Some airport bag cruncher has recently managed to crack my trusty Rimowa polycarbonate cabin trolley, which was checked luggage. So I'm going to try some Gorilla epoxy resin and aluminium tape to effect a repair. I'm not worried about how it'll look, just that it will fix the cracks...

Nowadays I try to use a cheaper Lufthansa cabin trolley from their 'Holiday Collection 2.0' range. About one-fifth of the cost of the absurdly overpriced Rimowa. Their prices seem MUCH higher now than when I bought my luggage...

RIMOWA is all hype IMHO. Tumi's FXT fabric is actually great and so is Cordura from Dupont. Briggs uses nice ballistic nylon also.

That's great, however, I cannot plaster a fabric suitcase in tacky stickers, so nah.

I like and use Rimowa alu suitcases (2 wheels - these are gone the way of dinosaurs, unfortunately)

I own both Tumi and RIMOWA-branded luggage.

I have used warranties from both companies, successfully.

One advantage, that I do appreciate about RIMOWA, is that many basic-level repairs can be made in-house, as their flagship stores carry plenty of inventory on bench stock parts, required to maintain and repair RIMOWA trollies.

Compared to Tumi, this feature requires bags to be shipped, where maintenance is done at their repair facility in Georgia (for US repairs). This adds to the amount of days required for a maintenance request to be completed (plus paying for shipping costs).

Just like with all equipment, it lasts as long as you take care of it.

Again, a product's "lifetime" is not the same as a person. Products are not intended to last forever. Hence, a company could not be profitable if you never bought their product again. After-sales service is never a company's primary source of revenue. Especially not for luxury retailers.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...8a35c9ff4d.jpg
RIMOWA, In-house Repair Facilities
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...9f73529b13.jpg
RIMOWA, Shop stock parts for basic repairs

Yes, at least from Canadian retail stores.

Some might say the same about people :)

I've been impressed by the quick, in-store service by Rimowa in Australia when a lock in my Salsa needed to be replaced.

Tumi charging for shipping from retail stores for repairs seems a bit cheap given the purchase price.

Well, I applied a liberal amount of epoxy resin to the cracks and on first sight it seems to have done the trick. The cracked portions no longer move relative to each other.

Not the prettiest of repairs as there are some glue runs - but if it survives my trip next week it'll suit me fine.

If not, then I won't be replacing the suitcase with another Rimowa, now that their prices are so high. They also seem to have stopped making 2-wheeled cabin trolleys, which is a shame.

Many, and I mean many, luggage shops can do simple Tumi repairs like broken zipper. I doubt a plain old luggage store cannot begin to fix a Rimowa without proper parts. Let's be honest with ourselves. It's like a night day difference. You can't even attempt to fix a Rimowa until you get the proper part shipped in, or your send the bag (I meant trunk) into the Rimowa authorized repair center somewhere or take it there yourself in this large countries. it's not like the dense places like Munich or Hong Kong where you can take your bag to a shop.

but I must admit the old stickers on Rimowa trunks are kinda cool. I like it so much I may buy one for Mrs. MellonC who values beauty over function.

I was able to order replacement wheels from Tumi and I easily installed them myself.

This may not be the case post-LVMH, as mentioned in post 10 in the https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trav...backwards.html thread.

I suppose that it'd be nice if Tumi could cover return shipping for repairs, but my main concern is getting stuck with damaged luggage while traveling. Being able to quickly stop in any Rimowa store for repairs was an attractive aspect of the brand.

That's a shame. Both Rimowa (LVMH) and Tumi (Samsonite) have gone down the lifestyle brand route unfortunately.

Here's hoping my IATA Salsa holds it together for a while yet. Otherwise I might go with an outlandish choice like:

The damage you have described is a claim that should be filed with the airline before leaving the airport, it is not a manufacturing defect.

Failure to file a claim with the airline, is the responsibility of the owner, not the company that created the bag.

Polycarbonate shells are susceptible to damage, like every other polycarbonate shell, regardless of brand.