A musician named Dave Carroll recently had difficulty with United Airlines. United apparently damaged his treasured Taylor guitar ($3500) during a flight. Dave spent over 9 months trying to get United to pay for damages caused by baggage handlers to his custom Taylor guitar. During his final exchange with the United Customer Relations Manager, he stated that he was left with no choice other than to create a music video for YouTube exposing their lack of cooperation. The Manager responded : "Good luck with that one, pal". So he posted a retaliatory video on YouTube. The video has since received over 6.8 million hits. United Airlines contacted the musician and attempted settlement in exchange for pulling the video.
Naturally his response was: "Good luck with that one, pal". Taylor Guitars sent the musician 2 new custom guitars in appreciation for the product recognition from the video that has lead to a sharp increase in orders.
This is an awesome story. If my Goodall goes in baggage, it goes in a Calton. My guitar was once tossed so hard the bottom of the case was pushed in and the lock was popped (when you could still lock 'em). The guitar (that time a '53 D-28) was fine and the case pulled out. I still use it. Anyway, I love this story. Bob Taylor's pretty cool this time around.
I'd seen that u-tube awhile ago. I'm really glad that Taylor sales increased. I love my new Taylor koa that came home from the slack key festival on Maui last June, but I'm not planning on taking it any further than I can drive. I'm still having good luck carrying my Dean on in a soft case. n
How Guitarists Deal with Airline Problems
Posted - 01/03/2010 : 10:46:59 AM
