United Wrecks Young Man's Guitar After Forcing Him To Check It
 

Saw this on the front page of Reddit today, which means the story is getting some traction over there. I'm kinda feeling for the guy a bit.

Here are the pictures: http://s971.photobucket.com/user/tim...?src=pb_unauth

Read full Reddit thread here: http://bit.ly/110Whnt

I think my favorite comment so far was the top one: "I'm sure United will offer you a full refund of your item, so long as it's value is no greater than $20 and a flight from Phoenix to Scottsdale."

PS - If your're not familiar with Reddit, the language can be quite, um, "colorful" - so please browse at your own risk.

Reddit links don't work the same as others. Best to send folks to the front page to find it.

Thanks the the poster below that figured out why the link wasn't working, this one does work:

http://bit.ly/110Whnt

Post updated above. Thanks!

Time to dust off the ol' 45 and spin up that classic song "United Breaks Guitars".

Made him check it??
 

Uh, no. He always has the option to buy a seat for it. So United did not make him check it.

:rolleyes:

And did you look at the case the guitar was in?? Pretty ratty looking. Not exactly sturdy. I am no United supporter or defender, but give me a break.

To be fair, one doesn't go and do that at the gate when told there's no overhead space left.

Oh, yes - - of course that is ALWAYS a viable option for a poor guy in a band. It's totally his fault!

:rolleyes:

I think they've learned the hard way what happens when they break musical instruments. I imagine they'll just proactively pay out this one.

Why can't a guitar go in the overhead bin? Or a closet?

It's a pretty standard looking case. They're made of wood and have to be given a pretty hard shot to splinter like that.

To quote my favorite parent's saying: "Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part". This guy should have never expected to be able to get a large item like that on a plane. He should have planned for this issue. Either by buying a seat for it, or making sure it was stored in a very solid case (that one apparently was not).

Really, I cannot believe I am defending UA (have I been drinking?), but I think people need to take responsibility for their own decision and/or lack of planning.

And by that time, the price of a seat is 3x the replacement cost of the guitar. If there's even a seat available for purchase, that is.

Why not? I'm sure it's not his first time flying and he's likely boarded with his bass many times before. I several times have and it's never been an issue. In fact, a guitar (or bass) lies very flat and neatly stacks on top of bags in the overhead bin taking little to no valuable space from others.

Almost every flight I am on these days is 100% full. Almost every flight I am on these days requires group 5 to check their baggage at the gate. It happens. People have to plan for it.

Also, according to UA's website: I play bass myself. My bass case will not fit those dimensions. So I would never expect it to be allowed on board.

I am not someone who defends UA. And I think UA should pay for the damage, no doubt. But at some point people have to take responsibility for their own lack of planning or thinking.

I still find it catchy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

I see people with guitars on planes on almost all US flights I go on. Sometimes as many as 3-4.

Wow, hate to see this happen!

It's hard to tell from the pictures what the case was made out of. I have two guitar cases: one looks a bit like his, but has a "sewn" outer covering sort of a thick cardboard. Would never check this one.

In London, I have a much sturdier case: I can imagine that it has some kind of wood on the inside.

Anyway, not excusing UA or the baggage handlers. If it was checked at the last minute, may have been handled more roughly than necessary - who knows!

I hope that he can make the repair to the tuning pegs, but really, UA should buy him a new guitar!