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United Breaks Guitars (and Telescopes)

Apparently United Airlines was responsible for recklessly destroying a very expensive guitar belonging to a band called Sons of Maxwell. After determining that it was not possible to reason with United's bureaucracy, the band decided to retaliate by producing a series of music videos about their experience. The first video is here.

Lauren and I had a very similar experience with a telescope on our honeymoon. As it turns out, in order for United to investigate whether they might possibly be responsible for damage to a piece of luggage (a process which, we were told, takes about a year) you must give them the luggage for which they will not offer a receipt or tracking number. Needless to say, we still have our broken telescope.

Unlike the Sons of Maxwell, we have flown United again since, and it was only to save hundreds of dollars, not the world. Like the Sons of Maxwell, we avoid checking bags with United.

Actually, the broken telescope is not the most serious of the problems we've experienced with United... (Honeymoon?)

I'd suggest a more organized boycott, but I suspect that instead of bringing United to its knees, it would just get United bailed out by the Treasury.