Tumi vs. Briggs & Riley
#46
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Danville, CA, USA;
Programs: UA Plat & 1MM, WN CP, Marriott LT Plat, Hyatt Exp, Hilton Gold
Posts: 15,177
I have some TravelPro Crew 5? bags that are 10 years old. WN snapped off the handles (attached by cheapo plastic - clearly shoddy mfg) on 2 of them - local shop charged @$35 for repair. No hassle, ready within a week. Of course they all look pretty worn now but I don't need to impress the bellhops and baggage handlers. (Needless to say I wasn't impressed by the TravelPro "lifetime warranty" which didn't cover
)
Anything that doesn't permit you to repair at a local shop (in my case actually 35-50 miles) is worthless. I'm not going to package up and pay 2-way shipping for a broken bag. If can't deliver a Costco or Nordstrom warranty (return any time for full refund, no questions asked) then I don't consider it a true warranty.

Anything that doesn't permit you to repair at a local shop (in my case actually 35-50 miles) is worthless. I'm not going to package up and pay 2-way shipping for a broken bag. If can't deliver a Costco or Nordstrom warranty (return any time for full refund, no questions asked) then I don't consider it a true warranty.
#47
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: West Chester, OH
Programs: Delta SM, Hilton Honors Diamond, Marriott Silver
Posts: 254
I was looking at the Tumi Alpha 2 International 4 wheeler yesterday. It looked like you could pack a mens suit on the side with the Tumi hangers. Does this work well for all you Tumi folks?
#48
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 2
I was sold a defective bag
I had heard a lot about Briggs and Riley suitcases and decided to buy one. I was going back and forth between Tumi and B&R. Tumi was cheaper but I decided to buy B&R from the Luggage Factory at Chicago outlet Mall. I travel every week for work and the reason I paid almost $600 was so that I could get a quality product and have no hassles at least for a few years. Boy was I wrong. The very first time I was rolling it to my hotel in Manhattan, the handle collapsed and I thought nothing much, perhaps user error. So i made sure to extend it fully, it happened again and again and again. So called the store, they said well it is used so cannot replace it. Gave me a rep's number who wanted me to mail them the bag as they had no repair shop in the vicinity. However, if I mailed them the bag, then I would have to buy another one as I travel for work every week. The estimated repair time was put at about 3 weeks. Okayyyy..remind me why I paid $600 for a bag??? She said I should call customer service which I did. The lady helpful but couldn't offer more than the same - mail it in and they would repair it. She was long winded in explaining how wonderful the customer service is not noticing that this is a brand new bag. I was told that the handle had an upgrade - so I was sold a bag with the outdated handle - sweet! Anyway since I travel to NYC, they gave me an address of a store that repairs it. So now I have to carry the bag to the store and hopefully they can repair it while I am in NY. So the user experience for me sucks and apparently so does their quality control.
If you are thinking about buying a B&R, do yourself a favor, don't!! Buy a samsonite which can easily last 14 -15 years. Mine did without any issues and I travel a whole lot. it cost me $179 from Macy's. Or get a Tumi!!
If you are thinking about buying a B&R, do yourself a favor, don't!! Buy a samsonite which can easily last 14 -15 years. Mine did without any issues and I travel a whole lot. it cost me $179 from Macy's. Or get a Tumi!!
#49
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 162
It sounds like your real issue was buying a bag from a shady luggage store in an outlet mall. What would you expect B&R to do? Send someone to your house to repair it? They have a repair center in Mt. Prospect that can do handle system fixes:
https://www.briggs-riley.com/custome...-repair-center
https://www.briggs-riley.com/custome...-repair-center
#50
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 2
Please check your facts before your discourse - they are authorized to sell BR cases and even facilitate shipping for repair. My frustration is simple on the fact that I was sold a defective piece as this was a known issue. I am ok with repairs in the due course but not ok with having to deal with repairs the very next day. People like you who speak without facts give these kinds of issue a pass due to some inherent bias. Not sure if you work for them. I am planning to take it to NYC for repairs I was told the Mt. Prospect facility doesn't do such repairs.
#51
Join Date: Oct 2010
Programs: SPG Gold, Hyatt GP Platinum
Posts: 463
Is the issue that B&R would take 3 weeks for a repair? Because any other luggage brand would take the same amount of time.
Seems odd that the store sold you a defective item and refused to exchange it.
Seems odd that the store sold you a defective item and refused to exchange it.
#52
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 162
Please check your facts before your discourse - they are authorized to sell BR cases and even facilitate shipping for repair. My frustration is simple on the fact that I was sold a defective piece as this was a known issue. I am ok with repairs in the due course but not ok with having to deal with repairs the very next day. People like you who speak without facts give these kinds of issue a pass due to some inherent bias. Not sure if you work for them. I am planning to take it to NYC for repairs I was told the Mt. Prospect facility doesn't do such repairs.
#53
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: BUR
Posts: 769