United Breaks Guitars
Why Hacker News recommends it
Used as the classic example of terrible airline customer service, and of how a viral video can force a company to respond.
What it is
Dave Carroll's song and music video about United Airlines baggage handlers breaking his Taylor guitar and the airline's refusal to compensate him. It became a viral example of a customer fighting a company.
Recommended by 0 HN commenters across 0 different months, 2012 to 2023.
What Hacker News said
Cites cturner · 2012-12 · on “WTF Google, you stole my $5”
Google, for a company that reputes to perform services, is probably the single most consumer- unfriendly company on the planet. They're really not. This is overstated. Try dealing with some kind of loss-making monopoly, where the people who work there don't care or may even have a perverse grudge against customers and want to cause them harm. Look at the way united airlines treated a passenger whos guitar they busted up: [this video] There are companies who wage campaigns against their customers. They have a policy of not paying credit notes except under extreme pressure. But they might also have call centre staff with no job tracking system call you to chase you for your bill, where the staff do
Cites nbanks · 2017-04 · on “A man wouldn’t leave an overbooked United flight, so he was dragged off”
From the doctor's perspective, refusing to leave was probably the best way to publicize United's bad customer service. It reminds me of the country singer who wrote "United Breaks Guitars" seven years ago: [this video]
Cites crooked-v · 2019-05 · on “Deadly stupidity during Aeroflot flight 1492 emergency evacuation”
For me, it's less about waiting times and more about the omnipresent risk of the airline absolutely destroying my luggage ( [this video] ).
Cites tlss · 2022-02 · on “Delta CEO wants U.S. to put unruly passengers on 'no-fly' list”
If you're talking about terrible behaviour from United employees, this is not an isolated case. See also "United Breaks Guitars" [this video]
Cites sandworm101 · 2022-07 · on “Ask HN: PayPal dismissed my claim, saying I didn't provide evidence (yet I did)”
Take to social media. Plead your case to the masses. If you are cute enough (I suggest a puppy in the screenshot) it may go viral and get noticed by PayPal's marketing people. They have actual decision powers. That is how consumer service works these days. These guys did eventually get they money after the morning news shows featured thier song. [this video]