Case Study: United Breaks Guitars

Ten to 15 years ago, the only news that was credential was from news broadcasts, newspapers, and radio stations. Today, anyone can post a video on YouTube and have instant coverage around the world. Anyone with Internet access is able to watch these video’s posted online.

In 2008, Dave Carroll, a composer from Canada and his band called “Sons of Maxwell” chose to fly on United Airlines to one of their tours. On their trip home from Omaha, to Nova Scotia, some of the passengers said they saw the baggage workers throwing guitars around carelessly. When Carroll arrived in Nova Scotia, his $3500 guitar had been seriously damaged. Carroll said he spent months talking to different United Airline associates trying to get the money to replace his broken guitar. After this time, Carroll was informed that United Airlines had no intentions of restoring the damage caused to it. He said that after nine months the last representative told him United Airlines is not responsible to pay, because they are unsure if their airline had damaged his guitar.

After Carroll was refused payment for his guitar, he and his band wrote three songs titled “United Breaks Guitars,” describing the experience he had with United Airlines. These songs were posted on YouTube; they are funny and have great beats. Since these videos were posted, almost two million people have viewed them. Some sources say these cost United Airlines billions of dollars. Although, it’s not proven how much money was spent on campaigns trying to improve their customer perceptions after the release.

Large companies can uphold and strengthen their reputation when cases such as these arise. United Airlines chose to reject Carroll in his demands to be compensated, and in turn hurt the whole reputation of their company. The money United Airlines would have paid Carroll is a minute amount, compared to the money they lost by refusing to take the blame. United Airlines will now suffer the decreasing revenues for decades to come.

It’s very important for any public relations representative to understand the effect of situations such as Carroll’s. Although many employees interacting with customers may not have the specific PR professional title, they are the first people the customers talk to. The employee’s in the positions to greet customers and handle financial matters need to have proper training in order for the company to build rapport. It’s incredibly important that the people in these positions understand the importance of doing all in their power to make sure the customer is satisfied. In an article online, one of the representatives for United Airlines said they take the videos that Carroll’s band made, to show as a training purpose for future employees. This trainee said that these videos are great examples to learn from, and hopefully the company and employees don’t make the same mistakes in the future.