United Airlines Breaks Dave's Guitar

In the spring of 2008, United Airlines was accused of damaging a customer's guitar. The guitar belonged to Dave Carroll, the lead singer of the band Sons of Maxwell. Carroll saw United employees mishandling his guitar while loading luggage onto the plane. Upon further inspection Carroll found the guitar severely damaged. He then attempted to receive compensation by the airline for the damage to his $3,500 Taylor guitar.

Each employee that Carroll talked to did not deny the Airline's guilt in damaging Carroll's guitar, but refused to accept responsibility and passed him on to another employee for compensation. Eventually, United refused to compensate Carroll for his loss. Carroll decided to express his frustration by making a music video which recounts his experience with United. The video, which was released on YouTube, became very popular and has been viewed over 7 million times. The video which cost Carroll $150 to produce has cost United millions in the stock market and damaged their public image. In efforts to repair their damaged image United offered to pay Carroll $1,200 for guitar repairs along with some flight vouchers which Carroll refused.

In hindsight I’m sure both parties may have handled things differently, especially United. Things have been difficult for airlines lately, everybody gets that. I’m sure they have had to make cuts to stay afloat, but it seems like all of their cutbacks are in the area of customer service. You don’t get complimentary drinks and snacks on short flights, and longer flights often don’t offer meals. Each bag is charged between 50 to 100 dollars to fly with you, and as Carroll’s incident shows that extra money spent to check an item doesn’t mean it is getting any kind of extra care.

Customer service has everything to do with solid PR. The companies that I will always buy from Apple, Nixon, and Netflix to name a few, have bent over backwards to make sure that I am happy with their products. Gaining long term loyal customers isn’t that difficult it is as simple as this: Be honest and fair. There it is United, in layman’s terms stop treating your customers like another bag that is being checked and start treating them like people.

United, if another customer ever calls with a broken guitar here is how you handle it. Apologize for the damage and inconvenience (people know your company isn’t perfect they’ll accept an occasional mistake). Then thank them for flying with you and look up the retail price of their damaged belonging. Finally, offer them a fair compensation for the item along with a travel voucher for a free flight. Initially, it will cost you some money but in the end it will pay off. Just think if Carroll’s situation would have been handled this way. You would create a loyal customer whose profession requires extensive travel. Not only does he travel, his band members and everyone that is associated with them is also traveling. Because you treated Carroll so well they all will fly with you. Then eventually if the band becomes well known you could have celebrities will vouch for you and still fly with you because you earned their loyalty. The initial investment will pay for itself in the end.

The only fear I have for Dave Carroll and the Sons of Maxwell is what they will always be known for. Carroll has already said that “United Breaks Guitars” is the band’s most requested song. It could be tough for the band to break away from their YouTube fame. I’m sure the band wants to be well known country music artists, and being the guys that did that YouTube video might be hard to overcome. It’s still possible for them to become a mainstream band, I just worry that it will be difficult and frustrating process.