How easy is it to get Samsonite luggage repaired?

It is pretty rare that something of mine breaks, because I tend to take care of my possessions and make them last. You usually have to pay more for quality products and in the travel world that includes Samsonite luggage.

Anyone can go to a discount store and pick up a large roller bag for almost no money at all. All well and good, but these are the ones that tend to have missing handles from being chomped in baggage belts at airports, or missing wheels from being unable to cope with cobbled European streets.

Samsonite Luggage

Prior to leaving Australia for two years (I’m currently 18 years into that two year stretch), I went to a department store and bought the largest piece of luggage I could find. After all, I was moving my whole life to another continent and it was all coming in that bag.

Schelpping that 32kg monster for three weeks around Asia and Europe (and the London Underground where there are stairs and no lifts) gained me some pecs for the first time in my life. It also gave me an appreciation of just how durable Samsonite luggage is. I gifted that bag to my father and bought myself a new one in January 2021.

Uh Oh! A Broken Wheel!

I recently moved house and one of my bright ideas was to move most things on foot myself. Since it was just over a mile (1.8km to be precise) away, why wouldn’t I? Most things went in bags over my shoulders but I decided to do a couple of trips with my handy hold bag.

On the second of three trips, one of wheels came off, which I was fairly ambivalent about as I had more pressing things on my mind. With an upcoming trip, I had to get it sorted but not that day.

Online I found the Samsonite luggage repair place and contacted them. After sending a picture of the label inside my case, I was given the option to be sent a part in the post to fix it myself or to drop it in to a city centre department store, where it would be collected from, repaired and returned to.

Since my DIY “skills” would not be best applied to this bag, I went for the latter option. A couple of weeks later, I collected the bag and the repair had cost me the grand total of zero. Turns out that 10 year guarantee is completely real – I didn’t even need to show them proof of purchase or anything!

Overall Thoughts

Samsonite luggage is not cheap, but you also get what you pay for. My Lite-Box weighs next to nothing, has gone back and forth to Australia without a bother and is really nice. The bag currently retails on the Samsonite web site for €555.00 (US$600, AU$912) but I picked mine up during the pandemic in Australia for AU$429 (€260, US$282) which was a total bargain. I only wish I’d bought the cabin bag sized one at the same time.

The ease of the repair was really unexpected. For a start, I thought I’d have to pay for it. I also thought I’d have to travel out to the annoyingly located place where they fix them. Since I had to do neither, all I was out was an hour and a half of my time. I really couldn’t have asked for a more seamless experience.

What kind of luggage do you have? Have you ever needed to get it repaired? If so, what did it cost or how was it done? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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