UPDATED: 'United Breaks Guitars' Singer Gets Cash Offer From Airline (VIDEO)

UPDATED, Jul. 10, 3:00 p.m:

After his song made its way across the Internet, Carroll received a call from United offering to pay for his beloved guitar. As you'll see below, Carroll politely declined:

Check back for Vol. 2 of Carroll's United trilogy.

*****

Hell hath no fury like a customer scorned. The LA Times reports that one United Airlines passenger was so dismayed over a guitar broken by United staffers that he has writ his anger across the web.

While Dave Carroll was flying from Nova Scotia to Nebraska he had his Taylor guitar ruined. After a protracted attempt to get United to pay for the damage, Carroll struck back. Here's Carroll's saga in his own words (from his personal website):

"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. I discovered later that the $3500 guitar was severely damaged. They didn't deny the experience occurred but for nine months the various people I communicated with put the responsibility for dealing with the damage on everyone other than themselves and finally said they would do nothing to compensate me for my loss. So I promised the last person to finally say "no" to compensation (Ms. Irlweg) that I would write and produce three songs about my experience with United Airlines and make videos for each to be viewed online by anyone in the world."

Here's the first of Carroll's songs:

Get HuffPost Business On Facebook and Twitter!

Comments

[Shelman]

This could be his biggest break in the music business, hope it goes well for him.

You can never buy this kind of exposure.

[witsendster]

We have all of us had customer service issues, if not with an airline, then with some other company. It was so great to have a funny send up of these sorts of incidents complete with distant calling centers, inability to ever connect with the right person or department to resolve the problem, and so forth. I especially appreciated that this was not mean spirited but just a good laugh at the impossibility of ever getting a resolution. I hope Mr. Carroll gets the "last laugh" here as he and his group may gain a following through his efforts here. Mr. Carroll is a class act - I really enjoyed song one and am looking forward to the saga continuing in song two. I had gotten such a kick out of his video and story about the guitar I went to his website to find out more about the group. For those, like myself, who enjoy the folk genre, I noticed on his website that he has won some pretty prestigious awards and has other great music. Success may be his best revenge.

[Paladine]

I used the threat of mass negative internet postings to fight Investors Group. My Son is in University and I had requested a withdrawal of funds for his accommodation and .expenses. Investors messed up the release. Didn't do it. By the time I discovered they hadn't even filed the paperwork, I needed to money by the next day or my Son would lose his apartment. They said they needed 3 days. Well! I told them if I did not have my money by the next day, I would be ALL over the internet saying how Investors group ineptitude ended with my Son on the street! I had the money the next AM. It worked.

[Madenofnow]

I never fly with United anymore. They treat you like cattle. They left me stranded in Chicago a few years. Our plane was at the gate, we were ready to board, then the flight was CANCELED. Now, there was no way to complete the last flight of my schedule. No apologies, no explanation and no refund! I had to make my own way to Union Station to take the train to Kalamazoo.

United SU $K$!

We are now ruled by Corrupt Overpaid Executives of the Corporate States of America!

For a better airline, try Southwest. I have always been treated well there.

[readyfornewleadership]

Love Southwest. Hate Delta

[James Herrmann]

Yeah, doesn't DELTA stand for "Don't Even Leave The Airport?"

[Grumpycurmudgeon]

How do I get a T-shirt?

[Agent420]

Run naked through the airport.

[kareemachan]

LOL

[KIVPossum]

Nothing new here. Many years ago they did the same to Tom Paxton's guitar and he wrote a song about it. Difference is he didn't get the publicity and I don't think he got paid for his damaged instrument.

[kareemachan]

YouTube is a wondrous thing.

[Fergie1]

United's response was apparently was that Dave Carroll's video was a "unique learning opportunity"!

Are they kidding? LOL! What have they been telling their staff to do in their training prior to this?

[Vurz]

They've been telling their staff "If you see a guitar, throw it." of course. But now they've learned to hide what the baggage handlers are doing.

[nomadrdw]

this is the same attitude i get from walmart employees as well.

[fireW]

First question I have is whether he had the sense to ship the guitar in a full ATA road case; probably not as they're typically too heavy/bulky for baggage handlers to "throw" around. Moreover, they're made to withstand such rough handling. Any touring musician with 1/2 a brain and an ounce of experience would know this. Doesn't excuse careless handling by the airline folks, though.

[Hilodave]

He had his guitar double cased...the original hard case inside a padded exterior case. As a traveling musician you are usually very aware of doing the best you can to protect your instruments.

[sonofsamphm1c]

I haven't flown with a guitar in almost ten years, but I never used a road case on an airplane. I would rather have a broken guitar than to have to lug one of those torture devices around. If you were polite you could often get them to let you place the guitar in an overhead compartment - no chance for that if you have a road case. That's the best as it's right there with you. Once in awhile a flight attendant would put it in a coat closet. But no matter what, there were flights where it had to go underneath. In that situation I would give an airline employee a $20 and ask them to hand carry it to the airplane. With security as it is now, I don't know if they will do that anymore.

I used a Calton case. They're manufactured in Canada. very tough skin, and loads of padding inside - especially for the neck and headstock. A headstock can break off inside a case that has no visible damage; in fact, there was a road case that had a habit of doing that. The thing would hit the floor, and the lack of padding - very poor design - would snap the headstock. The outside of the case would look perfect.

[PPatt]

United execs should be required to fly their infant children in liittle brown boxes as baggage. Then they'd be more careful.

[garocant]

Awesome, and just one of the reasons I love the internet. Before your dissatisfied complaints were limited to your general locale. Now, the whole world can learn about a certain company's behavior. Thumb your nose at your customers to own peril.

[fairplaystacy]

indeed the internet is powerful - some corrupt local politicians closed down a skating rink in NJ perfectly scapegoating the establishment for the townships own shortcomings and a website
( http://SaveSkate22.org ) drew enough support to force the politicians to reverse their decision.

They probably thought they could act locally, corruptly and with impunity (like in the old days), but the global spotlight shamed, rattled and frightened the tinhorns.

The rink re-opened.

[murrieta]

Well, I have been traveling on a 10 month assignment for my company. The only airline I was able to take was United. I have never been involved with such an incompetent company in my life. I made it a point to tell various flight attendants that I appreciated their efforts in the face of such staggering management stupidity. The attendants invariably thanked me and (where able to speak) agreed with me. My assignment has ended, my job is tenuous, and still it is such a relief to be done with United...

[island dude]

This one really struck a note for me. The worst service I have experiences have been with United. Its true every Airline has its issues, but the degree of indifference and outright meanness they have shown me in the past is just inexcusable. They are my company's preferred airline. I have gotten a lot of grief by avoiding them, but I have not flown them in years. This little incident just confirms that my experiences were not isolated.

More power to him for getting his message across.

[ejga]

I support this guy's actions toward United.

I love the song.

What bothers me are the sombreros. What's that about? They were never explained in the video and seem to be gratuitous.

Anyone have any thoughts on possible explanations?

[blythe49]

I assumed the band was playing off the Woody Guthrie line "You don't have a name when you ride the big airplane" from Gutjrie's song about Mexican deportees "Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (Deportee)". The plaintive yet catchy folk song/ folk tale style is similar.

[justsomeguywhocameby]

I heard it was homage to Marty Robbins.

[BluestateGuyInTX]

This is part of a pattern. Corporate responsibility is very scarce these days. Unless you find a way to coerce them, corporation do as they please. Corporations get larger, less subject to competition and become just as oppressive as any government. What we have here is a new form of social organization. People still think in terms of the nation state but the new political structure is organized around corporations. They really are the centers of power because they have co-opted the traditional levers of power in a nation state. For us as Americans everything was hunky dory as long as it was only happening in Central American "banana republics" but now it has spread back to us and we cannot exercise any control over the corporations that rule us. Look at how watered down the health care initiative is getting. We won't get a single payer system not because it isn't the right thing to do but because it will decrease the profits of some very profitable corporations and the real constituency of congress and also the president is the CEOs of powerful corporations not the people. We need to come out in the streets like they do in Tehran to make this change.

[BeerRun]

You hit the nail on the head.

[fairplaystacy]

Modern corporations have now organized using the "Plantation" model. If you're not a top paid executive making millions ( or even the lower tier making 250K+ ), welcome to the cottonfield.

Slavery is back and the great irony is that it doesn't discriminate: we're all slaves now.

There's no need for Executives to make 10s or 100s of millions of dollars a year. As we've seen, they're really not that good at what they do and they don't bring a great benefit to society for the most part as individual contributors nor as corporate citizens.

STOP EXCESSIVE EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION AT THE EXPENSE OF FAIR COMPENSATION TO ALL EMPLOYEES.

[ErnestineBass]

"Slavery is back and the great irony is that it doesn't discriminate; we're all slaves now."

AMEN to that! You nailed it. FANNED.