conejo23

I get what you're saying. To me, the stronger the warranty, the better your odds of getting a trouble-free 5 years (or more) from the bargain bag.

I've used TravelPro in the past. Gotten reasonably good use out of the two bags we purchased, but was never particularly impressed with their functionality, build quality or style. Always felt like when you get a kinda cheap but kinda ok rental car and it does the trick but you just can't wait to get home to drive the one in your own garage.

I'm probably going to replace the large Travel Pro 27" units we have with the ebags wheeled duffel. Positive customer reviews combined with a rock solid warranty make me think this is a reasonable choice. We'll see.

Megn

The problem with the cheaper bags is that you don't get to decide when your zipper will fail. For me, it was the morning of the flight home, with about half an hour before the shuttle took me to the airport. I think that higher quality equals less likely to leave me in the lurch.

simba8

Maybe. For luggage alot of the warranty protection that is offered is already baked in the price that your paying. The profit margins on luggage are quite large which is why there are so many companies and manufacturers that sell luggage.

Well it seems like alot of folks do end up using their warranty. Think about the amount of people who probably buy the bag, have a problem and then dont bother to follow up with eagle creek etc. Thats extra money in eagle creeks pockets as they have already priced in the cost of offering you another bag just in case. You may pay $180 bucks, but I assure you, that the cost of a replacement bag is nowhere near $180. Its probably more along the line of $20(basically cost).

conejo23

Simba, I understand what you're saying, but I still think my assertion has merit, that the strength of the warranty gives some indication of how the manufacturer views the quality of their product. There are those who give a 'limited lifetime warranty' that sounds good at first glance but has so many exclusions to be almost meaningless. Then there are those like Briggs and Riley, or ebags, where it appears the warranty is simply "if it gets screwed up, we'll take care of it. Every time."

Tumi priced in the cost of their lifetime warranty, and then their quality took a dump and I'll bet the actual costs of that warranty program skyrocketed to the point they felt they had no fiscal choice but to modify it. Instead, they should've addressed the quality side, but sadly, they didn't.

Tumi doesn't offer a lifetime warranty any longer, for a reason. Their quality is nowhere close to what it was back when they did offer it.

simba8

Yes, but a traveler never gets to decide when a zipper will fail no matter what the bag.
True the occurance will be less likely, but no less disappointing when it happens.
There are reports of folks whose bags such as (B&R, ebags, Victorinox) fail all the time and then have to use the warranty.Consumers do pay for that up front for that.

I spent $50 six years ago on a 5 piece set from some department store (i was just out from school..no $$)when I started to work and needed to travel weekly for my job. I'm STILL using that set today. Everything works. I got lucky. The large bag has a bit of scuffle on it, but I get GREAT value from it for the amount I paid.

A year later I bought a rolling duffle bag from Eddie Bauer for about $75. It works great (BTW im pretty sure that their old manufacturer now makes bags under the name "Athalon").

I'd like to get value for my buck, without paying a ton for it up front.

GadgetFreak

B&R bags simply do not fail all the time. I actually had the first thing I would call a failure on one of mine last week as I was arriving at the airport to depart on a trip. It was at least a 10 year old bag that gets a lot of use. And it didnt completely fail. One of the two columns on the handle broke. But I was able to complete the trip, including rolling the bag with a briefcase sitting on top of it, with the remaining arm.

simba8

^ Agreed 100%.
But it doesnt mean that its (far) better product than another that doesnt offer the same warranty. It could mean that the manufacturer choose not to bake into the MSRP of the bag, the cost of reparing or replacing that bag IF something should go wrong.


That seems to be the consensus on the board.

conejo23

Well, from what little research I've done so far, product quality does seem to correlate to some degree with the strength of the warranty.

Are there any great quality lines with crappy warranties?

Now, I completely agree that a strong warranty doesn't mean the $300 bag is better than it's $170 competitor. But I'll take the $170 bag with the strong warranty over the $300 bag with the lousy warranty every day of the week.

Mudfish

You may be right, but Tommy Boy disagrees.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8jIIPocqUU

conejo23

Great movie!

informedgent

It turns out Tumi doesn't give a lot of bang for the buck in the warranty department. Briggs still seems to be the gold standard, but there are a few other good ones. I did a full review here,

and the comparison chart is available here.

CApreppie

You forgot Victorinox's lifetime warranty on its nicer lines. It includes wear and tear and damage from airlines. From what people have stated, they will fix problems readily.

conejo23

eBags also has a very strong warranty. Much better than Tumi's.

Tumi's warranty is very frustrating for me. I'm a long time Tumi user. As I stated on my computer backpack review thread, I've had a Tumi ballistic briefcase that I've loved, but the dang thing is literally decomposing and I've already had to send it back for repair 18 months ago and that cost over $100. Not putting any more money into this bag.

If I was confident in Tumi's quality and warranty, I would just buy a Tumi laptop backpack. I love their materials, designs and functionality. But I'm not spending that money on a bag whose zippers, stitching and panels are going to start falling apart in 5-6 years. Which is precisely what I believe would happen were I to buy another Tumi case.

Uncle Dave

Can you send a set of pictures to my personal mail account?

I'm very curious to see how this looks. Ping me and Ill ping you back.

Thanks!

Uncle Dave

conejo23

You want me to send you pictures of my Tumi briefcase's defects?