boiler Posted July 9, 2009 Report Share Posted July 9, 2009 United Airlines Song Background (short version)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. United: Song 1 is the first of those songs. United: Song 2 has been written and video production is underway. United: Song 3 is coming. I promise. Full Story As of today:Guitarist and United dickering, video viewers snickering [updated]This just in on the case of United Airlines, a busted guitar and a wicked YouTube song: While Dave Carroll, aggrieved customer and wicked songwriter, was playing a gig Tuesday night in Picou, Nova Scotia, his July 6 video, “United Breaks Guitars,†was passing 100,000 views and United airlines was laying plans to make nice. But there’s no happy ending just yet.“They have made contact with him,†said Carroll’s wife, Jill, on Wednesday morning. “We’re expecting to receive further details by the end of business today.†By 11 a.m. Pacific time, the video had racked up more than 137,000 YouTube views and prompted 1,265 comments, few of which are likely to end up in the airline’s next report to stockholders.Dave Carroll, buried in interview requests, was unavailable, but Jill Carroll described the conversation with United as “amicable†yet inconclusive. As for the public response to her husband’s video, “we’re speechless.â€Carroll posted his video — which features a country-western arrangement, layered harmonies and, for unclear reasons, three sombreros — after he couldn’t get United to take responsibility for damage to his guitar allegedly inflicted during a flight last year. After months of getting nowhere in efforts to get compensated, Carroll crafted a retribution campaign featuring a sequential release of three songs.Beyond the first song, which went up on the Web on July 6, Carroll has written and recorded a second song, but hasn’t made a video yet. As for the third song, Jill Carroll quoted her husband:“They have a golden opportunity to influence the outcome.â€On Tuesday night, United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski declared that “this has struck a chord with us, and we’ve contacted him directly to make it right.â€[updated, at 1 p.m. July 8: On Wednesday, Urbanski added that "his video is excellent, and we plan to use it internally as a unique learning and training opportunity to ensure that all our customers receive better service....This should have been fixed much sooner."]— Christopher Reynolds, Los Angeles Times staff writer http://digg.com/d1w6qQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler Posted July 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2009 Here's the video: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YearsAlongTheSea Posted July 9, 2009 Report Share Posted July 9, 2009 maybe next time just bring it on the plane; or drive... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esau. Posted July 9, 2009 Report Share Posted July 9, 2009 Good for him. I suspect United didn't expect this when he said he'd write a song about it. maybe next time just bring it on the plane; or drive... Too big to be carry on I imagine, Air Canada would'nt let me carry mine on anyway and sure driving is an option, although it's a good haul (3000km give or take) from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Omaha, Nebraska. But, then again thats not really the point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Posted July 9, 2009 Report Share Posted July 9, 2009 maybe next time just bring it on the plane; or drive...Spot the guy who has never tried to bring a guitar on a plane.I heard about this on cbc and thought it was great. I'm glad to hear it's actually a good song! Here's hoping it goes viral. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pablo Sanchez Posted July 9, 2009 Report Share Posted July 9, 2009 United kept my Taylor for one week, lost. got it back, but it was in a different tuning. nice. some a-hole had m,y guitar for a week to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schwa. Posted July 9, 2009 Report Share Posted July 9, 2009 I traveled Air Canada a couple times with my cheapy and I first packed every tiny space with towels and then wrapped the fucker up with twine and tied it in about 30 knots. sucked getting it undone but nothing happened to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blurry Posted July 9, 2009 Report Share Posted July 9, 2009 That's awesome!maybe next time just bring it on the plane; or drive...Maybe he should just start playing the tin flute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edger Posted July 9, 2009 Report Share Posted July 9, 2009 or the spoons! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.Huxtable Posted July 9, 2009 Report Share Posted July 9, 2009 Great song. Good for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bagochips Posted July 9, 2009 Report Share Posted July 9, 2009 Just saw him interviewed and he said: "I asked myself, what would Michael Moore do?"Brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hal Johnson Posted July 9, 2009 Report Share Posted July 9, 2009 It's at 524,111 views right now. That's pretty cool if you ask me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Posted July 9, 2009 Report Share Posted July 9, 2009 That's double what it was when I saw it yesterday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peipunk Posted July 10, 2009 Report Share Posted July 10, 2009 Its exploding alright...up to 1,325,267 views at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanada Kev Posted July 13, 2009 Report Share Posted July 13, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattm Posted July 13, 2009 Report Share Posted July 13, 2009 2,574,302 viewsGreat little video and song. I'm glad he did it. I hate that big corps can just get away with shafting people because they can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Wish Posted July 13, 2009 Report Share Posted July 13, 2009 The only problem here is that you have to be in the public eye (at least a little), have a voice and a forum and then attract the attention of 500,000 sets of eyes and CNN to get a little leg up in this world.The rest of us would be pissed off, posting on a message board, staring at our $3500 piece of junk..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanada Kev Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 Not-so-friendly skies: United gives to itself, not musician whose guitar it brokehttp://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/07/22/not-so-friendly-skies-united-gives-to-itself-not-musician-whos/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler Posted July 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 It's not the worst place for them to send money:The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, a nonprofit education organization, was founded in 1986 by the Monk family along with the late Maria Fisher, an opera singer and lifelong devotee of music. Its mission is to offer the world's most promising young musicians college level training by America's jazz masters and to present public school-based jazz education programs for young people around the world. All of these programs are offered free of charge to the students and schools.The Institute's programs fill a tremendous void in arts education caused by public school budget cuts. They strive to help children develop imaginative thinking, creativity, a positive self-image, and respect for their own and others' cultural heritage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanada Kev Posted August 19, 2009 Report Share Posted August 19, 2009 Video #2: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PassedOutGuy Posted August 19, 2009 Report Share Posted August 19, 2009 awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.Huxtable Posted August 19, 2009 Report Share Posted August 19, 2009 These are fantastic. I applaud this guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esau. Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Halifax singer takes guitar-smashing tale to WashingtonHalifax singer-songwriter Dave Carroll will be on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Tuesday to tell a hearing on airline passenger rights how United Airlines scrunched his expensive guitar and wouldn't compensate him.Carroll will speak at an airline passenger rights hearing looking into problems with how U.S. airlines treat the flying public. Organizers have been given permission to hold the hearing in a congressional hearing room."It will look, smell and act like a real congressional hearing," said Kate Hanni, executive director of FlyersRights.org, a sponsor of the event."This is the chance for many victims to speak," she told CBC News. Her organization is supporting legislative proposals that would allow someone to deplane after three hours of extended tarmac delay. Hanni said she founded her group after being stuck waiting in a plane for almost 10 hours.Carroll's appearance is meant to underline his concern about the special needs of airline passengers with fragile baggage — especially musical instruments.Viral sensationHis flying ordeal has become a viral sensation and a textbook example of how a single customer complaint can become a public relations nightmare for a company.In the spring of 2008, Carroll and his band, Sons of Maxwell, were travelling from Halifax to Nebraska for a one-week tour when he says they noticed United Airlines baggage handlers throwing around their instruments on the tarmac in Chicago. He later discovered that his $3,500 guitar had been severely damaged.Carroll said United didn't deny the incident occurred, but wouldn't compensate him. After many months of emails and baggage claims went nowhere, Carroll said he told a United official he would write three songs about his experience with the airline and post them online.Song No. 1 was called United Breaks Guitars, and the video quickly became a page of internet history. It has been viewed more than 5.5 million times on YouTube and has prompted more than 22,000 comments, many from people telling their own horror stories about airport baggage handling in general and United Airlines in particular. Song No. 2 was posted last month and has garnered more than 300,000 views. The final song in the trilogy is to be released in the fall.United officials eventually offered some compensation. They said they're now using Carroll's videos as training exercises for new employees.As a prelude to the Tuesday hearing, Carroll and his band will be performing their United Breaks Guitars songs Monday night at a restaurant in Washington.http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2009/09/21/carroll-guitar-hearing.html?ref=rss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry_llama Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 They said they're now using Carroll's videos as training exercises for new employees.cool, so he's getting public broadcast royalties i guess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamilton Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 Oh, the irony: United loses luggage of 'United Breaks Guitars' guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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