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United Breaks Guitars

  • Thread starter Thread starter johndt
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More than one person should be fired for what happened to this man's property while traveling on this airline! He should be paid for the loss of his property--the intentional loss. I understand the bad relations with Labor/MGMT, but take care of your passengers! The Passenger is why you are in business! Otherwise, this company does not deserve to be in business!
 
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That was a very good video and song. Hopefully it can get some run on the news.
 
How many united rampers does it take to unload a guitar in IAD?


27, 2 that will actually do the job. 14 that will be going in circles looking like they're doing something, 5 will be missing, and the rest will be hiding in the cargo hold. Plus 5 supervisors that each speak different languages supervising the whole process.
 
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Heard it's a PR nightmare for United. As much as I wish United would prosper under another management group, they needed a nice kick in the a-s-s for this (not necessarily the broken guitar, but how they handled it). Piss off passengers enough, they'll gladly pay $50.00 more (or less?) to fly someone else. I know I have.
 
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Dave Grohl said:
Wolf Blitzer ran it on "The Situation Room" today, plus massive hits on YouTube...

I bet United wishes they played this a little differently now
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A friend who is a musician called me this morning and asked if I had seen it. I was surprised spread that fast.

Can't wait for his next music video on it.(I guess he promised three of them)
 
Wow, that band was awesome. Good tone, good harmonies, good lyrics, I dig it. I need to look into them; I think I need their CD.

However, in a rare moment of lucidity, there are a couple of additional things to consider. I don't habitually defend the company. That being said, does anyone think it a good idea to entrust a $3500 guitar to checked baggage? Also, if the guitar was indeed that valuable, did the passenger have any kind of insurance on the guitar? I wouldn't put a laptop computer in the hands of rampers, much less a $3500 guitar.

I don't doubt for a second that he received a terrible customer service experience from United. Given the right circumstances, I think any airline nowadays could treat their customer equally as terrible. That's no excuse, but rather a sad commentary on what the airlines have become.

Finally, as awful as airlines have become in their customer service, the customer, in the third person plural, deserves some of the blame for this situation. If the primary reason a ticket is purchased is the low price of the ticket, which it frankly is the vast majority of the time, then concerns about customer service lose quite a bit of validity. If the quality of his service was truly the most important thing to him, there are a number of fractional providers, or even local part 135 operations that could have done the job.
 
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I'm gonna agree with Elvis up there. Why would anyone trust ramp crew with a Taylor, or anything... of ANY value?

Still, nice to see him getting some recognition over this.
 
CFI2766 said:
That being said, does anyone think it a good idea to entrust a $3500 guitar to checked baggage? Also, if the guitar was indeed that valuable, did the passenger have any kind of insurance on the guitar?
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Having been in the same situation, except that mine lived, UAL does not allow carry-on of musical instruments, at least that's what happened to me. Also, as a former musician (oh in a much younger and funner life) I can tell you that every single dollar counts when traveling. Coughing up insurance money time and again adds up. Which also begs the question of why should someone need to insure something that would be fine if the UAL employees did their job as they are supposed to?
 
This video is going NUTS out there. The local news, local radio, and NPR all ran stories on this video.

It's hits are going nuts on YouTube.
 
CFI2766 said:
Wow, that band was awesome. Good tone, good harmonies, good lyrics, I dig it. I need to look into them; I think I need their CD.

However, in a rare moment of lucidity, there are a couple of additional things to consider. I don't habitually defend the company. That being said, does anyone think it a good idea to entrust a $3500 guitar to checked baggage? Also, if the guitar was indeed that valuable, did the passenger have any kind of insurance on the guitar? I wouldn't put a laptop computer in the hands of rampers, much less a $3500 guitar.
You bring up a couple of good points. Usually, liability is limited to a certain dollar amount. However, to the point of the question you pose, most passengers don't have the same insight into the reality of the baggage handling issues that you would. A Taylor runs in that price range.

I don't doubt for a second that he received a terrible customer service experience from United. Given the right circumstances, I think any airline nowadays could treat their customer equally as terrible. That's no excuse, but rather a sad commentary on what the airlines have become.
Agreed.

Finally, as awful as airlines have become in their customer service, the customer, in the third person plural, deserves some of the blame for this situation. If the primary reason a ticket is purchased is the low price of the ticket, which it frankly is the vast majority of the time, then concerns about customer service lose quite a bit of validity. If the quality of his service was truly the most important thing to him, there are a number of fractional providers, or even local part 135 operations that could have done the job.
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I can't buy into your cost of the ticket and the level of customer service one should expect argument. The airline offered the ticket at whatever price he may have paid--low or high! There is no logic to advance any argument that customer service should be any different, depending on what a passenger paid for a ticket. The airlines are selling a service--some pay more than others. The passenger does not set the price--at least not directly. Therefore, all passengers should get the same level of service--unless he paid for a First Class ticket, which hardly ever happens anymore.

In fact, the fine print contract, that used to exist on all tickets, is the same for all passengers, no matter the price. Actually what this passenger should do, along with all the other potential customers of this airline after viewing this video, is vote with their pocket book the next time they travel. That will correct the problem!
 
According to a news report that was shown today, a UAL spokesman stated that now those in charge, now feel that Dave Carroll may have been mistreated in his request, and that they are in friendly talks to try and resolve his issues. Youtube is powerful!

These musicians are excellent and have some great work in their portfolio. I would suggest that people go to their website and listen to their music. Hopefully, this effort will get them more than a reimbursement for a Taylor.
 

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