A musician whose guitar was damaged by United Airlines exacted his revenge by writing a song that has become a RU-vid video sensation. Songwriter Dave Carroll talks about his success.
When you have a guitar you like, that you've had for years, done many gigs with, wrote songs with, entertained hundreds of people with and has been part of your life, and as the Everly Brothers & Jimmy Buffett song says holds "All the stories it can tell"...NOTHING replaces it! I will NEVER fly with United EVER!
Ahh, the good old days when United's slogan was 'Our Prices Are Unbeatable but not your luggage' Now it's 'Our Prices are Unbeatable but not our customers'
if you're an musician, you'll know how painful it is for your instrument to just break after playing it for like a few millenniums and you know that it could've been avoided but no it just broke because united airlines just throws it around wtf
Southwest has always been WONDERFUL with flying guitars. They've never said a word to me about it, other than one joking that he wanted me to play while he sang. He ended up singing in the mic later on.
And he had such nice things to say even about the lady from United whose whole job was to tie him in legal knots and shut him down. That's a class act response to a really awful situation.
Hey Dave Carrol I absolutely love your talented voice. please make a new video. United hasn't learned their lesson about customer service and just being a decent human being yet lol
2020: united breaks someone's sanity 2034: united breaks an building 2050: united breaks itself 2070: united breaks the moon 2100: united breaks the sun 3000: united breaks the milky way 4000: united breaks the andromeda
This brings back memories. I sat in a plane and watched as my luggage was tossed onto the conveyor into the plane. I closed my eyes, turned on some music and sighed.
It would have now. Imagine all the bad press they've got over the time since the song's release. There's been MILLIONS of views for this song on RU-vid alone. Well done, Dave. Most unhappy customers tell around 10 people about their bad experience. You've told millions. I sincerely hope this really hurts United and that causes them to change their evil ways.
i remember there being disgust when jimmy page bought a seat first class for his 59 les paul to sit next to him.but it was for this reason alone ,would u put a 1 million pound guitar in the hold.nope i dont think so .
I remember an interview with Gordon Lightfoot from years ago where he said that he buys a SEAT - half price - for his Gibson 12-string - which is priceless, because an airline smashed one of his guitars flat!! Evidently this ended up costing United $180 million dollars when their stock took a nosedive!! Having flown a few times with United, and owning a couple of $5000+ guitars, after hearing this I wouldn't fly across the street with them!!
@galatasarayfan67 "go complain to United but dont make a freaking song about it." ... Umm, he DID complain to United about it. He tried to follow the process they gave him for filing a claim, and fought them about it for NINE MONTHS. They denied him every time. What other options did he have, and why does the song idea bother you? I think it's great that we live in a time where a single person can creatively make issues public. The songs are catchy and funny too. Why all the hate?
All airlines breaks everything its just because most of them dont really care about others personal items. i like that this guy do a video about this situation its just perfect.
I must say thank you for raising such a big stink about this! As a result of all this bad press, United are getting better. My 70 year old mother just visited the UK and on the return to the USA (via DC), United helped her loads. Perhaps it is their job but they did go out of the way to make sure she was ok. She has very bad hips and they provided a chair etc, transported her through Heathrow, DC and onward to Indy! They have up'd their game! Thanks and thank you UAL for looking after my mother!
I'm glad you had a good experience. But they never got better. 13 years later I'm posting a comment because they went from breaking guitars to breaking people's faces. 🤣
Since this, they had compensated him. United also tried to get full rights to the song, they claimed was for training purposes ~ and I just saw a Leprechaun riding on an unicorn pass our house ;-) He did not sell them the rights; got full compensation and gave it all away to charity. Well United paid dearly. Loads of returned tickets, frequent flyer left for other airlines. Karma delivered. ;-D
Agreed way back in college I worked for Fedex. Not making any excuses but... Doesn't matter how the package is tagged when your boss wants you to unload an entire trailer by yourself in under 40 minutes they all look the same. Seriously folks, make sure your stuff is packaged well enough to withstand a hurricane.
"new and improved united" ... no longer breaking guitars... now breaking faces their rot is from the head down, blaming the passenger instead of taking responsibility for their self serving power corrupted bullying.
Sometimes I wonder if airlines really dont have any responsibility for the luggage they break or loose because instruments that either break or get lost during flights is a surprisingly common thing.
This is the reason I have not checked luggage with any airline in more than twenty-five years! I had some very bad experiences with lost/damaged luggage. Carry-on only for me! Only the essentials. If I need somthing at my destination...I buy it and give it away when I leave for home. It's cheaper than fighting with those people for months!
Thing is, a lot of people (ESPECIALLY us musicians) don't actually trust them to handle with care at all, but what can you do, ship your guitar on a cruise liner while you fly to your gig 6 days in advance so it has time to arrive? :D
In 2017 & 2018 United breaks a Doctor’s nose dragging him off an airplane and kill a puppy by suffocating it to death in the overhead storage cabin where they made the pet owner put it. “the carrier kills nine times as many animals as American & Delta”
@galatasarayfan67 But tens of thousands of songs by thousands of artists have their origin in actual experiences of the people who wrote the song. They write about what they experience in life.
That is really sad. Even thought I fly with Southwest Airlines, I would NEVER fly with United Airlines. ESPICIALLY if I brought any valuable equipment on.
Dave Carrol's revenge will go a long way of getting other businesses to be more responsible. Thanks to the Internet, youtube and Dave. Sajit Viswan Abu Dhabi
It's so Funny...😂❤ In fact, if you have ever worked in the logistics industry, you will understand that breaking your guitar is not entirely the airline's fault but the airport's "ground services staff". All airlines must hire airport ground staff and pay ground service fees at the airport they land at or depart from.
I've never flown them, but I've heard plent of bad stuff about Ryanair. Personally I've never had any problems with United, but I will never, ever, EVER, fly with American Airlines ever again. Even if the choice is between going with them or walking. I'll walk thanks. It'll be less hassle and aggravation.
United breaks much more than guitars, but glad that someone finally decided to do something about it... PROUD it is a Canadian and fellow Maritimer! =) Thumbs up to Dave!
It worked. They refused to do something. This embarrassed them and only then did they take action to try and save face. They could care less about their responsibility. Dave jumped through their hoops and it got no where.
