FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Tumi vs. Briggs & Riley

Jan 9, 2016 | 7:30 pm

#16

mspreh

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Join Date: Jan 2011

Location: In order of nights spent: MSP, ORD, OGG, FCO, LHR

Programs: DL 1MM Dia, AA Plat, UA 1MM Gold, HHonors LT Dia, Marriott/SPG LT Plat Prem

Posts: 473

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duke892

Whoa whoa whoa, wait a minute my friend.

Tumi is in NO way superior to BR. The weight, the build quality, options, and warranty.

Let's compare the 21" wide-body (21" x 15" x 9") from BR Baseline and the Tumi Kirtland 22" (22" x 16" x 9").

The Tumi is smaller off the hop (38L), whilst having slightly better organization by utilizing a hard-shelled style of having a 50/50 split. Which is odd for a soft-sided peice of luggage.

BR is 44L with one packing area and the lid having a tri-fold garment bag (last fold is removable to turn the garment bag into a large lid pocket).

You mentioned expansion? The rigid frame expansion from BR is called the CX expansion, and it blows standard zippered expansions out of the water. The idea is to pack your bag with the expansion UP at first. then, once you've packed what you want to take, you zip the lid shut and push down on either end of the bag. The ratchet system in the bag then compresses your clothes and brings the bag back down to the necessary 9". (This is also available in the 19" international carry on (19" x 14" x 9")).

To expand the Tumi, you use a standard zip. To compress it, you basically have to sit on the bag and wrench the zipper shut. Which is EXTREMELY bad for a nylon coil zipper.

As for warranty, BR does NOT need to go right back to them!! It can go to any authorized luggage repair shop, and warranty is honored (No shipping charges). Airline damage, accidental, intentional, stupidity, they cover it all (I have see them literally run over, dragged three blocks and replaced). The rule is, if it can't be fixed then it's replaced at no charge to the customer. (Source: I work in luggage repair). They send the parts directly to repair centers for a quick turn around, and this warranty can be accessed globally and without a receipt. Every BR bag has a serial number and bar-code on a metal plate inside of it. If a bag is replaced, the metal plate has to be taken out, to insure no one pulls the broken bag out of the dump to get it replaced (this could easily happen if a plate was left in).

Tumi will NOT send parts to luggage repair centers, and luggage repair centers can NOT bill Tumi for repair, thus their warranty is not covered everywhere. (Example, Tumi bags in Canada need to go to Tumi in Calgary.) They also got rid of their lifetime warranty and only offer a 5 year LIMITED warranty, only the first year covers airline damage as well. Be wary of the word "LIMITED", Heys and Samsonite say the same thing.

Volume of sales does not actually show whats better. It may even show that Tumi is having customers need to purchase replacements because their bag ran out of warranty.

All in all, it doesn't matter how much you spend, or how tough it is. You can spend 100$ on a bag and have it last 8 years, or 800$ and lose a wheel the first trip. -Warranty - That's what you look at.

Quick tips:
# year limited warranty - Bag is covered for man. fac. defects for # years.
Lifetime Limited warranty - Bag is covered for man. fac. defects for the life of the BAG.
Simple as That, No Matter What warranty (BR and Eagle Creek) - All damage, no matter what causes the damage is covered.

Simple as that.

The Kirkland is not one of Tumi's signature bags. If you are comparing baseline to Tumi you need Alpha 2. So your weight and capacity measurements are way off.

2nd Tumi sells 72 pieces for every one that B&R does. Yet B&R processed in 2014 almost 3 times as many warranty claims for bags that were less than a year old. Sorry but 34% of all the warranty claims against B&R needed to be sent in to B&R in 2014. If you work in luggage repair, you would know that local centers can't fix very much other than handles, wheels, zippers, bumpers, and a few other issues. Compressed shell, cracked frame, etc they have you send them the bag. If B&R can't fix it (not the maybe local repair center) then they replace it. Tumi stores give you loaners until your bag comes back B&R doesn't. So quality goes to Tumi in number of claims in 1st year, 2nd year, and 3rd year of ownership. OK B&R will take it back even if the airline runs over it with a truck, plane, or even a bulldozer, but that has nothing to do with the quality of the bag.

I work on the manufacturing side, we make and source sports bags. I know a lot of people at all of the major major brands.

Nothing like comparing a taking the Porsche (Tumi Alpha 2) and then comparing your top to a VW model because it's from the same company and similar in size.

Please make a realistic comparison.

Sorry I'd rather have a bag that doesn't need a repair in the first place than have a bag with a lifetime warranty that does need one. Let alone when they charge you $10 for a self repair kit to ship to you that has a total cost of less than $5.

I have 2 co-workers that spent more money shipping their Torq bags back to B&R (more than once) just to get them repaired because the local places couldn't do it, than what they spent on the bags.

Again nothing like landing in Italy with a brand new bag and having wheels come off before you get out of the airport! Then being told that you have to pay to ship it from their to get it fixed. Then you have to pay the shipping back home to the US. What a joke.

If you want a quality bag for the money where they stand by the warranty, and don't have very many warranty claims without getting into the major expensive lines then Victorinix and Tumi are the two best options, if money isn't and object Brics and Rimowa are the best. Those are the statistical facts.

Last edited by mspreh; Jan 9, 2016 at 8:15 pm

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