Tumi vs. Travelpro vs. Briggs & Riley Quality
Mar 25, 2012, 8:46 pm
#136
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 2
Just the facts
I saw assorted posts about Briggs & Riley and as CEO thought it appropriate to set the record straight.
The company did run into financial hardships (including bankruptcy) in the late 90's and was acquired by US Luggage in 2000.
There was never any lapse in the warranty and it is a fundamental commitment that remains every much today as ever. Our simple belief and commitment is that we seek to create a true lifelong relationship with our customers and the warranty is our clearest example of this. We're not just about trying to sell a bag and move on. Our hope is that you'll keep coming back to us and tell your friends about us because we keep making even better bags that fit your changing needs not because your bag fell apart and needed to toss it to buy a new one. In fact we hope when you treat yourself to a new bag you'll save the old one from the landfill and pass it to your kids.
We call our warranty "Simple as that" because whatever and however your bag may have been damaged, we'll repair it at no charge. You just need to ship it or bring it to one of our repair centers.
Hope that clears up any and any confusion.
Thanks to all the current Briggs fans and ones who someday might become part of the family.
Richard Krulik
CEO
Briggs & Riley
The company did run into financial hardships (including bankruptcy) in the late 90's and was acquired by US Luggage in 2000.
There was never any lapse in the warranty and it is a fundamental commitment that remains every much today as ever. Our simple belief and commitment is that we seek to create a true lifelong relationship with our customers and the warranty is our clearest example of this. We're not just about trying to sell a bag and move on. Our hope is that you'll keep coming back to us and tell your friends about us because we keep making even better bags that fit your changing needs not because your bag fell apart and needed to toss it to buy a new one. In fact we hope when you treat yourself to a new bag you'll save the old one from the landfill and pass it to your kids.
We call our warranty "Simple as that" because whatever and however your bag may have been damaged, we'll repair it at no charge. You just need to ship it or bring it to one of our repair centers.
Hope that clears up any and any confusion.
Thanks to all the current Briggs fans and ones who someday might become part of the family.
Richard Krulik
CEO
Briggs & Riley
Mar 25, 2012, 9:05 pm
#137
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 173
Welcome Richard and thanks for shining some light on an otherwise more contentious than it should be matter!
A separate question - I saw the Transcend 20" widebody at Costco today while a couple of years ago I saw 22" baseline. Is it BR's strategy to penetrate the warehouse market or are these just one-off opportunities to pick up BR for a song?
Mar 26, 2012, 10:32 am
#138
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 137
I saw assorted posts about Briggs & Riley and as CEO thought it appropriate to set the record straight.
The company did run into financial hardships (including bankruptcy) in the late 90's and was acquired by US Luggage in 2000.
There was never any lapse in the warranty and it is a fundamental commitment that remains every much today as ever. Our simple belief and commitment is that we seek to create a true lifelong relationship with our customers and the warranty is our clearest example of this. We're not just about trying to sell a bag and move on. Our hope is that you'll keep coming back to us and tell your friends about us because we keep making even better bags that fit your changing needs not because your bag fell apart and needed to toss it to buy a new one. In fact we hope when you treat yourself to a new bag you'll save the old one from the landfill and pass it to your kids.
We call our warranty "Simple as that" because whatever and however your bag may have been damaged, we'll repair it at no charge. You just need to ship it or bring it to one of our repair centers.
Hope that clears up any and any confusion.
Thanks to all the current Briggs fans and ones who someday might become part of the family.
Richard Krulik
CEO
Briggs & Riley
The company did run into financial hardships (including bankruptcy) in the late 90's and was acquired by US Luggage in 2000.
There was never any lapse in the warranty and it is a fundamental commitment that remains every much today as ever. Our simple belief and commitment is that we seek to create a true lifelong relationship with our customers and the warranty is our clearest example of this. We're not just about trying to sell a bag and move on. Our hope is that you'll keep coming back to us and tell your friends about us because we keep making even better bags that fit your changing needs not because your bag fell apart and needed to toss it to buy a new one. In fact we hope when you treat yourself to a new bag you'll save the old one from the landfill and pass it to your kids.
We call our warranty "Simple as that" because whatever and however your bag may have been damaged, we'll repair it at no charge. You just need to ship it or bring it to one of our repair centers.
Hope that clears up any and any confusion.
Thanks to all the current Briggs fans and ones who someday might become part of the family.
Richard Krulik
CEO
Briggs & Riley
Especially controversial history that isn't really easily found on the net you could have stayed silent about.
It's also interesting to hear that the warranty wasn't affected through a buyout and bankruptcy which must have been really difficult to pull off.
Like I said I never had a problem before or after the one issue I had when I paid for a wheel, but it was the late 90's and I was traveling a lot from LA to Montreal where my company was headquartered.
I purchased a lot of luggage from Ogilvy and one of the other large high end departments store in Montreal as well as a shop on I think on St Catherine street. Those vendors always took pretty good care of me.
On the "lifetime" note - The bag with the fixed wheel is still being used today.
Thank you!
"Uncle" Dave Sampson
Last edited by Uncle Dave; Mar 26, 2012 at 10:51 am Reason: spelling
Mar 26, 2012, 10:40 am
#139
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 77
So to kind of close the loop on why that issue was raised in the first place, yeah, I think a company's warranty absolutely means something, and is indicative of how the company views the quality of their product. Does it NECESSARILY imply a direct correlation? No. But I think in general, companies that offer robust warranties use better materials and better construction techniques and put out a better product than those with weaker warranties. And I think the threat of a company going bankrupt and refusing to honor the warranty is such a theoretical issue that the odds of it happening to someone in reality are very slim to the point where it deserves no consideration as a factor in a buying decision. Certainly one cannot credibly claim that such risk mitigates the strength of the typical lifetime warranty.
Mar 26, 2012, 11:20 am
#140
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 137
It's all "theoretical" until it happens to you.
I saw on your review thread that you stated Tumi offered to give you a new bag for 100.00 and that you intend to take them up on it only to sell it online.
You also state flat out that Tumi didnt take care of you on this thread, but there are more than a few that would see that gesture as an effort they did not HAVE to make.
You didnt post this update from Tumi back to this thread.
I also find it interesting that you have decided on a Tom Binh Brain bag, (not because it isnt a great bag) but despite the fact that their warranty clearly states it will have a finite life VS the B&R which would replace it free of charge if you dragged it on the concrete for a mile behind a motorcycle.
You draw a correlation between warranty and quality with Tumi and B&R
Yet you wont draw the same correlation to build quality when it comes to Binh even though they tell you up front it does not a have lifetime warranty.
Kind of like me preferring Tumi to B&R regardless of the warranty.
It seems at least for now my memory served me correct about bankrupty- but then again without Krulik saying it it couldnt have happened because you couldnt find it anywhere on the web and I couldnt immediately find you a source. Hmm seems I was right about everything that ever happened not being immediately here for you to lookup.
Now something that didn't happen because you couldn't find it - is conveniently irrelevant. Yet you purchase the same way most of us do- you buy the bag you like and that works for you and live with the warranty it comes with.
Uncle Dave
I saw on your review thread that you stated Tumi offered to give you a new bag for 100.00 and that you intend to take them up on it only to sell it online.
You also state flat out that Tumi didnt take care of you on this thread, but there are more than a few that would see that gesture as an effort they did not HAVE to make.
You didnt post this update from Tumi back to this thread.
I also find it interesting that you have decided on a Tom Binh Brain bag, (not because it isnt a great bag) but despite the fact that their warranty clearly states it will have a finite life VS the B&R which would replace it free of charge if you dragged it on the concrete for a mile behind a motorcycle.
You draw a correlation between warranty and quality with Tumi and B&R
Yet you wont draw the same correlation to build quality when it comes to Binh even though they tell you up front it does not a have lifetime warranty.
Kind of like me preferring Tumi to B&R regardless of the warranty.
It seems at least for now my memory served me correct about bankrupty- but then again without Krulik saying it it couldnt have happened because you couldnt find it anywhere on the web and I couldnt immediately find you a source. Hmm seems I was right about everything that ever happened not being immediately here for you to lookup.
Now something that didn't happen because you couldn't find it - is conveniently irrelevant. Yet you purchase the same way most of us do- you buy the bag you like and that works for you and live with the warranty it comes with.
Uncle Dave
Last edited by Uncle Dave; Mar 26, 2012 at 11:31 am Reason: spelling cleanup
Mar 26, 2012, 11:33 am
#141
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 77
UD.....
Honestly, I couldn't remember which thread I posted that on re Tumi's response. Thought it was this one. Certainly not trying to hide it since it's on a thread here.
Re Tom Bihn's warranty, it absolutely is a lifetime warranty. Now they do say, as you state, that they will forever repair defects but they won't cover normal wear and tear. That said, I've seen testimonial after testimonial after testimonial from people who had bags for many years who had a zipper break or a seam bust loose and have that repaired or replaced at no charge by the company. The word of mouth that is out there about their warranty and customer service is rock solid. The same cannot be said for Tumi. It's not just my experience, there are a LOT of people out there writing about bags failing and Tumi not making it right.
Do I think their offer is a satisfactory resolution to my problem? No. I absolutely do not consider a zipper busting apart from its seam to be "normal wear and tear", and if they do, that's all the more reason not to buy their stuff any longer. They consider that normal, a zipper busting out. Tells me a lot about how they now view the quality of their product.
Your experience is real, but given that it's the only time I've EVER heard of such a thing, and according to the president of the company it shouldn't have even happened then, it is perfectly reasonable to consider this more of a theoretical risk than a practical one.
I know the kind of product Tumi is putting out there now. And the stories of their bags failing prematurely are becoming plentiful online. You don't have to look very far at all to find story after story after story similar to mine, but typically happening in a far shorter time frame. Their warranty pales in comparison to the Bihn warranty. "1 year worry free", what a complete joke. They should be embarrassed to write that, and instead they make it part of their marketing!
Y'all want to keep paying premium prices for that quality, have at it. Makes no difference to me. I'm very confident both in the product I just got and in the company standing behind it.
Honestly, I couldn't remember which thread I posted that on re Tumi's response. Thought it was this one. Certainly not trying to hide it since it's on a thread here.
Re Tom Bihn's warranty, it absolutely is a lifetime warranty. Now they do say, as you state, that they will forever repair defects but they won't cover normal wear and tear. That said, I've seen testimonial after testimonial after testimonial from people who had bags for many years who had a zipper break or a seam bust loose and have that repaired or replaced at no charge by the company. The word of mouth that is out there about their warranty and customer service is rock solid. The same cannot be said for Tumi. It's not just my experience, there are a LOT of people out there writing about bags failing and Tumi not making it right.
Do I think their offer is a satisfactory resolution to my problem? No. I absolutely do not consider a zipper busting apart from its seam to be "normal wear and tear", and if they do, that's all the more reason not to buy their stuff any longer. They consider that normal, a zipper busting out. Tells me a lot about how they now view the quality of their product.
Your experience is real, but given that it's the only time I've EVER heard of such a thing, and according to the president of the company it shouldn't have even happened then, it is perfectly reasonable to consider this more of a theoretical risk than a practical one.
I know the kind of product Tumi is putting out there now. And the stories of their bags failing prematurely are becoming plentiful online. You don't have to look very far at all to find story after story after story similar to mine, but typically happening in a far shorter time frame. Their warranty pales in comparison to the Bihn warranty. "1 year worry free", what a complete joke. They should be embarrassed to write that, and instead they make it part of their marketing!
Y'all want to keep paying premium prices for that quality, have at it. Makes no difference to me. I'm very confident both in the product I just got and in the company standing behind it.
Mar 26, 2012, 6:18 pm
#142
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: NY Metro Area
Programs: AA 2MM Yay!, UA MM, Costco General Member
Posts: 49,053
As I mentioned either upthread or on another thread, I had a B&R bag that actually broke. It was old, and used very heavily. The handle broke on one side. I could (and did) still use it for the trip I was on, but it clearly needed fixing when I returned. So I took it and another B&R bag that the TSA appeared to have cut the zipper pulls off of many years ago and also had a small tear in it to B&R a couple weeks ago. The zipper pulls had been that way for probably 10 years I just never bothered to get it fixed. B&R called last week to tell me they were ready. I picked them up today. Fixed good as new, no charge. These bags were both over 10 (one maybe closer to 15) years old and have been through the mill. Up until last year I was traveling about 200,000 miles per year and used both of these a lot. I'm very happy with the service and the bags. Off on another trip with one of them tomorrow.
Mar 29, 2012, 7:02 am
#143
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 2
Happy to clear up the confusion. Items you may see at Costco are strictly one-offs that are discontinued items in very limited supplies. Specialty luggage stores are where Briggs & Riley is sold day in and day out with a full breadth of assortment. We devote a lot of training of sales staff in the specialty stores so they can provide solid guidance to help travelers find the right bags and get a comprehensive understanding of buying high quality luggage.
Mar 30, 2012, 10:18 am
#145
Moderator: Travel Safety/Security, Travel Tools, California, Los Angeles; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: oneword Emerald
Posts: 20,653
Wirelessly posted (htc Evo 4G: Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.3.5; en-us; Sprint APA9292KT Build/GRJ90) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1)
...in chocolate brown colored luggage.
...in chocolate brown colored luggage.
Mar 30, 2012, 12:09 pm
#146
Join Date: Feb 2000
Posts: 952
Mar 31, 2012, 11:43 am
#147
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 1
Ruelala
Hi,
This is my first post. I need a new set of luggage and wanted to know if it was worth the $40 up-charge for the Briggs & Riley 27" one-touch expandable vs. just the expandable. The differences as I see them are that the one-touch expands without the extra expanding zipper and has a removable, waterproof dop kit.
Can anyone let me know if the one-touch is preferable to merely the expandable and why?
Thanks.
RDS in Chicago
This is my first post. I need a new set of luggage and wanted to know if it was worth the $40 up-charge for the Briggs & Riley 27" one-touch expandable vs. just the expandable. The differences as I see them are that the one-touch expands without the extra expanding zipper and has a removable, waterproof dop kit.
Can anyone let me know if the one-touch is preferable to merely the expandable and why?
Thanks.
RDS in Chicago
Mar 31, 2012, 5:42 pm
#149
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 77
I think Saddleback Leather makes exceptionally beautiful, well designed, well made, and pragmatically unusable stuff. I remember looking at one of their briefcases. It weighed 7.5 pounds. Just the briefcase, empty! Are you kidding me? Travel in Europe with their weight restrictions and the case alone is taking up much of your total weight allotment. And then the buckles? I gotta undo and redo a buckle every time I want to get something out of it?
No way. Their stuff is just too heavy and inefficient for my needs. No question it's beautiful stuff, though.
No way. Their stuff is just too heavy and inefficient for my needs. No question it's beautiful stuff, though.
Mar 31, 2012, 7:50 pm
#150
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 138
Great to see the CEO of B&R on this forum.
I bought my first B&R carry-on in 1996 while I was in Berkeley. It is the equivalent of the present B&R 18" Baseline and still worksand looks great even though it has been checked a few times. I now have a KR306X4 which is the best computer bag I have owned and I have tried many.
B&R certainly have me as a fan and I will keep coming back.
I bought my first B&R carry-on in 1996 while I was in Berkeley. It is the equivalent of the present B&R 18" Baseline and still worksand looks great even though it has been checked a few times. I now have a KR306X4 which is the best computer bag I have owned and I have tried many.
B&R certainly have me as a fan and I will keep coming back.
Happy to clear up the confusion. Items you may see at Costco are strictly one-offs that are discontinued items in very limited supplies. Specialty luggage stores are where Briggs & Riley is sold day in and day out with a full breadth of assortment. We devote a lot of training of sales staff in the specialty stores so they can provide solid guidance to help travelers find the right bags and get a comprehensive understanding of buying high quality luggage.