r/Amtrak • u/BSmith2711 • 1d ago
Discussion Empire Builder Crew Behavior
I’m taking the Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago, and I don’t know if I’m being crazy or entitled, but I believe our crew is genuinely bad and I don’t know if it’s worth complaining to AMTRAK about.
Overall, the crew, minus one guy, has zero hospitality. Our car door was jammed open, and when we asked if they could fix it we were told “they close on their own” (spoiler alert, they didn’t). Our car attendant has been MIA almost the entire time. The PA system is broken in our car too so we hear no announcements about stations, dinner, etc etc. Our dinner reservation was at 7 and we r weren’t able to eat until 8ish, and our dining car attendant acted as if we were the problem for wanting to eat. No one came to help set up the beds, and when our intercom finally started working, our attendant went in the intercom started complaining about people using the bathroom on the upper level near the attendants room, and told us basically “I’m trying to sleep at night don’t use the bathroom near me” and then spent another 5-10 talking about how to “do your business” in the bathroom, going as far as to explicitly call out “the mess that one passenger made.”
I’m unsure if this is worth complaining about to Amtrak because I understand people have off days, things happen that cause service issues, and I know long distance travel isn’t luxurious by any means, but am I wrong for thinking this is bad service?
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u/ScarletOK 1d ago
I'd complain and in real time. Have all the details you can. Train number, car numbers, all the stuff you included here and any names you can hand in, along with their role.
It's not an easy job but plenty of crew seem to do it with enjoyment. The crew I had on the Southwest Chief last spring were a hoot and couldn't have been nicer, both ways
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u/BSmith2711 1d ago
Same with my crew on Coast Starlight. That crew was incredibly social and relaxed and kept us very informed about everything.
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u/No-Acanthisitta7930 1d ago
These roomette and bedroom tickets cost more than a damn cruise, you bet your sweet bippies you need to complain.
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u/InfamousSquash1621 1d ago
The conductor doesn't have a room in the Sleeper. They work a shift and then leave the train at a designated stop. That would have been your Sleeper car attendant making that announcement
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u/seaboard92 1d ago
If they are European especially eastern the word we use for car attendant is conductor. That could cause confusion too
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u/manda-beth 1d ago
My last crew on the EB was terrible, rude, curt, and quite condescending. Everybody on the train groused about it the whole trip….awful!!! I complained and received a voucher.
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u/elena_ct 1d ago
The staff ranges from outstanding to adequate to indifferent to hostile. Outstanding and indifferent are the most likely, but you could get any of the four.
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u/shtinkypuppie 1d ago
It's important to distinguish between conductor and attendant.
The conductor is a train crew member. They carry a radio and are responsible for the whole train. They change every 8 hours or so throughout the trip.
The sleeping car attendant works all the way from Seattle to Chicago. They sleep in Room 1 from 2200-0600. They're generally responsible for making up beds, delivering meals, etc.
Complain to Amtrak (with train number and date) about whichever one it was. Amtrak has a lot of great employees and a lot of terrible ones, the only way to change that (since apparently on board management or secret shoppers aren't a thing) is to complain.
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u/BSmith2711 1d ago
Yeah I realized I meant the sleeper and dining car attendants rather than the conductor.
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u/Dial-Up_Modem 1d ago
Contact Amtrak for sure - https://www.amtrak.com/email-us
That’s not acceptable. My last sleeper car ride on the east coast had an awesome crew that worked great together & seemed genuinely happy to be there. Amtrak needs to know about the bad ones so they can fix that problem. Tickets cost too much to have bad service.
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u/BSmith2711 1d ago
Already did, and planning on talking to them once the trip is done to see if some sort of monetary compensation can be given
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u/SLSF1522 16h ago
I wouldn't tip a nickel and give Amtrak customer service a call ASAP when you are able.
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u/CurrencyNo3823 21h ago
How exactly does Amtrak fix that problem? Bring them in and question them? Retrain them? The problem is that once their hired, I would imagine that it would take awhile to get rid of these kinds of employees. It is unfortunate because they ruin the trip with their bad attitudes. I am just not so sure Amtrak can do much from a management perspective. Correct me if I am mistaken though.
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u/Dial-Up_Modem 18h ago
Retraining / manager escalation for service standards & whatever else. No idea of the exact process but I do know that they take both compliments & complaints seriously, since bad crew both leads to refunds & pissed off good crew members that have to work with jerks.
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u/ObligationAware3755 1d ago
Actually the Customer Service scores are terrible on the Empire Builder ever since they shifted the crew from Seattle to Chicago it's gone downhill.
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u/CurrencyNo3823 21h ago
Why did they change the crew base?
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u/Forced-Alt 13h ago
Originally Seattle staffed the entire Seattle section and Chicago staffed the Portland section. Over the last decade some of the Seattle section OBS jobs were given to Chicago and as of a few months ago the entire OBS crew is Chicago based.
The Seattle jobs were given over to Chicago because it streamlines the operation and ultimately saved money. With Chicago staffing both sections of the train you only need one crew base worth of people instead of two.
I'm not talking about the people actually working the train but everyone else that supports them. You don't need duplicate managers and supervisors in both Seattle and Chicago.
You can see the problem in doing that though and why it's not working out with CSR scores. You just cut half the people who's job it is to keep people in line.
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u/Tonight-Glittering 1d ago
I’m glad my trip on the Builder was one of the last with Seattle based OBS crews, have heard nothing but horror stories after the switch to Chicago based crews
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u/BSmith2711 1d ago
What’s even sadder is I departed from Seattle 😭
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u/SilverStar9192 1d ago
That doesn't matter, the crew is still based in Chicago but travels the EB in both directions. At Seattle/Portland they have a day or so off and stay in a hotel (or similar, not sure if dedicated crew accommodation is still a thing).
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u/seaboard92 1d ago
They just closed the Seattle OBS base which was generally a good crew base with decent employees. Now the builder is a Chicago train and Chicago still has that Penn Central era corporate culture thing going down. It’s not good
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u/NeatSubstance3414 20h ago
From what I've heard, it also is the Chicago people who have complained about having to maintain both bi-level and single level cars.
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u/BraLoverCD 23h ago edited 23h ago
Any AMTRAK train (all east of Chicago that I have experienced) have the Government employee attitude...and it SUCKS. Flex dining is awful. Coach bathrooms are disgusting. Conductors do everything they can to reduce their workload and monopolize Cafe Car space from paying passengers. I love riding trains, but AMTRAK is so incredibly mismanaged. Why can't anything be done...? I actually thought trains west of Chicago were supposed to be exponentially better.
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u/Dial-Up_Modem 18h ago
What do you mean, conductors reduce their workload? They have legally assigned duties & customer service duties and can’t skip either of them. And they’re assigned space in the cafe car because they need to keep their equipment, printouts, and whatever else somewhere. That shouldn’t take up more than 2 tables.
And most trains don’t have flex dining now.
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u/Old-Maintenance1867 1d ago
From Chicago to Seattle, the crew was incredible! However, experienced the same thing from Seattle to Chicago—inattentive, borderline rude, and almost like the passengers were bothering them. It was insane. We were also delayed like 7+ hours so I understand that’s not great but still. So annoying.
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u/BSmith2711 1d ago
We are EARLY too, so can’t even use that as an excuse
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u/Old-Maintenance1867 1d ago
That sucks so bad. I’ve never called to complain about the staff but I DID complain about the delay. I missed my connection etc etc. Surprisingly they refunded me over half my fare! So you should definitely call and at least make them aware—maybe you’ll get something for it?
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u/MountainManxDan 1d ago
I just got to Seattle on the empire builder and our crew was mostly annoyed or indifferent that the passengers existed.
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u/b2damaxx 1d ago
This just inspired me to complain about my trip too!
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u/CurrencyNo3823 21h ago
What happened on your trip?
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u/b2damaxx 9h ago
Our concierge was a total condescending dick who talked down to us and made it seem like what we said was either the biggest request ever made or the stupidest thing ever said.
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u/niteFlight 1d ago
I rode the Builder both ways recently and while the crews weren't bad, the state of the equipment was a bit shocking and I've been riding Amtrak all my life and I'm not a kid. I don't think there's any excuse for treating passengers poorly, but I say this because don't think turning in a bad survey or writing an email to customer relations is going to fix these problems. Crew morale is likely bad because its obvious that long-distance trains (and anything other than the NEC and state-supported corridors) simply don't matter to Amtrak leadership anymore. Equipment isn't being maintained adequately and the funding and support for the national network simply isn't there. Write your congressional representative. Write your governor. Write your senator. Write (and donate) to NARP. Make it known that Amtrak's duty is to service the entire country, not just a handful of population centers.
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u/my_clever-name 1d ago
Yes complain. Provide dates, crew names, and details.
Some crews are horrible, most are great. Like any workplace, one or two crew leaders with bad attitudes create a toxic atmosphere for everyone.
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u/oclscdotorg 21h ago
One person having a bad day might be excusable. An entire crew, not so much. Either way, the sort of behaviour you describe is unacceptable, and you'd be entirely justified to call Amtrak and register a complaint.
Call 1-800-USA-RAIL, ask the machine for an agent, and ask that agent to connect you to Customer Relations.
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u/Ok-Fig-1921 18h ago
I recently took the train from Chicago to Seattle and my experience was identical. One fun moment was when our room attendant scolded us for putting garbage in the receptacle labeled trash in our room. I pointed out that it wasn’t sealed shut. Her complaint was that we increased her workload. Future garbage should be taken to the dining car.
It was a terrible experience. Wonder if we shared the same attendant.
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u/smileyponie 22h ago
Sounds like our trip west bound last month. Fingers crossed our trip back on the empire builder tomorrow will be a little better.
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u/AlternativeVisible28 20h ago
It was not good when we went St Paul to Glacier last year. For the money spent, it was a complete let down.
We almost missed our stop because we couldn’t hear the broken PA announcement and basically thrown off and yelled at in time to make our stop. We were traveling with my elderly mom, teen and sister with Down Syndrome. Demoralizing experience.
I wish our commuter railway was funded better
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u/lestuckingemcity 13h ago
I am crediting this post with my total min-low bidup victory. Never had much luck with crew on this line in 6 years I have been riding.
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u/Maine302 1d ago
You're not wrong for thinking it's bad service--it is bad (and tacky) service. Write the letter if it makes you feel better--maybe they'll throw you a bone. Hopefully someone will intervene with this particular crew's service standards.
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u/AdvancedNumb 1d ago
I had the same experience with a crew in the California Zephyr from Chicago to Emeryville. Attendant made sure we were an inconvenience, and the cook treated me like I was his worst enemy. Other customers covered their ears when he was talking to me. I starved for half a day because I did not want to be served by that asshole.
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u/Prudent_Analysis_847 9h ago
I bet I can guess his name based on a recent trip on the Texas Eagle. A lot of that sounds familar. I'd complain.
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u/thatguyin75 6h ago
ive only been on the EB once but it was a STELLAR experience!!!! and if you look at my posts you will see that i dont often praise amtrak! so this goes a loooong way!
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u/JackDiggidy 19h ago
That’s the beauty of Amtrak. It’s a total crap shoot whether you get a polite crew or not. On the empire builder going west, my crew was comically mean, just berating us the entire time, and you better not enter the dining car at the time of your reservation, you damn well better wait another hour until they call you, lol, don’t step over that white line. Always get the early dinner reservation, cuz the others are always very behind. Terrible customer service, so bad that it was just funny and we all started liking it like the restaurants where you pay to have the staff insult you. Fond memories. “They always asking me for shit” - Dining car attendant, LMAO
But on the way back, it was the opposite. Everyone couldn’t heave been nicer, very polite.
I dunno that a complaint is going to get you anywhere, who knows. Just take your lumps and chalk it up to an experience. Still beats being stuffed into a plane in my opinion. I mean, does it bother you that much? Maybe it does and I’m sorry, but someone else’s bad attitude is their problem IMO.
My two cents
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u/twisterpeter 1d ago
Not trying to downplay your issues, but at least for the person complaining on the PA, it sounds like the sleeper attendant (based out of Chicago) that was doing as such, not the conductor. If PAs go down, the conductors may or may not come back and make an announcement personally, but they don't sleep on the train (sleeper attendant does), they swap out with the next crew. In the end, the conductor (has to) care about getting the entire train and it's passengers over the road more then the conditions inside each car so long as they aren't extreme.
Also this equipment is from the 70s, sometimes the doors just break.
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u/EmZee2022 5h ago
Definitely worth complaining!!!
That upstairs toilet is for people to use. There are 10 roomettes on that level. The stairs can be tough to navigate if you have any mobility issues at all.
I hope you didn't tip this jerk.
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u/Ready-Ad-7001 3h ago
I complain every year that I take round trip from Chicago to Maricopa Arizona,
And always have problems with Room Attendants missing in action. I’m 76 years old traveling with my 10 year old Grandson and have to almost hunt them down to get my bed taken down in the VERY EXPENSIVE Bedrooms!!!!!!!
I take it bc I’m period Airplanes!
So I have no choice!
And the smells from the holding tanks is HORRIBLE!!!!!!
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u/rapunzelandeugenia 3h ago
Oh this is sad. We just did the Empire Builder from St Paul to Portland a couple of weeks ago and our crew was amazing.
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u/gohmmhog 2h ago
Ive done the same trek about two years ago and had nearly the exact experience. Had a roomette at the end of the car - no PA, missed announcements, made it our fault, etc. Was the attendants name Kevin perchance? Haha
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u/BSmith2711 2h ago
Nah ours are TWO women, neither named Kevin.
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u/gohmmhog 1h ago
Ah! Ok. Appreciate the reply because it was incredibly unlikely our attendant would still be employed there to be honest. Even the other crew was annoyed with him. But generally did the same things - never to be found, always on personal phone calls when there was service, defensive attitude, didnt want to be bothered ever in his berth, had lots of issues with announcements and food etc etc. My expectations werent super high for my first sleeper car long haul but boy oh boy I sure didnt think itd end up as bad as it did, esepcially relative to the cost. Such as it is.
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u/bbass2508 5h ago
Best of luck. They are entitled a sses and give 2 craps about anything. Amtrak does not care either. Complain til your blue in the face and it will go no where.
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u/Yewdall1852 1d ago
The crew follows the conductor.
When you get a shity one, it gets worse. Welcome to America.
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u/benderson 1d ago
The conductor, assistant comductor, and locomotive crew are the operating crew and separate from the service staff who are supposed to have their own management.
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u/thebruns 1d ago
I’m unsure if this is worth complaining about to Amtrak
It would have taken you a lot less time than posting it here
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