Evaluate United's Response to Dave Carol's Video? Did the Airline Handle the Incident Well?

1. Evaluate United's response to Dave Carol's video? Did the airline handle the incident well?

2. In general, how should corporations prepare for the challenge posed by user generated video and other material disseminated on social media?

1. United Airline’s response to Dave Carroll’s video was handled rather quickly, especially when considering how long it took to address Carroll’s concerns of his mishandled guitar in the first place (north of seven months).  The video was posted at 10 pm on July 6, and by July 8, United’s Rob Bradford had reached out to Carroll to both apologize for what had happened and ask to use Carroll’s video for internal training purposes.  Bradford also offered Carroll compensation in the form of $1,200 in cash and $1,200 in flight vouchers - to which Carroll refused.  Instead, United donated $3,000 to a music school upon Carroll’s request.  In addition to addressing Dave Carroll personally, United maintained its defensive position on Twitter, where it was constantly responding to negative tweets stating that it had resolved the problem and planned on using the video internally to grow from this experience.  

Despite addressing Carroll’s video so quickly, United remained the focal point and problem of the incident. Instead of addressing the issue head-on when it had originated, United tried to wear out Carroll by redirecting his calls in a circular pattern within its organization.  Rather than give up, Carroll created a video to ultimately sabotage United’s brand name and create a hassle for United similar to the one it had created for him.  The root cause of the problem - airlines damaging and losing bags/items - was relatable to any and every person, causing the video’s viral nature.  Because United took a more reactive versus proactive approach, it put them at a disadvantage from when it actually started addressing Carroll’s concerns.  Rather than issuing any form of public apology, United solely used Twitter to state it had been addressing Carroll’s broken guitar.  United’s overall efforts were directed to extinguish the existing fire rather than address the recurring problem that the company faced; the company even lost one of Carroll’s bags after the incident, bolstering his case against United.  United could have taken this as an opportunity to utilize other forms of social media to inform the general public about how it is ramping up its customer service and training programs, to ensure that these types of incidents don’t happen again in the future.

2. Corporations can do a myriad of things to prepare for social media crises.  They are as follows:

1. Proactively prepare for these types of situations on all forms of social media by having crisis plans in place.  This should include monitoring communication that is taking place between consumers about relevant brands on different platforms.  This will let a company act quickly and decisively should some sort of crisis arise.
2. Be prepared to issue an authentic apology.  Having different templates in place for different types of issues could be a good idea so that the corporation’s response is quick.
3. Don’t ignore the problem.  In United’s case, Carroll’s issue had been ongoing for several months, but it was never appropriately addressed.  This caused Carroll to create a series of videos to sabotage United’s reputation and brand name.  Ignoring the problem initially can lead to larger problems in the future.
4. Follow up with unsatisfied customers.  Having the appropriate level of communication with customers is essential in making sure that their issues were completely addressed and that they are now satisfied with their purchase.  This can create brand loyalty out of a situation where the company was going to lose that customer (along with those potential customers that the unsatisfied customer tells).