United Airlines Customer Service Nightmare!
Here’s a great social media story about customer service:
Dave Carroll and his band Sons of Maxwell are on tour. Dave checks his guitar, of course thinking that it should arrive safe – maybe late, but safe. Not exactly. In fact, a fellow passenger saw United Airlines employees throwing his guitar around on the tarmac. And, to boot, United Airlines refused to pay for the damage they caused. So, like any savvy musician these days, Dave and the Sons of Maxwell documented the customer service nightmare with a song and music video on YouTube.com:Â “United Breaks Guitars”
Here’s another example of how the internet is a key tool consumers use to let companies know when they mess up – royally. It’s proof that sites like YouTube.com offer a customers an outlet to air their grievances with others en masse.
Customer service is key; especially in a down economy. One bad experience can be easily shared with millions via the internet. And consumers are more savvy to online outlets than ever before. It is also an example of why businesses today monitor social networks and blogs so they can respond quickly, before an issue becomes viral. Keep in mind – the original video was posted just two days ago. After 48 hours it had nearly 1.5 million views.
United did respond to this video via twitter: “This has struck a chord w/ us and we’ve contacted him directly to make it right.” In fact, Dave Carroll created a second video to share how United reacted.
Oh, and Taylor Guitars has offered to replace the guitar – now that’s good customer service.
