Dave Carroll & The Story of the Broken Guitar

• Dave Carroll & The Story of the Broken Guitar teaches business owners and employees to always treat customers with dignity and respect.

In 2008, Dave Carroll, a relatively unknown Canadian country musician, was flying to a concert in Nebraska.

He boarded the United Airlines and asked the luggage attendants to put his guitar in the cabin for an additional fee, but they refused. From his seat, he watched as they squeezed his guitar into the luggage compartment just above his seat.

Upon arrival, he discovered that his guitar was broken.

It was too late for repairs, and the airline refused to accept responsibility. Ultimately, he received a disappointing “no” in response to his complaint.

Dave stopped complaining, didn’t have enough money for a lawyer, and wrote the song “United Breaks Guitars,” which described the entire ordeal.

The music video became a YouTube sensation, with 23 million views to date. In just one week, Dave rose to global prominence.

Taylor Guitars, a guitar company, gifted him two new high-end guitars.

After the video circulated on the internet for four days, United’s stock fell by 10%, resulting in a $180 million loss.

United offered the singer a large sum to remove the video from the internet, to which he gave them a resounding “NO.”

Lesson: Businesses need to give friendly feedback, accept responsibility for mistakes, and apologize to customers for wrongdoing.