Following three more revised announcements on the second train, we finally learned that there would be no bus waiting for us. Oh, and did I mention that there was a medical emergency en route that required us to sit at a station along the way for more than 30 minutes? By the time we arrived in St. Louis it was nearing midnight (I was supposed to have arrived home at 8:50 pm). After a further comedy of errors, confusion and more revised announcements by Amtrak staff within the station, passengers were informed that those who had traveled from outside Missouri (apparently on connecting trains) would be afforded lodging vouchers for nearby hotels. Those 40 or so of us from within Missouri were on our own. No lodging, no accommodations of any kind (at this time, we were informed there would be no sleeping on the station floor). The only suggestions given were to have someone come pick me up (from where I don\'t know) or board a city bus and travel to a Drury Inn down the road. I was alone and left to my own resources -- stranded in downtown St Louis overnight with no cash ( your ATM was down) and no sleeping accommodations. I finally walked alone in the dark to a hotel down the street, got a room and had a fitful night\'s rest so infuriated was I. Having been in Business Class, I had to argue the next morning to re-gain a Business Class seat. It was 2:30 pm on Monday afternoon when the train finally arrived in Lee\'s Summit. So my daughter, in the meantime, talked to a Diane in Amtrak\'s Customer Service, who told her they would NOT pay for the hotel room, stating, "I didn\'t tell your mother to get a hotel room!" and further telling her, "I didn\'t tell your mother to take a train to St. Louis!" when it was mentioned that she had missed out on a full day\'s work at the hospital where she is a patient access director. It was a ridiculous conversation ... and this was one of your customer relations assistants!
I have been a life-long advocate for Amtrak. I love the train and have been very much in favor of expanding the train as a travel resource. But this experience has definitely changed my opinion, and all because Amtrak 1) did not have a legitimate contingency plan for a simple accident as we experienced; and 2) NO ONE put forth any effort to be accommodating or even sympathetic. I did receive a minimal travel voucher but that is not appropriate compensation for the $103 I was forced to spend on a room or the day\'s time missed at my job, or the time away from husband\'s work to pick me up at the station in the middle of a business day. The attitude and demeanor of your customer service assistant was abhorrent. You would think that a frequent traveler on the train might mean something but clearly it does not. I\'m angry about this ridiculous circumstance, but even more, I\'m hugely disappointed. Did I mention that I love the train ... or at least used to love it.
Penny L. Tarwater
Guest Rewards number: 7018469796),
4805 SW Davis Drive
Lee\'s Summit, Missouri 64083
Work: 913.498.6069
Cell: 816.868.2801
Husband\'s Guest Rewards number: 8306446504
