Amtrak Hilariously Flubs Response Over Stuck Elevator

Still there? it asks, seven months later
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 9, 2016 12:22 PM CDT
Amtrak Hilariously Flubs Response Over Stuck Elevator
The answer is no.   (Twitter)

Amtrak is taking its lumps after a Twitter misfire. In response to a woman's tweet about being stuck in an Amtrak elevator at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Amtrak tweeted on Wednesday, "We are sorry to hear that. Are you still in the elevator?" Well, no. Amanda Carpenter's plea for help had actually gone out seven months earlier, and Amtrak failed to notice the elapsed time. Carpenter, who is Ted Cruz's former communications director, responded, "Oh, my thank you for this but I was trapped months ago. Like last February. Thanks for checking...? Ha." The gaffe has brought all kinds of ridicule and memes down upon Amtrak, as rounded up by Mashable.

"Not our finest hour," acknowledged the company in a followup tweet. It seems that Carpenter's original tweet resurfaced all these months later because somebody retweeted it for some reason, and whoever responded on behalf of Amtrak simply didn't see the date. In fairness to the company, it responded to the original tweet just 16 minutes after Carpenter sent the request for help, telling her that "BWI agents are aware of you, and are working to get you out." Amtrak has now offered Carpenter a free train ride over the mess, but that didn't stop Twitter users from poking fun at what one guy calls "the worst customer service response time ever." Another used a gif of a skeleton holding a telephone. (More Amtrak stories.)

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