Well, FWIW, DL is footing the bill to have it repaired, its just taking an extremely long time to do so. I wanted the hard shell with the metal boarder between the 2 sides so no one can stick a ball pen in the zipper and place something in my luggage I am not aware of. This is the main reason I bought this luggage. I travel a lot to many Asian countries and it has been no to happen where people place drugs or other contraband in some unsuspecting persons luggage.