After reading what David Carroll had to go through with United Airlines, I’m happy that he’s finally gotten some closure, even though it was self-generated. Anyone that has ever had problems with an airline that needed to be resolved through a hotline knows that you’re not going to get anywhere and you’re just going to be even more frustrated than you already were. The instant you dial the number, it becomes a game of hot potato, seeing how quickly each representative can pass you off to someone else that has no idea why they are talking to you. What’s even worse is the fact that many large corporations outsource their service hotlines to India, where they not only can’t help you, but also can’t understand you either.
Reading David’s account on his website, I felt like I was reading a horror novel. I can only imagine the frustration and anger he felt after nine months of phone calls and faxes and filling out forms and so on. All he asked was that they pay for the damages that they had clearly made, and they flat out refused. It shows how unjust companies like United can be, looking at their customers as dollars and not humans. If I were in the same situation as David, I believe I would have given up and eaten the loss, as hard as that might be.
David however, went about with a much smarter approach, using the popularity of social media to his advantage. The initial threat, I imagine, sounded rather childish to United and probably wasn’t much of a scare. It also took some courage on Mr. Carroll’s part. Had the songs been a flop, United would have simply pointed their finger and laughed at the angry customer trying to get what was rightfully his. But the songs weren’t a flop, and they caught the attention of United Airlines and over 5 million other viewers.
While I’m not fully convinced that the $180 million that was said to be lost was all due to this viral video, I’m sure that a majority of it was. The way airlines have been going up and down in stock over the past decade, I could see this loss as part of a normal fluctuation that was bound to happen, but that got a big shove from “United Breaks Guitars.” Still, replacing his guitar like he had asked would have definitely saved them some money and many PR headaches.
Watching the two videos, the tone of the second one was much lighter and less aggressive towards United. David has even released a statement apologizing for all the negative feedback that Ms. Irlweg has received, stating that she was a helpful employee and was just doing her job. It’s obvious that David is a very nice guy and didn’t mean any harm to United; he just wanted them to know that what they did was wrong. Knowing this, if I were on the United PR team, I would quickly befriend David before he releases his third and final video. The smart thing to do would be to get on David’s good side, possibly by donating the money he was owed plus much more, to a charity like he had asked. I would also come up with a new policy on the handling of musical equipment and other fragile cargo, one that protects the customer. Once the two sides have patched their problems, help him create and produce the third video, a story about how United goes out of their way to right their wrongs and how valued their customers truly are to them.
The worst thing United can do is to continue to ignore David and his claim. Hopefully their PR team will jump on this opportunity and help steer their company back in the right direction.
The only suggestion I would make is to watch out for too much contradiction in your writing. You don't seem to be writing about how social media has impacted the ability to get personal responses out there because you do a lot of "but's" and "not really's". Other than that, Great Job!
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