United airlines passenger dave carroll had his taylor guitar destroyed by the airlines baggage handlers during a flight last. Carroll wrote the song after claiming united broke his taylor guitar in 2008. But i will never bring my cello again on any airline, and as an amateur musician i will have to do without my instrument during my next sabbatical. Carroll, claimed the airline had broken one of his taylor guitars while the item was in its custody. Carroll produced and uploaded a music video called united breaks guitars. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Musician dave carroll flying on united saw his guitar get tossed around on the ramp. I flew united airlines on my way to nebraska the plane departed, halifax, connecting in ch. Irlweg and targets the flawed policies that she was forced to uphold which seemed to be designed to frustrate customers into giving up their claim. The united breaks guitars cottage industry brings us a dave carroll book about. I have been a fan of daves music and enjoy his live perfromances. Thus began a customer service nightmare that has become legendary, largely because of a song i wrote about my experience that went viral within days of posting it to youtube. United breaks guitars the power of one voice in the age of social media is an engaging and highly readable account of his frustrating experience with united airlines customer service after they broke his guitar en route to a concert he was giving back in 2008. Staci, the operations manager here at small business trends, sent me a link to the promotional video on the book site.
May 15, 20 since united breaks guitars emerged, nothing is the samefor consumers, for musicians, or for business. United breaks guitars harvard business school working. I think its ultimately good for both united and the airline industry to get this kind of feedback. It chronicles a reallife experience of how his guitar was broken during a trip on united airlines in 2008, and the reaction from the airline. Dave carroll united breaks guitars paroles musixmatch. In may 2012, carroll published a book, united breaks guitars. As viral videos spread and what can companies do with. United breaks guitar a case study on online reputation. United breaks guitars case analysis executive summary united breaks guitars is a song made by dave carroll in which it describes his experience on the flight by united airlines and the following reaction from united. Further, he and other passengers claimed theyd seen baggage handlers throwing guitar cases on the tarmac during a layover at chicago ohare. I got here by googling crisis management and united breaks guitars. United breaks guitars case harvard business school. United breaks guitars case solution, united breaks guitars case analysis, united breaks guitars case study solution, when social media spread complaints about poor customer service, an international media event should.
United breaks guitars is a trio of protest songs by canadian musician dave carroll and his band, sons of maxwell. The power of one voice in the age of social media by dave carroll isbn. United breaks guitars pdf summary dave carroll 12min blog. United airlines didnt break my guitar, i pawned it back in 2001, but i can totally relate to what carroll went through. United breaks guitars which led to dave carroll writing a song about the experience, aptly titled, united breaks guitars. Sometimes our biggest challenges are the ones we need to learn from and take action on in order to realize our dreams, the ones we know, and the ones, as carroll says, we dont even know exist yet.
United aggressively responds to united breaks guitars part 2. Apr 20, 2010 how do viral videos spread and what can firms do about them. Jul 23, 2009 singer gets his revenge on united airlines and soars to fame. United breaks guitars by john deighton, leora kornfeld ssrn. He used social media to tell the story you wont believe how i got a copy of this book. In carrolls own words, what happened was as follows in the spring of 2008, sons of maxwell were traveling to nebraska for a one week tour and my taylor guitar was witnessed being thrown by united airlines baggage handlers in chicago. After united repeatedly declined to reimburse him for the damage, he wrote a nowfamous song decrying their customer service and their brand.
Dave carroll is still having problems with airlines. Here is what happened a musician named dave carroll from halifax nova scotia had difficulty with united airlines. United breaks guitars 5 years later tweet in 2009, i wrote an article about how united airlines broke a singers guitar by mishandling his. My view of the power of social media is very much in line with daves and he is describing his view of the world in a wonderful way. Broken guitar has united playing the blues to the tune of. With those fateful words from a fellow passenger, dave carrolls life and career told an unlikely detour. Get the key points from this book in less than 10 minutes. In light of the companys most recent customer service debacle, we checked in with him and it turns out that. I was just curious about how united might have handledbe handling this situation.
How short the corporate memory must be within united. Some big help you are you broke it, you should fix it youre liable, just admit it i shouldve flown with someone else or gone by car cause united breaks guitars. The power of one voice in the age of social media, detailing his experiences. In this book, youll hear about how dave developed the just do it philosophy that made him the ideal man to take on a big corporation, what it felt like to be in the. United breaks guitars case solution and analysis, hbr case. Back in 2008, united airlines forced a musician to put his guitar in baggage.
The story of dave carrolls broken guitar is the profoundly moving account of how one man took on an implacable system and won. United maintains a presence on twitter and picked up a tweet about the video less than a day after it was posted. Following his 2009 youtube music video release called united breaks guitars, about his poor customer service experience with united airlines, daves career blossomed and he is now a highlysoughtafter performer, content creator, author. Whether you are a guitarist, a baggage handler, or a boardroom executive, this book will entertain you and remind you that we are all connected, that each of us matters, and that we all have a voice worth hearing. After what he described as nine months of attempts to reconcile with united, mr. Virgin islands, united s liability for any form of damage as a result of loss, damage or delay in delivery of a customers personal property shall be limited to. United aggressively responds to united breaks guitars. Roasted in the social media case study united breaks. On sunday, after a passenger was filmed being dragged off a plane, united has a new public. I flew united airlines on my way to nebraska the plane departed, halifax, connecting in chicagos. I have to wonder if their next act involves shooting themselves in the foot. United breaks guitars guy says airline shows lack of compassion in.
Well, i wont say that ill never fly with you again, cause, maybe, to save the world, i probably would, but that wont likely happen, and if it did, i wouldnt bring my luggage cause youd just go and break it, into a thousand pieces, just like you broke my heart when united breaks guitars. He found it was broken, and after months of trying to solve the problem, he gave up and wrote a song. How united breaks guitars united the world the boiling. United breaks guitars dave carroll an award winning.
The united breaks guitars book is the story of one mans broken taylor guitar, a casualty of united airlines. I just discovered this video via another legal website that i use for research and study. The power of social media became amusingly apparent in 2009, when united airlines refused to compensate canadian singer and composer dave carroll for a guitar that the airlines baggage handlers had broken. Im a bit confused i think you are all for wrecking my guitar but you dont think you do i found a guy who fixed for twelve hundred bucks but you tell me that youre sorry and its my tough luck united sees no need to make anything right oh. The story of dave carrolls broken guitar is the profoundly moving account of how one. David carroll, lead singer with canadian band sons of maxwell, has taken on united airlines with a music video, united broke my guitar. Daves story of how united airlines broke his taylor guitar and the roadblocks that he encountered in having the company offer restitution and an apology resonates with many frustrated consumers. In case you dont know, united breaks guitars is a trilogy of protest songs by canadian musician dave carroll written soon after united airlines broke one of his guitars and refused to admit it had been their fault and apologize or reimburse him for the damage. Jul 14, 2009 check out united breaks guitars by dave carroll on amazon music. So, air canada gave me a phone number to start my claim with united. The song became an immediate youtube and itunes hit upon its release in july 2009 and a publicrelations embarrassment for the airline.
This book recounts that story, so its definitely the one you should read if you are a fan of the songs and want to find out more about the story. The video, posted on youtube, has been viewed 719,866 times since it was posted on july 6, 2009. United breaks guitars guy says airline shows lack of. Aug 24, 2009 i know united said it had learned from its mistakes in dealing with the nowfamous song united breaks guitars, but i didnt know whether to believe it or not. Dave carroll is a singersongwriter and social media innovator from halifax, canada. After all, he and other passengers watched from the plane a. In 2009, sons of maxwell became famous overnight after their trilogy of united breaks guitars music videos went viral, chronicling the events surrounding the broken guitar.
Singer gets his revenge on united airlines and soars to fame. Back in 2008, united airlines broke dave carrolls guitar and refused to pay. Case study united breaks guitars musician dave carroll turned an unfortunate experience into a catchy, funny song published on youtube which received millions of views, was reproduced thousands of times on the web, and was covered by major network media. Dave carroll is a musician, composer and since united airlines broke his guitar passionate consumerrights activist who speaks on issues of customer relations. My intention was to learn a bit more about the story behind the broken guitar if i am mentioning this story as an example its helpful to have the facts from the book. The crippling of the canadian musicians beloved taylor guitar at the hands of united airlines baggage handlers became the stuff of folklore. Jul 10, 2009 david carroll, lead singer with canadian band sons of maxwell, has taken on united airlines with a music video, united broke my guitar. Song 2 by dave carroll what did you mean when you said you were sorry. And thanks to a viral powers of a quickly rising youtube. I flew united airlines on my way to nebraska the plane departed, halifax, connecting in chicagos ohare. The power of one voice in the age of social media paperback apr 22 20. United breaks guitars by dave carroll on amazon music.
He spent over 9 months trying to get united to pay for damages caused by baggage handlers to his custom taylor guitar. This has struck a chord wus and weve contacted him directly to make it right, united tweeted on july 7. How do viral videos spread and what can firms do about them. My guitar was broken by united airlines on a flight to nebraska. In the spring of 2008, sons of maxwell were traveling to nebraska for a oneweek tour and my taylor guitar was witnessed being thrown by united. This week, fortune magazine highlighted the guitar breaking farrago in its list of top 5 airline industry customer service failures. United airlines passenger dave carroll had his taylor guitar destroyed by the airlines baggage handlers during a flight last year. Contact the baggage resolution service center for more information for travel within or between the united states, guam, puerto rico and the u. When we landed in nebraska, i confirmed what id suspected my taylord been the victim of a vicious act of malice at ohare so began a year long saga, of pass the buck, dont ask.
Last week, one of my best friends, who lives in canada, sent me a story that has been on the news over there. The crippling of a canadian musicians beloved guitar at the hands of united. United breaks guitars has become a textbook example of the new relationship between companies and their customers, and has demonstrated the power of one voice in the age of social media. Dave has since written a book about the incident and what it shows us about the power of social media. A month after musician dave carroll musically lambasted united airlines for breaking his guitar, the composer is back with a second ditty on you tube. United breaks guitars is a trio of protest songs by canadian musician dave carroll and his. Jul 11, 2009 united saved a few dollars refusing to fix this guitar, and for their money got a a whole lot of bad publicity. May 18, 2012 if i were a lawyer, i might sue united, but as a songwriter, i had other tools at my disposal, carroll writes in his book, united breaks guitars. Every plane i flew on that day said united on the side but technically they have no presence there.
Dave carroll united breaks guitars lyrics musixmatch. Dave appeared on outlets as diverse as cnn and the view. If youre seeing this message, that means javascript has been disabled on your browser, please enable js to make this app work. United breaks guitars harvard business school working knowledge. Lessons on customer service from united breaks guitars. Jun 08, 2016 my guitar was broken by united airlines on a flight to nebraska. May 03, 2012 this is a great example of the power of modern communications. I will tell you my story for asking you to help me to compose a song like united breaks guitars, but of course not with the same style well, i live in colombia, south america, im 33 years old, i live with my wife and both my kids 8 and 2 years old, im a teacher in an university in bogota. A musician whose guitar was damaged by united airlines exacted his revenge by writing a song that has become a youtube video sensation. I know united said it had learned from its mistakes in dealing with the nowfamous song united breaks guitars, but i didnt know whether to believe it or not. At the same time, it is a good lesson about how social media can impact your business. Inmarch2008,davecarroll,amusicianfromhalifax,nsandhisband,thesonsof maxwell,traveledfromhalifaxtonebraskaviao. Casextreme united broke my guitar then i invented the clam casextreme fly it safe case to keep the gorillias from doing it again.
Social media crisis communications case study united. United breaks guitars, and we support dave carroll and the. Songwriter dave carroll wasnt the first person abused by an. United breaks guitars singer dave carroll reprises youtube. Carroll claimed that his guitar was severely damaged by united airlines baggage handlers at ohare. Since united breaks guitars emerged, nothing is the samefor consumers, for musicians, or for business. Since then i switched my airline from northwest to united. This video is a response by sons of maxwell singer dave carroll to some incredibly poor customer service by united airlines. Ok, stop imagining, and welcome to united airlines waking nightmare a crisis communications case study and a case for social media consultants to share with brand managers for years to come. Jul 21, 2017 lyrics for united breaks guitars by dave carroll.
Aug 19, 2009 the song, united breaks guitars, has been viewed nearly 5 million times on youtube. Back in 2008, united airlines broke dave carrolls guitar and refused to pay for it. F well, i wont say that ill never fly with you again, cause, maybe, to save the world, i probably would, but that wont likely happen, a f nd if it did, i wouldnt bring my lugg g age cause youd just go and br f eak it, into a thousand pi g eces, just like you broke my he f art. When i called the number united said i had to return to the halifax airport with the guitar to show the damage to someone and open a claim. It has become a benchmark in the customerservice and music industries, as well as branding and socialmedia circles.