For this week’s blog, I will take a look back to 2008 at an incident that will give any traveler who’s had problems with any major airline a chance to sit back and smile about the outcome of a single person versus a giant company. In this case, United Airlines. This is a well-known story, but if you haven’t heard it before, sit back and enjoy the ride.
The location was Chicago, O’Hare International Airport. A plane just landed from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and taxies up to the gate. There was really nothing to say about this ordinary flight except it was only a layover for the musician Dave Carroll and his band the Sons of Maxwell. They were heading to Omaha, Nebraska for a concert, and Dave was sitting toward the back of the plane waiting to get off.
Sitting there for his turn to get up and start exiting the plane, a lady that was sitting behind him said out loud, “Oh my God, those baggage handlers are throwing guitars down there.” Dave then realized that the odds were excellent that those guitars were probably his and his bandmates. He looked out the window and sure enough, saw the baggage handlers literally throwing guitars out of the plane and the cases landing with no one catching them near the luggage carts.
Dave Carroll was in complete disbelief and now was afraid that his $3,500 Taylor guitar was going to be destroyed or at least damaged very badly. Not to mention all the other equipment they had checked in at Halifax was probably going to be in the same condition.
Dave walked up to a flight attendant and started to complain but was cut off and a hand being raised to stop him in mid-sentence. The crew member went on to say that she was only a flight attendant and if he had any problems, he needed to go into the terminal and talk with someone there.
Dave then proceeded to go into the terminal and talked with an agent and again was met with complete indifference and was told again that she couldn’t do anything about it because Dave Carroll didn’t know for sure if his guitar was in fact broken. His luggage was being transferred to the airplane that Dave would take to Omaha, and if it was broken, he would have to tell the representative there about the damage.
The next stop on this story was when Dave landed in Omaha along with his band and proceeded to go to their hotel room. There the band members started opening up the cases to their instruments, and sure enough, many were damaged to include his expensive Taylor guitar. Dave went back to the airport the next day and filed a claim with United Airlines about all the damaged instruments.
Dave Carroll and the Sons of Maxwell performed their concert as best as they could and returned back to Canada. Dave thought all was going to end up well, and he would be reimbursed the cost to fix his beloved Taylor guitar which he asked for $1200.00 in-flight vouchers, and United Airlines and The Sons of Maxwell would go their separate ways.
Later in the month, Dave was notified by United Airlines that he was ineligible for compensation because he had failed to make a claim within its stipulated “standard 24-hour timeframe.” According to United Airlines, this case was closed.
This is unfortunately not an isolated incident. If you go looking on the internet you will find hundreds if not thousands of complaints just like this. Because of the airline’s reputation, congress in 2002 passed the Passengers Bill of Rights just to let the traveling public know what their rights are and compensation rates should their travel arrangements be disrupted by events within the airline’s control. This law didn’t affect Dave and his band because of the damage to property, but it simply sheds light on how airlines play fast and loose with their so-called valued customers.
So, what do you do if your Dave? He later told in many interviews, what would Michael Moore do if in the same predicament? Michael Moore is a documentary filmmaker, author, and activist who won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, Bowling for Columbine, which examined the causes of the Columbine High School massacre and the overall gun culture in America. Dave is a musician, and what do they do best? The answer is to write a song, make a video, put it on YouTube, and let the world know of the inadequate customer services and policies of United Airlines. He might not win the overall war, but Dave was sure he would be a pain in the butt for United if nothing else.
So, armed with $150 (Canadian) creativity, some friends willing to join his cause and the internet, Dave Carroll was going to try and turn the airline industry upside down. When he looked back at it, he thought that maybe 1 million people would see the video in the first year, and let’s just say, he was way off.
Up to this point, it took eight months of going back and forth with United with nothing to show for it. Dave felt that this was his last option, and so he introduced us to the song and video of “United Breaks Guitars.” The 1 million views he was hoping for, Dave surpassed that in the first week when he put the song on YouTube.
This young man from Canada was getting famous and was interviewed on outlets such as CNN and The View on daytime tv. His message was simple; throughout the business world, people realize that “efficient” but inhuman customer service policies have a hidden cost along with brand destruction by frustrated, creative, and socially connected customers. Social media has leveled the playing field, and companies better notice how their customers are treated otherwise their dirty laundry might be aired in public with all to see.
The video, as of July 2020, has roughly 20 million views and 185,000 likes. To say this was a success for Mr. Carroll is an understatement. This was a shot across the proverbial bow of all corporations on how they should treat everyone they have dealings with to include their customers.
The damage to United’s brand was undeniable. One of the craziest claims to surface during the entire United Breaks Guitars episode was that this one incident caused United stock to tumble and cost the company around $180 million, or 10 percent of its market cap.
If this were true, the company could have bought Dave more than 51,000 replacement guitars.” The entire airline industry has always been a feast or famine model, and this lousy PR wasn’t the sole contributor to United’s problem, but it didn’t help either. Either way, it did get the attention of United Airlines CEO.
Attempting to put a positive spin on the incident and the song, a United spokesperson called the song “excellent.” Rob Bradford, United’s managing director of customer solutions, telephoned Carroll to apologize for the incident and to ask for permission to use the video for internal training. United claimed that it “hoped” to learn from the event and change its customer service policy accordingly.
Bob Taylor, the owner of Taylor Guitars, immediately offered Carroll two guitars and other props for his second video. The song hit number one on the iTunes Music Store the week following its release. The belated compensation offer of $3,000 was donated to a charity at the urging of Dave Carroll. United Airlines gave the money to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz as a “gesture of goodwill.” This action failed to undo the damage done to its image, and it was later revealed that the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz was, at the time, primarily chaired by United executives and used United Airlines exclusively for its corporate travel. In response to his protest’s success, Carroll posted a video address thanking the public for their support while urging a more understanding and civil attitude towards Ms. Irlweg, the United representative that Dave had contact with for the entire encounter. Ms. Irlweg was doing her job following mandated company policies in this affair and shouldn’t be attacked on social media for simply following company standards.
Since the incident, Carroll has been in high demand as a speaker on customer service worldwide. Other accolades included Time magazine named “United Breaks Guitars” #7 on its list of the Top 10 Viral Videos of 2009. Carroll was featured in the CBC/CNBC documentary called Customer Dis-Service. Dave Carroll went on and published a book named United Breaks Guitars: The Power of One Voice in the Age of Social Media, detailing his experiences with United Airlines.
So did United get the message about treating their customers with respect? Evidently not because on April 9, 2017, a video was released showing United Airlines physically forcing a passenger, David Dao off of Flight 3411, to make room for crew members who were needed at a different airport the following morning, injuring him in the process. Two days later, Carroll released a statement saying that the same problem has emerged and thought it was due to the culture in United Airlines, which showed a lack of compassion toward their customers. United Airlines seems to be their worse enemy with all the bad press it has received over the years, and it’s up to them to change this perception.
This is a classic David Carroll vs. Goliath story where again; David prevails in the end. I told you this would bring a smile to your face. This story shows you what a little creativity, persistence, and social media savvy can do for you.
The moral of the story is that all corporations should value their customers and do everything possible to keep them happy. After all, the adage of one rotten apple spoils the bunch is true when it comes not only to your customers but to your corporate workforce or the people representing your brand. Be wise in both endeavors and you will be rewarded handsomely or at least not have a song being released badmouthing your company.
Safe travels everyone and if you have a comment, please send it my way.