Samsonite Rocks!

A couple of years ago (Thanksgiving 2003, to be precise), I had purchased a Samsonite 550 Series 3000 XLT carry-on (in green, of course!). For my first outing with this piece of totally awesome luggage, I decided to take it with me on my ill-fated trip to Idaho, where I promptly totalled my ice blue Jeep Cherokee on some black ice just North of Idaho Falls.

Inside most suitcases/luggage-things there is a strap or two to secure the stuff you pack. Part of the clasp thingy on this strap in my new carry-on had broken in the wreck, and it's only taken me two years or so to get the motivation to have it fixed. Most of this motivation comes from the fact that Samsonite is discontinuing their 550 Series 3000 XLT and I've been making purchases (at great discount to me!) to round out my luggage collection, for when I move to Spain for a year or something similar. Hey, it pays to be prepared!

Browsing Samsonite's website, I find the address and phone number of the closest authorized Repair Center - in North Salt Lake. While I was leery of sending anything to be repaired to North Salt Lake, I called the place and the people were very nice and cool to talk to.

Monday morning I Fed-Ex my carry-on to the repair center, and I called them today to see if they had received it and how much I would owe them (I was told during my previous phone call that it should be about $12 plus shipping). Turns out the clasp thingy is covered under warranty, and Samsonite will pay to have it repaired and ship it back to me. Woo hoo!

Because of this incident (and my general experience from using my Samsonite carry-on -without the clasp thingy- for 8+ flights and countless road trips), I am now a believer that Samsonite produces a quality luggage piece, and that they have a good product repair warranty. I advocate the purchase of any (discounted! Have you seen the Manufacturer's Recommended Price on luggage lately?) luggage from Samsonite.