Ken hAAmer

You just need to stick a "Designed by Frank Geary" label on it, then sell it for $3500.

bingocallerb22

Cur, yes, but not referring to carry-on. I sort of feel responsible for that, it is in my care. It is when I give my checked bag to AC, it is in their care and they damage it.
Lets not always blame the victim... what if the pax packs “un-stupidly” and there is still damage? Or the bag is damaged, not the contents?
I've seen the whiskey bottle example before. Actually, IMHO it is not a very fragile item. The round shape is structurally one of the strongest... but I have seen someone standing beside the carousel with a suitcase dripping red wine (a charter).

Thinking about a previous comment about bags being damaged by the airport systems, not AC per se. I gave my bag to AC. To me they are responsible, I have to deal with them. If the common services at the airport are responsible for damages then AC has the responsibility to deal with them... I think this is a common-law principle.

I am still wondering about LH covering broken wheels, while AC does not. How is this possible? Does AC have the relatively longest list of damages they don't cover? What about their “duty of care”?

cur

I agree, there is dammmmaggee, like the post with the mangled metal suitcase. That's messed up, it probably got ran over or something. But where is that balance between care of duty, negligence, and regular wear and tear? Your suitcase has one less wheel when you get it back than when you checked it, but what if that wheel was defective, hanging on a thread, etc.? Should the company be fully responsible for your crappy bag's crappiness? Was the airline failing to uphold its care of duty when one of their staffers went to pick up a bag by the handle, but the bag was so heavy the handle just ripped off? What if the bag isn't heavy at all, but the handle still breaks because it is that crappy? The reality is that your bag will be dropped, shoved, pushed, pulled, thrown, etc., and because it cannot withstand this handling of others (sorry, but your suitcase is just that, a suitcase, it's not a living thing, it's going to be thrown, dropped, shoved, pushed, etc) means the airline is responsible for what could be poor construction of a bag?

I would go off of negligence and outcome as the metric, not just outcome. A suitcase getting run over and dented is negligence. But someone throwing a 50lb bag 6-15ft inside a cargo compartment is 3ft high in order to get the flight out on time (in order to allow cnx bags plenty of time to make their onward flight), and that bag exploding because it is a piece of crap...doesn't seem very negligent to me. Or a handle being ripped off when grabbed by a rampie; I think you have to go after the cause, not the symptom: handles exist so they can be grabbed, and cheap handles will break eventually. Simply because a handle broke while in the care of the airline doesn't make the airline responsible IMO. That's like saying the daycare is inevitably responsible-and automatically blameworthy-because my kid had a cardiac arrest and had half their face paralyzed while under their care. Sure, the daycare could be responsible and blameworthy, but simply because something occurred under their care doesn't mean it is automatically responsibility carte blanche. Or what if you leave your 1994 Ford Windstar to a valet, the valet guy goes to open the door, and the handle breaks? Or the van hits a pillar because the brakes failed? Is the valet responsible for this damage?

With LH replacing your wheel, wow...that's a good airline. Maybe it's because they are a large company sponsored and supported by the government that operate in a very consumer-centric culture? Or because the laws in Germany or different?

I haven't gone through the process of a majorly damaged bag, so I'm not jaded, but I'm pretty sure I will be jaded. You just have to be like that sh## disturbing math professor from YWG that goes to the CTA over everything.

Ancien Maestro

What damage? I mean according to AC, this is regular wear and tear.

zkzkz

What's to wonder at? They have to get the doors closed!

jarusoba

Probably. And the Rimowa guy at the dealer told me a lot of baggage handlers love to toss Rimowas around to see how well the Rimowas can hold up to abuses.

jarusoba

I had AC replace a damaged wheel for my suitcase a couple of times.^

Last year, AC damaged a rivet of my Rimowa case. I showed them. Their answer was, well, this is an expensive suitcase. It would cost them a lot to fix it if they use their baggage repair agent. He suggested me to take it to Rimowa and have it fixed and he would pay for my expenses. Rimowa fixed it for free and I just charged them the shipping.^ So yes, AC did intend to fix even a small rivet damage.

Ancien Maestro

Glad to hear AC actually follows up on damaged luggage. Which airport did you discover your luggage damaged (sorry if you stated in your earlier posts)?

emma69

Some airlines will note 'crappy bag' wih hanging of wheels etc. when you check it in - this is one airline's (that I happened to know off the top of my head do it) verbage:

"Any baggage may only be accepted if it is packed and secured in suitcases or similar containers and capable of withstanding reasonable handling.
Any passenger presenting baggage that is insecurely or insufficiently packed, or already damaged must sign a disclaimer waiving their right to any subsequent claim."

The thing I found quite funny, when my last bag was damaged (destroyed may be a better term...) was that it was a brand-new Air Canada branded suitcase - clearly the competitor with whom I was flying wanted me to remain loyal to AC!

hjohnson

I once had my backpack run over by a large forklift out on the flightline. Thankfully it was a soft sided bag, though nothing in my shaving kit survived... You would not believe the goo you get when you mix shampoo, shaving cream, sun block, and toothpaste...

Tangoer

Did you have a Lute packed in there by any chance?

Put this one on Youtube...can you sing?

Ancien Maestro

Clearly competitor jealousy.. as a result of fine AC luggage.

Away from YYZ

Holy *hit! That's a complete write off.

Maybe we should start a thread with messed up luggage...

jarusoba

It was at YYZ when they decided to be responsible for the damaged rivet. I brought it back a couple of days after I left the airport with the bag.

It was at LHR when they took responsibility for the damaged wheel.

It was at BKK when LH busted my Rimowa baggage. An LH agent was waiting on the carousel with me to retrieve the damaged bag. They knew I would have a heart attack when I saw the bag.

jarusoba

No and no. But if LH didn't reimburse me for the loss, I would! They even paid me for the upgrade (to a better, newer model). They reimbursed me at the full price and I got to keep the VAT refund.^