United Breaks Guitars

Most of us have no choice but to get in an airplane to reach our vacation or cruise destination. No other option. Have you ever felt powerless in the face of terrible airline customer service?

If so, then you'll enjoy the sweet revenge musician Dave Carroll has taken on United Airlines via a YouTube music video ("United Breaks Guitars" as you may have guessed) after they broke his beloved guitar, then gave him a year-long runaround before finally denying his claim.

I travel a lot. And I marvel that the same airline that has no problem delaying me for hours and hours on one day, refuses on another day to let me switch to a flight that's a few hours earlier or later with plenty of seats. Or that airline damaged-bag claim procedures are more labyrinthine than a cheese-hunt for a mouse in a maze.

So it's with great joy I see that Dave's video has been viewed over 2.5 million times in the week since he's posted it. Plus, he's been on major-network morning shows telling his tale, the media has picked up the now-amusing story, causing United far more trouble than a $1,200 repair tab would have cost them.

Do you think United is paying attention now? Oh yes. They suddenly saw the light and offered Dave compensation, which he suggested at this point they direct to charity instead. They've even asked Dave for permission to use his video in their customer service training. Ah so sweet! Read more about the story from Dave himself right here.

Finally, Dave promises that this is only the first of three music videos documenting United's bad attitude. Undoubtedly through their current brown-nosing, United hopes to influence the messaging of the upcoming videos! We can all look forward to the rest of the trilogy.