United breaks guitars part 2

[binny]

As promised the second installment of the United breaks guitars saga...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-UoERHaSQg


As usual well done!!

Go Dave!

 

[shortbun]

While I feel for this guy and I really love his youtubes, the airlines have been snapping necks off guitars for many, many years. As a travel agent, I would ALWAYS suggest another mode of travel for a musical instrument. Some of my clients bought seats for the expensive guitars, chellos and similar. I have literally watched a guitar case come down a chute with other luggage, get stuck and snap the neck of the case. Seems like professional musicians should know this. Sending a valuable instrument through baggage handling is a little like driving without a seatbelt. If you don't take the proper precautions, you are also partially responsible for the damage.

 

[GeorgeG]

I wouldn't trust a baggage handler with a worthless empty suitcase. I was thinking of buying an ATA approved case for my bass not long ago thinking that if I had to fly to a gig my bass might make it in one piece, but the reality is that I'd rather not do the gig than fly and risk having my equipment damaged or stolen.

 

[irishbosoxfan]

Good for him! I didn't like it as much as the first one but there's a point to be made!

 

[Deb in IA]

We have traveled everywhere with our Martin Backpacker Travel Guitar:

and have ALWAYS carried it on. Never, ever as checked luggage.

 

[sbell111]

He flew on United. He recieved his guitar at baggage claim to discover that it was broken. He then waited a week to file a claim, rather than simply walking into the baggage claim office. Since the claim wasn't filed promptly, United denied the claim (since there was no proof that the guitar wasn't broken by the owner during the week after the trip).

If I were in charge, he would receive no reimbursement.

 

[Chicago526]

I'm a TA and I always tell my clients to NEVER check anything they ever want to see again. By and large, the airlines actually do a pretty good job, considering the amount of bags they handle every day. But accidents and theft happen, and sometimes for sentimental, rare, or highly valuable items, the compensation from the airline just doesn't do it.

 

[binny]

He flew on United. He recieved his guitar at baggage claim to discover that it was broken. He then waited a week to file a claim, rather than simply walking into the baggage claim office. Since the claim wasn't filed promptly, United denied the claim (since there was no proof that the guitar wasn't broken by the owner during the week after the trip).

If I were in charge, he would receive no reimbursement.

Just because he didnt file the paperwork in the right place shouldnt matter. He actually complained immediately to 3 diiferent flight attendants before they even left the ground as they saw it happen on the tarmack. he complained immediately and was given the brush off then reported it again after his travel was over. I would think that reporting immediately to 3 different FAs would count for something, he had plenty of witnesses.

I am a TA as well and advise my clients to never check valuables, instruments being chief among them. He obviously didnt have that reccommedation.

here is his story

Here, without rhythm, harmony or rhyme, is Dave Carroll’s problem: Last year, while he was flying from Nova Scotia to Nebraska on United Airlines, somebody broke his $3,500 guitar.
Big deal, you’re thinking. Who has time to keep track of all the things United breaks? (See bottom of story for some statistics, which suggest that several other airlines are worse.)
But Carroll and his band, Sons of Maxwell, have told their tale with rhythm, harmony, rhyme, not to mention some wicked humor, and their four-minute, 37-second complaint, “United Breaks Guitars,” above, is racking up views on YouTube.

Before we tell you what United has to say about all this, here’s a quick version of Carroll’s saga, as distilled from his website. (Messages to Carroll’s home phone and e-mail address went unanswered Tuesday night.):
In spring 2008, Carroll and company headed from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Omaha, by way of (shudder now, frequent fliers) Chicago. Just after landing at O’Hare airport, says Carroll, one of his bandmates and another passenger looked out their windows and saw baggage handlers heaving around guitars with wanton disregard.
Carroll says he complained immediately to three flight attendants, but was met with indifference. Some time after arrival in Nebraska, Carroll says, he discovered that, sure enough, the base of his 710 Taylor acoustic guitar had been smashed.
But he had gigs to play, so he found a way to do that. Over the following days, weeks and months, Carroll made many phone calls to United representatives in Chicago and (who didn’t see this coming?) India, but basically he says United did nothing for him.

Meanwhile, Carroll spent $1,200 getting the guitar repaired “to a state that it plays well but has lost much of what made it special.”
The capping blow, Carroll says, was an e-mail from a Ms. Irlweg, who denied his claim for compensation because he didn’t complain in the right place, or at the right time. The airline wouldn’t even give him $1,200 in travel vouchers, Carroll contends.
So he vowed a sort of musical revenge - not one protest song, not two, but three, with a video for each, all to be posted on the Web. Carroll says he told Ms. Irlweg all about it, but got the usual response.
The video was posted on July 6. In its first 23 hours, “United Breaks Guitars” had drawn 461 comments on YouTube, most of them maligning the airline, and one of them hearkening back to Tom Paxton and his tune of aerial guitar trouble, “Thank you, Republic Airlines.” (The viewer counter appeared to be stuck at 3,441, but the video quickly went viral, with the Consumerist showing more than 24,000 views by Tuesday night.)
Among the comments: “Revenge is a dish best served with country accompaniment.”
So what does United have to say about the song?
“This has struck a chord with us, and we’ve contacted him directly to make it right,” said Robin Urbanski, a spokeswoman for United. (Urbanski also said she “loved” the video.)
Urbanski said a phone meeting had been scheduled for Wednesday, and that before the airline decides exactly what to do for Carroll, “we need to have that conversation with him directly.”
Meanwhile, Carroll’s website says he’s written and recorded the second song, with video to follow soon. And he has all sorts of other plans for a third song, and various tactics to achieve a million Web hits, which he believes will give some sense of revenge.
In fact, he writes, “I should thank United…. If my guitar had to be smashed due to extreme negligence I’m glad it was you that did it.”
By the way: In the U.S. Department of Transportation’s tally of lost, damaged, delayed or pilfered baggage in April 2009, United ranked 10th among 19 carriers, with 13,517 “baggage reports” among 4.03 million passengers.

 

[GeorgeG]

Now here's an opportunity for some, if not all, airlines to start climbing out of the holes they've put themselves in. They all struggle with delays and high overhead. I'm not sure they can do much about that. However, every airline has been plagued for years with lost and damaged baggage and now many are actually charging extra fees for the opportunity to lose and damage your property.

How many of you would fly with an airline that has a baggage guarantee? It shouldn't cost a dime more than it does now and could save untold thousands in reduced claims.

I would love to see an airline that promises to treat you baggage as well as it treats you, well, actually better. All it would take is better supervision of the baggage handling process from the time it leaves your hands until it it back in your hands. Granted, there is still a need for inspection by security personnel. I have no problem with that. I do have a problem with having to take my shoes off to board a plane while theives and idiots are handling my property with little or no real supervision.

I think I already know why this won't work, though. A friend took a job as a Gate Supervisor with Eastern Airlines at Newark Airport some years ago. Having spent many years as an officer in the Army, we set about trying to actually supervise the baggage handlers he was responsible for. The biggest problem he had in dealing with them was that they were union and did not have much of a work ethic. He tried to supervise, but found the tires on his car slashed on a regular basis. Fortunately, for him, he was offered a much better job after about six months. It's a shame the same armed guards that check us out up in the terminals aren't keeping an eye on the real terrorists.

If I sound bitter, I am. All the real security at our airports is aimed at the passengers. Make me an airline that protects my property!

 

[mickaholic4077]

Hilarious!! I'm looking forward to the third video already!!!

 

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

wahhoooo go dave!!! can you tell i'm from nova scotia???? hehe!

 

[sbell111]

Just because he didnt file the paperwork in the right place shouldnt matter. He actually complained immediately to 3 diiferent flight attendants before they even left the ground as they saw it happen on the tarmack. he complained immediately and was given the brush off then reported it again after his travel was over. I would think that reporting immediately to 3 different FAs would count for something, he had plenty of witnesses. ...

First, Flight Attendants don't deal with baggage issues. They have too much to do without mucking around there. I am not surprised that they were not concerned, if he did indeed bring it to their attention.

Second, you downplayed the fact that he didn't actually report damage to his item until a week after the flight. Why didn't he walk right into the baggage service office immediately after discovering it and spend two minutes submitting his claim? After all, he was within feet of the office when he found out about the damage.

His claim is fishy.

 

[sbell111]

Now here's an opportunity for some, if not all, airlines to start climbing out of the holes they've put themselves in. They all struggle with delays and high overhead. I'm not sure they can do much about that. However, every airline has been plagued for years with lost and damaged baggage and now many are actually charging extra fees for the opportunity to lose and damage your property.

How many of you would fly with an airline that has a baggage guarantee? It shouldn't cost a dime more than it does now and could save untold thousands in reduced claims.

I would love to see an airline that promises to treat you baggage as well as it treats you, well, actually better. All it would take is better supervision of the baggage handling process from the time it leaves your hands until it it back in your hands. Granted, there is still a need for inspection by security personnel. I have no problem with that. I do have a problem with having to take my shoes off to board a plane while theives and idiots are handling my property with little or no real supervision.

I think I already know why this won't work, though. A friend took a job as a Gate Supervisor with Eastern Airlines at Newark Airport some years ago. Having spent many years as an officer in the Army, we set about trying to actually supervise the baggage handlers he was responsible for. The biggest problem he had in dealing with them was that they were union and did not have much of a work ethic. He tried to supervise, but found the tires on his car slashed on a regular basis. Fortunately, for him, he was offered a much better job after about six months. It's a shame the same armed guards that check us out up in the terminals aren't keeping an eye on the real terrorists.

If I sound bitter, I am. All the real security at our airports is aimed at the passengers. Make me an airline that protects my property!

For those that are not aware, Easten Airlines went out of business twenty years ago. Also, it is very unusual for a gate supervisor to supervise ramp personal. In a situation where the ramp personnel are unionized, it would be highly unlikely.