AMTRAK UNION STATION — Local services in Los Angeles

Several years ago amtrak advertised "take the train to the del mar fair and let us do the driving" we tried it and was an utter disaster! We left the fair at 5pm and didnt get home till after midnight or 1am! No accommodations, not even a warm cup of coffee while we waited in a freezing cold station at solana beach. Fast forward to today. Arranged for a round trip from san diego to santa barbara for a wedding. Not until AFTER we boarded the train were we told a downed line in LA would need for us to ride the train from San Diego to Fullerton. Take a bus in fullerton to LA union, and take a train from LA to Santa Barbara. No one seemed to know what was happening. I contacted amtrak, and they couldnt say how much of a delay it would cause. We had family in an earlier train and learned their delay was 2 hours. For us on a later train would place us also two hours beyond our schedule and cause us to miss the wedding entirely. In fullerton, it was a "who could get to the bus the fastest" to secure a seat. Amtrak encouraged others to ride share or uber to LA. Amtrak said they would NOT pay for our uber, even if we couldnt fit on the bus. We took a cab to LA union mssing the train by a couple of minites. Went to the amtrak desk and were told the train we missed was the last one to SB. We were the 1st to arrive in LA from fullerton. What will happen to all the people on their way? Lack of communication to ther patrons and their employees. Finally found out the nxt train to SB would be at 315pm, (15 mins after the time for the wedding). When i asked amtrak what they will do for us they said we could cancel our tickets, while in LA and go back to san diego. We ended up renting a car to get to the wedding on time. After the wedding and 12 hours after our initial train boarding, the issue still wasnt resolved and would again require taking a bus from LA union to fullerton and catching a train ro take us back to san diego. Not wanting to get home by 3 or 4am, and that is if we were able to get on the bus, we rented a larger car to take entire family home. While securing our second rental car we learned that the day before amtrak had the same issue and their rental lot was nearly empty because of all the one-way rentals. Amtrak knew the whole time and didnt communicate this to their paying customers, so that other arrangements could be made for those who had time constraints. Again a total failure with taking the train. Never again. Amtrak, you have LOST a fiuture customer. I found your staff uninformed, and many were rude and seemed they could care less about our issues. Amtrak you cam do way way way better, especially when 10 years ago you totally dropped the ball you are 1 for 1, or...

Very disappointed. I was heading back to Los Angeles from ABQ. I sat in the lower level area. The person I sat next to obviously needed more space. So I gave her some space and went up to the lounge area. I tried going back to my seat to try to rest but she's a smoker. She was radiating of smoke. It was disgusting. So I went back up to the lounge. I stayed up there, and the Train Attendant Alex approached me and said after Flagstaff you can move where the lady that is getting off. So around 10:30pm I went down, and thankfully, the seat was open. I was so tired. I finally settled down and tried to sleep. Another lady train attendant woke me at around 1AM and told me she needed my seat because she needs 3 seats in lower level area. I said well why can't you put them in the other empty seats, the other train attendant told me I could sit here. Anyhow, she just apologized and woke up the person I was suppose to be sitting next to cause she was snooring and was laid out on both seats. I told her this is what I was dealing with. See the attached picture. She just kept apologizing. As I was walking up back to the lounge she says I have seats upstairs. I told her No, I wanted a lower level seat. What I didn't understand was why was it so easy for her to move me yet, there where several seats available in the lower level. I even asked her if I could just move to another seat in this area and she repeated." No, I need 3 seats. " Anyhow, there were also three dogs on the train. The dogs where in the upper level area. Be mindful if you are allergic. This was a terrible experience. But I'm grateful I made it back to Los Angeles...

As beautiful as the historical station is, the experience was not as delightful. Asking a question to a staff member can be pretty disappointing. I watched as a clerk spoke very badly to a customer trying to explain to the customer that he couldn't take something on the train and he quickly acknowledged that he understood her but she and another clerk employee continued to talk loud and embarrassed this man and then try to make it seem like he was doing something wrong and he handled it very well. When I approached the counter I stood in the wrong place and the lady was so loud and so ridiculous trying to tell me to stand in the ropes as if I couldn't understand what she was saying to me and it's pretty upsetting. And then I watched his other employees just got really loud and disrespectful to customers it just doesn't seem necessary. I understand that they have to deal with some different attitudes and some people who may have a hard time understanding but it doesn't mean they need to do with everybody the same way. And it was more the same on the train it's almost like it was back in the day with the post office workers maybe they're overworked and too tired but they can certainly do better. Amtrak is one of my favorite things in life to do and so I hope they are able to pull it together and treat customers the way they deserve to...