United breaks Guitar Casestudy

Dave Carrol, a musician traveled in United Airlines and finds his Guitar being broke due to poor cargo handling. The case tells about the events that followed and how United Airlines responded back and the customer service that was given to Dave and how he responded back.

1. United Breaks Guitar Casestudy Ajay Agarwal Amit Kumar Kalia Angad Sidhu Apoorva Dogra Dekkala Arun Kumar Dinesh Pakki Gangadhara Rao Harshit Mishra MARKETING OF SERVICES PRESENTATION

2. KEY CASE FACTS Case is about how a poorly handled customer complaint and power of social media can cost a company dearly UNITED AIRLINES DAVE CARROLL One of the largest international airlines based in US Professional guitarist , member of the band Sons of Maxwell Close to 50,000 employees and more than 3300 flights per day Undergoes a very bad experience with United Airlines Rough handling of Dave’s guitar caused damages Makes a song “United Breaks Guitar” which talks about his bad experience and frustration. Customer complaint was not handled properly United Breaks Guitar- effect Reaches 100 million people, popularity increases United Breaks Guitar- effect Stocks plunged by 10%, creating a loss of $180 million to the shareholders

3. KEY CASE FACTS

4. Case Analysis What United airlines did wrong? Did not address Dave’s Complaint No Immediate response for the 1 st video post Responded after it went to mainstream media United made no official apology, no statement released regarding the incident Spokesperson only gave limited media interviews and announced that they use video for training purpose They only responded directly through tweets, not in any other online channels United is one of the Largest International Airlines having almost 14% of market share in 2009 and have Strategic Alliances Pre existing Bad Reputation and less social media presence Maintenance Services are outsourced Heavy Industry Competition Employees are dissatisfied-Pay cuts due to recession High cost of Resources

5. Case Analysis The United Breaks Guitars video is an excellent example of how grassroots campaigns can go ‘viral’ across a spectrum of media, and how different media can influence one another. The primary influencers at the beginning of the campaign seem to have been bloggers Twitter Influence-Large number of references linking to YouTube, blogs, and news sites Poor Public Relations of united-costed shareholders an estimated $180 million due to stock price drop by 10% User generated content has affected the Brand Airlines is an Intangible dominant industry Service Quality is mainly dependent on Customer Satisfaction Customer participate in and affect in “real time”

6. Critical Moment of Truth

7. Tolerance level The zone of tolerance shrunk to zero for him as the airlines damaged his guitar which was very precious to him and they also denied him any kind of compensation

8. 7P Model Product Transportation Price Tickets,cargo,Dynamic Pricing Place Airports Globally Promotion Social media, Hoardings, Advertisements People Employees Process Purchase of tickets via online and offline mode Physical Evidence Flights

9. United Service Quality

10. 4 Gaps Model 1) Listening Gap – Difference between customer expectations of service and company understanding of those services a) Rob Bradford called just once and did not make a second attempt 2 ) Service Performance Gap – Discrepancy between development of customer-driven service standards and actual service performance by company employees a)Customer service executive did not respond to complaint quickly b)Handling of cargo was not professional c) Claim to be made within 24 hours is like to escape the situation rather than solve the problem 3) Communication Gap – difference between service delivery and service provider’s external communications a) “Fly the friendly skies” – Slogan of United Airlines, but really not friendly

11. Airline Industry Analysis Flight Delays Mishandled Baggage Consumer Complaints delays Airline Reports of the Loss, Injury, or Death of Animals During Air Transportation File a report at service desk 'My baggage' (an online corner) to check the status of your claim by entering the file reference number that was provided on time of complaint. Baggage and claims department processes the claim if baggage has not repatriated within 21 days Property Irregularity Report (PIR).  Report period-7 days of arrival

12. Recommendations

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15. Thank you