HispanicBusiness

Customer service agents take note! Your next dissatisfied customer may be a talented musician with an axe to grind. Or, in the case of Dave Carroll, with a broken "axe" to grind.

While on a United Airlines flight in 2008 from Nova Scotia to Nebraska, musician Dave Carroll's $3,500 guitar was broken, according to the musician. Carroll and his band mates say that they witnessed multiple instruments being carelessly tossed from airline to baggage shuttle. However, United Airlines refused Carroll's request for any type of compensation. A year later, on July 7, 2009, in response to the airline's unwillingness to claim any responsibility for the broken instrument, Dave Carroll and his band Sons of Maxwell have produced "United Breaks Guitars," a song and popular YouTube video that has garnered nearly 150,000 views after just one day after its posting.

The song chronicles the extensive measures Carroll took in filing a complaint, which went through three employees without results. The Los Angeles Times reported that Carroll had to postpone his hunt for monetary compensation because the Sons of Maxwell were beginning a tour. After the concert series had ended and after Carroll had spent $1,200 to fix the guitar, he again attempted to contact the airline and file a report. By this time, however, United told Carroll that the report was filed too late.

Soon after the Sons of Maxwell produced and posted "United Breaks Guitars" a United representative contacted Carroll and the Times reported that the representative and Carroll are currently in negotiations to refund his broken instrument. After over 1,700 comments praising the song for both its harmony and its message, United Airlines may be on the hook for far more than $3,500, at least in terms of bad publicity, its reputation as a customer-focused company, and lost ticket sales.