That is often a good solution. Last month, I had a 90 min delay because on an inbound aircraft, an oversized bag was placed in the overhead bin, shifted, and made the bin unable to open. It shifted in flight and it took that long for the mechanics to come. I felt REALLY bad for the other guy whose bag was in the bin, as it was small, but could not be extricated. I've never sen a bin that couldn't be opened before due to oversized luggage, although I've seen many bins inopped, or small delays in getting them repaired. This was a first for me. The customers coming off the aircraft were all swearing about some passenger when I met the plane, had no clue what that was about until I realized it was the 1st class overhead bin that the bag owner and crew tried to open for about 5 min before allowing anyone to deplane as they were blocking the egress (single aisle aircraft, front row.)

Most suitcases are fine, the killers are some models wheels, and those expander pockets being packed to make the suitcases far bigger than 9' wide. I'd say 90% of the bags that are gate checked due to size are because the 9' are expanded into 11-15' by single and double expansion pockets.