>>at least 50% of the failures will happen while you are gone
i'd love to know where you pulled that number from, but i can probably guess.
as for your coworker, had the failed bag been a Tumi, she would have had to send it to Germany instead of Switzerland. not much difference, i think.
Tumi used to have a lifetime warranty. now, they only offer an unconditional replacement for only the first year. there must have been a reason why they stopped.
i would not base a purchase on solely whether the bag came with a lifetime warranty, especially if the bag will be used primarily as a carry-on but there's no denying that if all things are equal, the lifetime replacement is a nice little extra.
ps. i have both tumi and B&R bags hence no dog in this fight.
Originally Posted by
mspreh
I was actually logging on, to post this story. We just hired a new person on our Marketing team, so she accompanied me on a trip to Milan, we just got back last night. She had a brand new Briggs Torq (2nd trip with the bag), it was the medium size. Upon landing in Milan, she got her checked bag, and we were off. When we met our drive, he asked to take her bag, she pushed it over to him, and a little fumble occurred on the hand-off. Her Torq tipped over, and two of the four wheel casings fell out (re-enforced corner areas with black hard plastic). The driver carried her bag to the car then, as it would no longer roll.
She then looked up the information on repair, and no repair centers in Milan, she contacted Briggs, and the best they could do was tell her to send it in, and they would send it back to her home. Needless to say, she was out the shipping on the bag from Milan to Zurich (122 Euros). She might get her bag back in the US sometime in January they told her. She also had to purchase a new bag to get her belongings safely back home.
So what does her lifetime warranty get her?
Another reason why a lifetime warranty doesn't really help, when if you fly 100% direct flights, at least 50% of the failures will happen while you are gone, and you need luggage to get you back home.