Rock72

Yes, I know that as an owner of a Rimowa Topas, I should expect a lot of dents and dings.

I recently bought a 26" topas and on the first trip, the baggage handlers put a big dent on the corner.

Should I get this fixed or do owners live with dents like this? I think this is a little big but maybe that's just me? The suitcase opens and shuts fine and none of the rivets are broken off.



https://goo.gl/photos/6uazT6jJv2HwCEGRA

mevr

That's a bigger dent and you should have complained at the airport right after you collected the bag. Try to make the airline responsible for fixing or replacing it. A ding or a scratch is fine, that's quite a dent though.

Rock72

I filed a claim with Air France since it has been less than 24 hours since I got back. I guess I should have filed it there when I got the bag but I didn't think much of it.

chinatown

definitely bigger than normal... if the airline are refusing to fix it, take it to your rimowa warranty shop and have them hammer it back out... a dent that big on one trip looks almost like it was done on purpose!

Rock72

maybe the airline baggage handlers looked at it since it was brand new, chuckled, and threw it.

i haven't heard back from air france yet but their ack email said that it usually takes around 10 business days.

yeah, i was going to have rimowa hammer it back.

mevr

Airlines will do their best to avoid paying for it, so make sure you know your rights. Don't let them start with "Oh, that bag is too expensive, not our fault". They're responsible for compensating you, they'd do it if the bag was $10, and they have to do it now too. If they refuse to pay a compensation, suggest them to compensate you with a bag of similar quality from their own airport store (Lufthansa does this with their Rimowas to LH passengers).

JBM460

When I see damage like that, it make me wonder if there was a malicious baggage handler and he took he frustrations out on the shiny new Rimowa.

TennisNoob

Dent is too deep you need to fix it. Otherwise it's like driving with an broken door on an car.

tfred

http://loyaltylobby.com/2017/04/10/enough-cathay-pacific-staff-ordered-to-attach-fragile-sticker-to-all-rimowa-suitcases-due-to-excessive-damage-reports/

mevr

LH and some other airlines refuse to attach fragile stickers to the luggage. They say that if the bag gets damaged and has the sticker, they have to pay. And that if they put the sticker on bags, then everyone (including Y pax) will want it too, and that would defeat the purpose of a sticker. It's very much a gamble, just make sure you have access to the invoice to proof how much you paid for it and realize that in each trip you do, it might be your bag's last journey.

Canaan

Go to your next Rimowa Service Center and let them fix it. Have done it two times with my Topas. I didn't need to pay anything although it was clearly LH's/BA's fault and technically not covered by there warranty.

mevr

Air France. LH would have replaced the bag.

Canaan

Unfortunatly not! I told LH about the damage at the airport (MUC). They told me, that I should contact a baggage repaircompany. They have one, doing all the repairs at MUC with the disadvantage that drop off und pick up is at the airport. The other option offered was to use a repaircompany of my choice and LH covers the costs. I took the second option and went to an authorised RimowaServiceCenter. They did very well (first time with a pretty similar dent, second time I had a problem with one off the wheels) and I had not to pay anything.

As long as it is possible to fix a problem I don't need a new one.

Rock72

I still haven't heard back from Air France yet. They did say 10 business days and it's only been 7 so I guess it's to be expected.

About 15 years ago I had a small samsonite suitcase damaged and at the time the airline (American) let me buy another samsonite from a special American airlines baggage website (they let me buy anything that was under like $250).

This is different because the rimowa was 799 euros. My guess is that they will offer to pay for repair and won't flat out offer to pay / replace it but we'll see. It was a pretty new suitcase that was purchased the week before in Berlin, flown from Berlin->Paris without incident and then flown from Paris->San Francisco where it was damaged.

I'm not sure if it makes a difference but I was flying business class on a paid fare (round trip ticket was premium economy going to paris and business coming back for a total price of $5500).

I guess I'll keep waiting for Air France to see what they say.

SoloExperiment

Any update from AF?