Willa Magland
Lost Baggage on Amtrak
Posted Apr 3, 2024
I came across a PSA somewhere on the internet a while back back during the whole Reddit API bonanza when people were afraid of the wealth of knowledge present on the forums becoming unsearchable. The post outlined the importance of personal bug reports (blog posts where you describe the problem you had, and what you did to fix it). This way large losses in public knowledge can be prevented, such as when services like Reddit decide to shift priorities.
So here's my contribution: I left my luggage on an Amtrak train.
It had been a long train ride (~5 hours) and I was eager to get home, so I forgetfully left my carry-on suitcase in the overhead, not realizing my mistake until the train had long left the station.
I filed a report with Amtrak (which uses Chargerback, a service specifically for finding lost items), and that night I received a call from their support team. They presented me with two options: to pick my luggage up at the station, or pay to have it shipped through FedEx. Of course, this was alarming, as the thought of shipping a 30+ pound suitcase sounded incredibly expensive.
But, after putting in my information, the cost came up to a total of only $36.51. I know, I was also shocked. I was reunited with my suitcase just two days later, which contained all the books I had acquired over my trip.
So, yeah, not too bad. Thanks Amtrak!
Current Status ☕
