Yes, another sorry tale of a large corporate really not getting the whole customer service thing and getting ’social media’d’ in the process. This time, it’s United Airlines in the US whose initial baggage handling ineptitude was apparently compounded by the usual customer service response of …….la la la la……………….. No!
Unfortunately for United, the classic big corporate response was met with a musical retort which has left their reputation whistling in the wind. The victim, Dave Carroll of Canadian band Sons of Maxwell, or more precisely his $3,500 Taylor guitar, has become the latest YouTube-driven people-powered distruction of corporate credibility after Carroll wrote and videoed a brilliant song on the subject. “United Breaks Guitars” has now had more than 3 million viewers and catapaulted Carroll and the band to world fame including an article in Rolling Stone.
To his immense credit, Carroll, after being offered compensation from United which he declined, then posted a humble and conciliatory statement on YouTube, even defending one of United’s employees. New songs are planned to complete the story. Even Bob Taylor, the guitar’s manufacturer, got in on the act with a clever piece of support marketing.
There is a phrase that has been used against me a few times as a consultant: “The customer is always right”. Well, no, they aren’t actually – it’s the reason why they bring in external expertise! But the customer most definitely is king/queen. The sooner corporates – and particularly airlines – realise this, the less work their public relations teams will have in facing social media crises and reputation disasters.
Still, at least United can take comfort from the fact that they’ve stratified the career of a jobbing country band from Canada.
