Finally someone pays back United Airlines for bad treatment!

[scubadude]

A Canadian musician who tried to get United to compensate him for a guitar that was tossed and damaged by a United worker retaliated with a YouTube video.

It all started on March 31, 2008. Dave Carroll and his Sons of Maxwell bandmates were sitting in a plane at O'Hare, waiting to disembark when a fellow passenger cried out:

"My God, they're throwing guitars out there."

They looked out the window. They saw a United worker tossing one of their guitars. Carroll discovered later that among those flying instruments was his $3,500 Taylor, which ended up smashed. And so began a nine month saga of trying to get United to pay for the damage. When the airline wouldn't, Carroll made a decision. He said on his site:

"I promised the last person to finally say 'no' to compensation ... 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."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/scavenger/detail?entry_id=43314

Finally, payback gets some attention. This is a great country tune IMHO, and I don't like country.

Scuba

[dysfunctional press]

1. when i worked for united, i remember a cellist who always paid for a seat for his cello...

he even had it enrolled in mileage-plus(the frequent-flyer program).

[scubadude]

20. Frequent Flyer Cello! LOL

Those guys are big and fragile. I see folks carrying them around from time to time, and I feel sorry for them. Such a large instrument that plays do delicately and softly. Speak softly but carry a big stick.

Scuba

[lindisfarne]

2. Good for him. I can't stand most country but that's not the point. The point is he's making them pay

via the cost of bad publicity. But I hope he's invested in a heavy-duty case for future flights.

This should get him on the no-fly list.

There go those Canadians, expecting service.

[Posteritatis]

8. I'm surprised they folded instead of trying to sue him or something (nt)

[scubadude]

18. Too many people saw what was happening to the instruments.

They would have been blown out of court.

Scuba

[tbyg52]

28. There's only two things that get corporations' attention

Bad publicity and money.

Oh, wait! Bad publicity costs them *money*.

OK, one thing.

Edited for inevitable stupid typo.

[provis99]

3. yeah, its a good song, even though I generally dislike country

It's snarky and righteous, which is what country music should be, but isn't.

[scubadude]

15. Exactly! I love country when it's easy and funny, not whiney.. nt

[LisaM]

4. Good for him; I'm so FRICKING SICK of the money UAL has cost me

Once they put me on hold for two hours. Yet, that was even better than when I've had to talk to their so-called customer service agents in India.

[JCMach1]

25. Should I discuss my 4hr+ catering delay in Chicago last year?

Yes, CATERING!!!

Over half of that was sitting in the plane AT the gate...

[pa28]

5. United messed with the wrong guy!

I hope they follow through on their promise to use the video internally and to take a look in the mirror.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. What kind of a case was it in?

I heard this on the radio today and can't help but wonder what kind of case his guitar was in. Hubby is a musician and I swear he has cases for his equipment that would keep a nuclear blast from damaging the instrument. I can't imagine putting a guitar in baggage on a plane that wasn't in a really secure case.

I don't mean to imply he deserved to lose such an expensive guitar, just that I do know they make really secure cases for musical equipment.

[Posteritatis]

7. If you're throwing something onto concrete from any kind of height

Odds are the case will only be able to do so much.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. They make cases sturdy enough

They are expensive but they do make cases that will protect a guitar thrown onto concrete.

[junkiebrewster]

23. I thought the same thing....

Guitarist here. There are flight cases made for guitars that will withstand anything. I'm not saying the guy shouldn't be compensated, but you're a fool if you check your guitar as baggage and don't use a flight case.

[LisaM]

26. He may not have planned to check it

I've seen musicians recently having to check instruments they expected to carry on with them.

[Ignis]

29. Even the best case can't stop everything.

I used to play the classical/concert guitar, and you can bet that I treated by "baby" to a top-of-the-line case. :)

But any case has a certain amount of wiggle room inside, and a sharp blow (or a drop) still has a chance of tweaking the neck out of alignment, bending tuning pegs, etc. The guitar normally looks fine on the spot, but a careful examination by a luthier can reveal structural flaws--and even the smallest of those can dramatically change the sound of an instrument.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. What's up with the Mexican hats and fake mustaches?

Pretty odd video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

[Posteritatis]

12. It's an odd group

I live in their neck of the woods; a lot of the acts out of here get pretty, ah, eccentric. There's a ska band here whose stage getup is three guys dressed as MiBs and a fourth in a gorilla suit.

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. I see that as racist

But maybe they don't see it that way in Canada. :shrug:

[scubadude]

14. I see it as funny. Why do you take offense?

Gorilla suits would have been funny too and perhaps more appropriate to the story if the guys on the tarmac were in them, but these guys were his band. I would have been thrilled if they were in Kilts or dressed up as Leprechauns, but I'm Scots Irish though... Would that have been racist? I gotta catch up on these things. :sarcasm:

Scuba

[dflprincess]

16. Disguises so TSA doesn't recognize them next time they fly? (eom)

[scubadude]

19. Yeah! LOL nt

[Wednesdays]

11. K&R

:kick:

[crispini]

17. hehehe. great video!

:kick:

[Romulox]

21. The guy owns a $3500 guitar, but based on the video, he can't play...

His strumming hand look like it has rigor mortis. :wtf:

[scubadude]

24. How is that relevant? nt

[Paladin]

22. A $3500 Taylor, Smashed? Unforgivable.

I don't know about everyone else, but I've found that United has far and away the worst word-of-mouth reputation of any of the major airlines. I avoid flying on United whenever possible.....

[mistertrickster]

27. Has this happened to you? Airlines refuse to fly because the plane is not full?

They CLAIM it's "mechanical trouble" or "storm delays," but you know damn well what they're doing is consolidating two small flights into one money-making flight.

It's happened to me twice flying from Florida to the Bahamas. Once it delayed me for an entire day and there was nothing to do but sit at the airport because the flight could be "cleared" at any moment.

Of course, it wasn't cleared until the next scheduled flight, surprise, surprise.

[Cha]

30. Don't piss off a determined talented

musician! I loved that.