Originally Posted by
hornillas1
I own both Tumi and RIMOWA-branded luggage.
I have used warranties from both companies, successfully.
One advantage, that I do appreciate about RIMOWA, is that many basic-level repairs can be made in-house, as their flagship stores carry plenty of inventory on bench stock parts, required to maintain and repair RIMOWA trollies.
Compared to Tumi, this feature requires bags to be shipped, where maintenance is done at their repair facility in Georgia (for US repairs). This adds to the amount of days required for a maintenance request to be completed (plus paying for shipping costs).
Just like with all equipment, it lasts as long as you take care of it.
Again, a product's "lifetime" is not the same as a person. Products are not intended to last forever. Hence, a company could not be profitable if you never bought their product again. After-sales service is never a company's primary source of revenue. Especially not for luxury retailers.
Many, and I mean many, luggage shops can do simple Tumi repairs like broken zipper. I doubt a plain old luggage store cannot begin to fix a Rimowa without proper parts. Let's be honest with ourselves. It's like a night day difference. You can't even attempt to fix a Rimowa until you get the proper part shipped in, or your send the bag (I meant trunk) into the Rimowa authorized repair center somewhere or take it there yourself in this large countries. it's not like the dense places like Munich or Hong Kong where you can take your bag to a shop.
but I must admit the old stickers on Rimowa trunks are kinda cool. I like it so much I may buy one for Mrs. MellonC who values beauty over function.