Travellers with grievances have learned through bitter experience, that complaining to an airline requires a great deal of stamina and patience. It often takes several emails, waiting endlessly on the phone and a deluge of letters before an acknowledgement of correspondence has been received from an airline.
It seems that consumer revenge is best dished out online. Musician Dave Carroll has a grievance. He travelled with United Airlines only to find that his checked-in guitar was broken when it arrived at its destination.
After nine months of trying to get the airline to admit responsibility, the singer/songwriter turned his complaint into a song and posted it on Youtube.
His toe-tapping humourous video has become a viral internet hit within 48 hours and Mr Carroll is currently planning two more songs.
The first video (shown here) has been viewed almost 4 million times and has hit the right note with thousands of listeners who had experienced similar problems with airlines.
As a result United Airlines has borne the brunt of an onslaught of bad publicity and is now bracing itself for more.
To get more from Life, click here to sign up for our free Life newsletter.