In late December, AA broke my GF's TravelPro MaxLite Air 28" checked bag. I encouraged her to duct tape it temporarily to get it home, but she didn't want to do that and instead threw it away and bought a different brand in Barcelona (TravelPro was not available).

I took photos of the broken bag and filed a warranty claim w/TravelPro and I provided them with a receipt. They at first argued with me as I hadn't photographed the inside tag w/the model number and such, but without too much fuss, they did replace the bag.