Hard to imagine how it got this beat up

It's amazing that they can repair damage of that level. Amazing amount of handwork craftsmanship! I wonder how the cost of that repair compares to the cost of a new tuba.

Jeff

Looks like a lot of work and a very high degree of skill to get these results. To find someone who can do any sort of repair work nowadays is becoming hard to find.

My limited experience in machining metal tells me all this would be difficult to learn to do. I also assume that the metal in certain places has to be stretched out. I wonder how that effects the sound.

Billy

The reason for the subject title? Many years ago after working on a project in Europe I was waiting at Heathrow to board a flight back to Australia. I noticed that a nearby plane was being loaded with what was obviously a set of musical instruments from a symphony orchestra. The shapes of the cases were unmistakable. French Horns, Tubas, Cellos, Double-basses, percussion instruments, and more.

The handlers were just 'chucking' the cases from the wagon onto the conveyor belt leading in to the airline's hold. Some made it. Some missed, hit the ground and needed another try. None of it was a delicate operation.

I pictured that Tuba in my mind.

I've seen that many times, though not with musical instruments. There often appears no respect. They're probably time pressured, so it may be a management not a handler issue.

In the late 1980'ies I worked as bagage handler for SAS in Copenhagen Airport - let me put it this way, I would not let my precious instruments go to the cargo "hole" unless I packed it like a Chinese vase.

I know a lot of aircrafts these day use luggage containers in stead of having to load luggage manually, but still - it wasn't the type of job, where you bothered how you treated "goods" - and I imagine this hasn't changed.

This says it all.....
true story.....





As I recall.... UNITED never made it right..... but Taylor stepped in and gave him a brand new Taylor.



By Sierra Robinson and Miriam Raftery

June 18, 2012 (San Diego) -- After United Airlines’ baggage handlers broke the neck of his Taylor guitar, Dave Carroll didn’t just get mad--he got even.

Carroll wrote and starred in a music video that has now had over 12 million hits on Youtube. Titled United Breaks Guitars, the video uses humor to illustrate the troubles Carroll went through trying to get compensated for his loss. Its success has been hailed as a model of how one person can make a difference by using social media.

Carroll battled United Airlines for nine months, getting no satisfaction. He then decided to make the video, which swiftly became an Internet sensation. As a result, Carroll has gone on to a new career as a speaker advising corporations on the importance of customer service in today’s Internet era. Next up, a book authored by Carroll will soon hit store shelves.

After the video was posted, United offered him a flight voucher equivalent to the cost of his custom guitar, but Carroll declined.

“He told them he didn’t put the video up to get the money…it was about making a point,” Jill Carroll, his wife, told ECM. United donated the funds to a charity instead.

Interestingly enough, four days after video was posted online, United Airlines’ stock price fell 10%, according to The Times in London. This cost stockholders around $180 million in value.

Carroll has since made two more related videos. However, his newest project has been his book, Uniited Breaks Guitars: The power of one voice in the age of social media.

Bob Taylor, owner and founder of the world-famous Taylor Guitars in El Cajon, donated two new guitars to Carroll following the incident and has praised the impact of Carroll’s video on the company’s business.

“Dave Carroll’s United Breaks Guitars is a brilliant use of social media,” said Taylor. “The exposure we gained from the message, well placed, was essentially free and had a very positive effect on our brand and our business.”

For more information, visit www.UnitedBreaksGuitars.com and view the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=5YGc4zOqozo .

The whole flying experience is a perfect case study in how NOT to do business.

Last time I had to go across the country, I drove.

Yes, Herb. That pretty much sums it up.

The event I witnessed didn't appear to show that there was any urgency to get the orchestra's equipment loaded. It simply showed a "couldn't care less" / "couldn't give a damn" approach. And just as Dave Carroll witnessed, it didn't happen behind the scenes, it happened in an open viewing area for everyone to see.

With Australia's leading Airline - QANTAS - the situation would be very similar...the handlers jobs were cancelled, with COVID as an excuse, and a hire company brought in, wages lowered, staff numbers reduced, pressure added and rosters wrecked. All while the airline received billions of the tax payers dollars to retain jobs n services. Now the CEO & snr exec have received HUGE bonuses for the savings they've while the company has lost its status, market share and reputation. Stuff gets lost, damaged, held back becasue the handlers can't get the load done with the reduced numbers and time frames. Consumers lose out on care and caution and the workers on job security, superannuation, company loyalty and the bigger picture.

The explanation is pretty simple - the glamour of aviation is far gone. What is offered now is a bus ride in the sky - unless you pay Premium or first class, which very few people find affordable.

The issue is, that airline companies are still trying to tell the passengers, that they deliver exceptional service like the old days. PR wise they ask for trouble. It's a race to the bottom of ticket prices, wages, comfort and security.

Sad but true - said the aviation fanatic...

Yep, definitely agree with that...a race to the bottom. WalMartAir is just around the corner!

I used to fly extensively both domestic and international. It was fun, special and comfortable. Today it's a bus ride in the air. I wish it wasn't so, but it is. Crowded flights, rude people, cramped seating, lost luggage...not too much going for it anymore. Faster than walking but I'm not so sure about anything else.

I cringe at the thought of another flight these days.

Jeff

Race to the bottom....

yes this happened in my industry as well. When I started my business over 30 years ago, it was possible to sell an alarm system to a customer....residential or commercial, and make a nice return for labor and markup. Over the years, a lot of trunk slammers came in and were willing to work for much less, hoping to make up the difference on volume and higher monitoring (recurring revenue) fees. I saw install prices dropping drastically, especially in the residential markets. Then came the DIY stuff like simpli-safe, ring, and several others who destroyed whatever perceived value remained in the minds of residential customers for a full service, experienced, alarm installation company.

Then... covid hit and the whole stay home for 2 weeks thing which lasted well into a second year. I saw my phone literally stop ringing by the end of the second month into the shutdown. People were laid off, businesses considered "non-essential" forced to close.... literally no one had any money. The only good thing in this was I was literally only a few weeks away from full retirement age so I decided to pull the plug so to speak. I decided to retire and stop taking a paycheck and keep the company running on a part time basis. We still haven't recovered from the disaster that was wrought by means of that shutdown. A friend of mine in the business has also seen the same thing happen to his business. He's also at retirement and decided to do the same thing. We're both part time right now. I might do a couple of hours in the business one day a week. He spends a lot of time at the river relaxing. I literally spend more time just keeping the books and govt requirements than I do working productively.

From what I'm seeing in other industries.......

The race to the bottom is almost complete.

From my perspective, a big part of the problem (at least in the US) is that globalization and the "gig-economy" has all but done away with loyalty in the workplace. Employers are not loyal to their employees and vice versa.

There was a time that a blue-collar worker could steadily work his/her way up the company ladder over the course of say 30 or 40 years and retire with a relatively nice nest egg and their house paid off. For their part, white-collar workers could expect a comfortable retirement check each month until they die and in some cases a hefty death benefit for their surviving spouse.

These "perks" have all but vanished due to global market forces and so nobody is loyal to anyone. Small business owners can't afford to pay decent wages because their competition isn't. Employers pay the minimum they can get away with and in return they get low quality/low motivation workers who quit for an additional 25 cents per hour somewhere else, creating turn-over and churn. Meanwhile the ratio of CEO salary to average worker salary continues to climb.

Ever call tech support for a problem with your cell phone or smart TV?
1. You better have good communication skills because the person answering the phone probably won't and
2. The better educated you are to help them help you is invaluable.

On the 2nd point I'm slowly reaching a point of cell phone knowledge that's beginning to rival that of the tech support people I call for help.