The case of United Airlines, which in 2008 damaged the guitar of a Canadian musician, could be taught in universities and in all public relations seminars as an example to avoid. Someone once said, "Customers do not expect companies to be perfect, but they do expect them to make things right when something goes wrong." The American airline obviously did not know then what is now considered one of the basic principles of customer service.
How it all began...
It all started when Dave Carroll heard a fellow passenger saying that United Airlines employees mishandled his favourite $3,500 guitar during transportation. When he later received his guitar, his worst fears were confirmed, as it had suffered significant damage. He immediately contacted three employees of the company who ignored him. His “marathon” had just begun. He then contacted the company, which refused to compensate him, claiming that the 24-hour window specified in the corporate policy had passed.
His efforts lasted a total of nine months, without managing to receive the amount he was claiming to cover the damage, amounting to $1,200. The company's response was a constant "no." It remained negative even when Carroll asked not to be paid in cash but to be given the equivalent value in tickets.
The song...
He then decided to take action to get his revenge. He wrote a song and released a video, one of the three he would produce, titled "United Breaks Guitars," about his traumatic experience. The video, which criticized United's policies, was uploaded to YouTube and went viral with 150,000 views in a single day—today it has 15 million views.
This development "woke up" the company, which offered $3,000 to Carroll. He refused and demanded the money be donated to a charity.
The big loser...
In this story, the big loser was United Airlines. The company managed to turn a dissatisfied customer into an activist. The $3,000 they paid (instead of the $1,200 that was the initial demand) was the slightest damage they suffered. Because there was a bigger one: all this negative publicity (the media loves such news) led, according to the BBC, to a 10% drop in United's stock within four weeks of the video's release, translating into a loss of $180 million!!! When the company finally apologized and promised to change its policies, it was already too late.
And the winner is...
Dave Carroll became a highly recognizable figure, a sought-after musician by the mainstream media (TV shows and radio), who had to tell his story countless times. Capitalizing on his recognition, in 2012 he wrote a book titled "United Breaks Guitars: The Power of One Voice in the Age of Social Media."
His adventure also inspired NBC, which in 2013 produced a show titled "how to complain correctly and get what you want."
Another winner was Taylor Guitars, the manufacturer of the disputed guitar, which showed extremely reflective behavior, as it donated a guitar to the Canadian musician and created a video (which received over half a million views), expressing its dissatisfaction with the incident, reminding of the repair services it provides, and giving tips for the safe transportation of guitars during travel.