Update: July 12, 2009

According to the Toronto Star, United Airlines has agreed to donate $3000 to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. Dave Carroll had insisted that any compensation he receive from United be donated to charity. Dave Carroll did a nice thing to drag United kicking and screaming back to the planet of human decency most of us live on.

I’m not sure why businesses do this time and time again. United Airlines could have corked this PR nightmare in a matter of minutes for a paltry sum of money (paltry by their standards, of course). Instead, they happily dug their own grave. Even if Dave Carroll is the only customer they lose over this (not likely), this idiocy has cost them thousands of dollars in future revenue.

Previously on Guitarbalooga:

Early last year, Dave Carroll and his Sons of Maxwell bandmates were sitting on an airplane at Chicago’s O’Hare airport, waiting to deplane, when a passenger shouted, “My God, they’re throwing guitars out there!”

Dave saw a United worker carelessly toss a bandmate’s bass guitar and realized that his $3500 Taylor must have been thrown before it. Needless to say, it ended up with a broken neck. Here’s Dave in his own words:

On March 31, 2008 Sons of Maxwell began our week-long-tour of Nebraska by flying United Airlines from Halifax to Omaha, by way of Chicago. On that first leg of the flight were seated at the rear of the aircraft and upon landing and waiting to deplane in order to make our connection a woman sitting behind me, not aware that we were musicians cried out: “My god they’re throwing guitars out there”. Our bass player Mike looked out the window in time to see his bass being heaved without regard by the United baggage handlers. My $3500 710 Taylor had been thrown before his.

I immediately tried to communicate this to the flight attendant who cut me off saying: “Don’t talk to me. Talk to the lead agent outside”. I found the person she pointed to and that lady was an “acting” lead agent but refused to talk to me and disappeared into the crowd saying “I’m not the lead agent”. I spoke to a third employee at the gate and when I told her the baggage handlers were throwing expensive instruments outside she dismissed me saying “but hun, that’s why we make you sign the waiver”. I explained that I didn’t sign a waiver and that no waiver would excuse what was happening outside. She said to take it up with the ground crew in Omaha.

It’s my favorite excuse and a running joke where I work: “I don’t know, I just work here.” A close second is the ever popular: “I’m on break.”

Well, 9 months went by and Dave still hadn’t been compensated for his broken guitar. United wouldn’t budge…until Dave wrote a song about it, and it went viral. Not surprisingly, United has suddenly found God and decided that Dave does deserve some compensation.

Here’s his tune, but I gotta be honest, the 80′s-style video may burn your eyes:

(via sfgate.com and blogs.suntimes.com)