United Breaks Guitars

My husband sent that link to me. Sad story, especially since I'm sure the guy needed it for a paid gig somewhere and had to scramble to get a guitar.

On the plus side, while they did not get him a new guitar, United did finally offer to make a contribution to the charity of his choice.

This is why my cellist friends buy a seat for their cellos. It's also why I'm glad I play flute.

Wow, we have so much in common! I'm a flutist, and my sister was a cello major!! She always bought a seat for her cello!
I knew about this video from listening to Clark Howard on the radio. He was in the travel business before he got known as a finance expert. He talks about travel a lot, and love listening to him. How wonderful this performer didn't have to sue, and writing this song and making the video helped him so much! I bet you know Clark Howard because he is in Atlanta!

Lol...that video made the local news here in eastern Canada( the band in question is from Halifax, Nova Scotia). The last I heard on the news was that United got wind of the video and were contacting this group to make amends in some way, shape, or form :)

This was written about in the Times newspaper here in the UK this morning. I guess word is spreading!

This guy is really getting famous because of what happened! A bad thing turned good!

In United's defense, the guitar was NOT in a flight-rated case. This is standard for any traveling musician. I assume that is why he was denied reimbursement.

If you put a million dollar Picasso in a duffel bag and checked it, would you really expect reimbursement if it got damaged? There is a point where the passenger must have some packing responsibility.

I didn't know that his guitar was not in a flight rated case. Not very smart. And I still would buy extra insurance for it too.

Returning home from my last UK trip on a United flight, my checked duffle bag of just dirty clothes, was covered in specks of dried mud (!), had a ripped outer pocket (i had nothing in it) and one end was torn down the entire side.

I dont think anything fell out since it was clothing (not a big deal if I lost a sock) so I know from experience that if they beat up a bag of clothing, I can only imagine what would happen to something of worth!

I always put my souvenirs, camera, photos, etc in my carry ons, and check my luggage and excess junk, maps, etc that I brought with me. That way, if it goes missing or destroyed beyond recognition, its not going to upset me greatly.