This is a quite impactful story that shows how affective our negative feedbacks in social media about the tangible products or intangible services
The guy Who affected Company's Stocks with One Single Video
I'm working on a thesis proposal these days on mouth to mouth communication. Eventhough we can't consider social media as mouth to mouth communication some parts of it acts like it. When I was checking case studies about this topic , I saw this example a lot and it is a quite decent example of how a negatif comment from costumer can damage the reputation of a company and creates a Public relations nightmare.
Everything started with a plane trip , Dave Carroll and his band were travelling with United Airlines company in 2008. When the group arrived Chicago for transfer flight they notice that the guitar they gave to company had some serious damages.
Because of that Dave caroll get pretty upset and he talks with the airlines company and wants them to cover the damage caused by Luggage staff. Obviously like every huge company they deny his request.
According to case study Dave Caroll worked 9 months to get back his guitars money. He calls customer support , sends emails he only demands 1200 $ for his 3300$ worth guitar. However Airline company never backs up
After some time Dave Caroll notices his efforts not going to lead him anywhere , therefore he writes a song about this incovenience he faced while using United Airlines. The every element of this song is so sarcastic , fun and powerfull , therefore it become trend in no time and it got millions of clicks in Youtube
What Happened after this Song ?
Well it becomes really popular in Youtube and United Airlines loses a lot of charisma. Because they didn't want to pay 1200 $ price for his guitar their stocks loses %10 percent value and they end up losing close to 180 million dollars. It sounds quite absurd but it is right. It was one of the first examples that shows power of mouth to mouth communication in social media.
Eventually company backed up and they beg for forgiveness from Dave Caroll they gifted him 2 guitars and they also offered to sponsor him for his concert and they tried everything to make him erase the video. However their effort came to no result. He even created 2 more songs and made his complain a trilogy.
United Breaks Guitars # 2
United Breaks Guitars #3
Sources
Images : 1
I wish all of those Big companies to get what they deserve, sometimes people don't realize that we are majority. We are in a period where almost everyone has acces to any kind of info yet mouth to mouth will be always effective imo.
Riot !!!!
When they start the business they give more importance to the people but later on they just forget that people are the ones made them grew high in the market
This example is good - it's nice that United eventually paid for their actions - but overall, there's very little I feel that musicians can do. When a company fucks you over and breaks your shit, they don't give a fuck.
Unless you are able to get millions of views on your video, like this guy did, they won't notice. It's better IMO to learn the lesson and take responsibility - "OK, I won't check guitars on united flights anymore" - than to try and scream into the void on social media.
I'm glad this guy didn't sell out and continue his crusade I'm pretty sure airlines company will think twice before they don't want to accept their fault lol ! Power of music and communication it is all about how you decide to send your message / complain as you said
Applause! Applause! Applause!
The story is very good. Some moments are very good. The price of the guitar is very high.
Love it, thanks Steeminator3000!
Instant Karma
This is amazing! I can't believe they ended up losing 180 million. I love that the internet makes these big corporations more accountable.
Yeah also because of internet most of the companies turn themself in to complete visibility for accountability
Excellent story. :) Companies really have a problem of solving minor customer problems on time. Glad that social media has an impressive effect on companies.