United Breaks Guitars…or why listen to your customers the first time they call…
We’ve been chuckling the last few days here at Buzzient about the “United Breaks Guitars” social media scandal. For those of you not aware, Dave Carroll of the band Sons of Maxwell released a video on YouTube skewering United Airlines for not only breaking his guitar as he watched from his seat, but also for United’s customer service (non)response. The video is slick, funny, and gets your toes tappin’ pretty quickly. At the same time, it’s a stroke of genius in how social media can be used to (belatedly) educate a company about the importance of customer service.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo
After a generation or so of reduced customer service and amnesia re: the mantra “the customer is always right”, the customers are now biting back. When last I checked, the video had about 1.5M views in about 4 days. In an era where leisure and business travelers are scrutinizing every travel dime, and with new entrants such as Virgin America coming into the market, United Airlines can ill afford the bad publicity this is already causing.
Purely by chance, a Buzzient stakeholder asked us to start analyzing the electronics and musical instrument manufacturer category last year. As a result, we have a pretty significant database of social media postings and comments about various manufacturers, including Gibson and Taylor(the brand of the unfortunate “sacrificial guitar” in the song). In particular, Buzzient Enterprise keeps track of the key websites where enthusiasts are posting. These social media sites and niche forums are precisely the places United should look to advertise to repair their reputation.
Oh, and for my next fishing trip, I’m bringing my fly rods as carry on luggage!