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Band takes United Airlines baggage handling to task on YouTube
United now working on resolution, may use YouTube video in customer service training.
By Julie Johnsson | Tribune staff reporter 3:04 PM CDT, July 8, 2009 Canadian musician Dave Carroll could have sung the blues after United Airlines workers at O'Hare smashed his guitar and the airline refused to pick up the $1,200 cost to repair it.
Instead, he turned the experience into a witty ditty, "United Breaks Guitars," and scored an instant hit on YouTube.com, gaining his first international exposure in a 16-year career. Posted on Monday, the video had been viewed 137,896 times as of midday Wednesday.
Revenge for this struggling musician and his band, it appears, was best served with a smile and a country twang.
"This struck a chord with us," said Robin Urbanski, spokeswoman for Chicago-based United. "We are in conversation with one another to make what happened right."
Carroll and Sons of Maxwell, his Halifax-based band, were changing planes at O'Hare on March 31, 2008, when they heard another passenger exclaim, "My God, they're throwing guitars out there," Carroll said on his Web site. He didn't return phone calls today.
They glanced out the window in time to see a ground worker heave a bass guitar, which survived intact. But Carroll discovered when he arrived in Omaha late that evening that the base of his $3,500 Taylor guitar had been smashed.
Over the next nine months, Carroll spent hours on the phone with United baggage agents in Chicago, New York and India. Complicating matters: he didn't file a claim for the guitar within 24 hours, as United requires.
After a lengthy email exchange, United rejected his final offer to settle the costs with $1,200 in flight vouchers, Carroll said. In response, he told the carrier he would write three songs about United. The first two of which have now been composed.
"I've been done being 'being angry' for quite some time and, if anything, I should thank United," he added. "They've given me a creative outlet that has brought people together from around the world."
Urbanski said that Carroll's video was "excellent," and that United planned to use it to improve customer service -- with his permission.
United now working on resolution, may use YouTube video in customer service training.
By Julie Johnsson | Tribune staff reporter 3:04 PM CDT, July 8, 2009 Canadian musician Dave Carroll could have sung the blues after United Airlines workers at O'Hare smashed his guitar and the airline refused to pick up the $1,200 cost to repair it.
Instead, he turned the experience into a witty ditty, "United Breaks Guitars," and scored an instant hit on YouTube.com, gaining his first international exposure in a 16-year career. Posted on Monday, the video had been viewed 137,896 times as of midday Wednesday.
Revenge for this struggling musician and his band, it appears, was best served with a smile and a country twang.
"This struck a chord with us," said Robin Urbanski, spokeswoman for Chicago-based United. "We are in conversation with one another to make what happened right."
Carroll and Sons of Maxwell, his Halifax-based band, were changing planes at O'Hare on March 31, 2008, when they heard another passenger exclaim, "My God, they're throwing guitars out there," Carroll said on his Web site. He didn't return phone calls today.
They glanced out the window in time to see a ground worker heave a bass guitar, which survived intact. But Carroll discovered when he arrived in Omaha late that evening that the base of his $3,500 Taylor guitar had been smashed.
Over the next nine months, Carroll spent hours on the phone with United baggage agents in Chicago, New York and India. Complicating matters: he didn't file a claim for the guitar within 24 hours, as United requires.
After a lengthy email exchange, United rejected his final offer to settle the costs with $1,200 in flight vouchers, Carroll said. In response, he told the carrier he would write three songs about United. The first two of which have now been composed.
"I've been done being 'being angry' for quite some time and, if anything, I should thank United," he added. "They've given me a creative outlet that has brought people together from around the world."
Urbanski said that Carroll's video was "excellent," and that United planned to use it to improve customer service -- with his permission.
They punched holes clear through ATA road cases and said "inadequately packed".
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