“Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel”  – Mark Twain (maybe)

With the advent of the internet we all have barrels full of bits that are nearly free.  Any person annoyed with any company can easily air their grievances to thousands of people.  This should inspire companies to do whatever they can to make their customers happy, but far too many don’t get it yet. 

The latest one I’ve seen is “United Breaks Guitars,” a YouTube video that currently has 168,000+ views, 6,000+ ratings, and over 2,000 comments.  It’s the story of a musician sitting in a United airplane, watching out the window while the baggage monkeys manhandle his expensive guitar, and United refusing to address the damage they caused. 

United claims they’re finally reopening negotiations, but the damage has already been done.  And word is he has two more videos in the works. 

Wise up United (and everyone else).  Fixing the guitar would have cost you $1400, replacing it would have cost $3500.  It’s a safe bet his video has cost you a lot more than that. 

United Breaks Guitars