samsonite warranty review
Well here’s where it get’s complicated. We are doing a review on Samsonite’s warranty policy, and being that Samsonite has so many products and lines, it is a little hard to decipher where their warranty lies, but we’ve done our best to decipher the language and simplify for everyone. Since we don’t carry their American Tourister line, we’ll exclude that for the moment. The biggest benefit of this warranty policy is the breadth of repair stations in Samsonite’s network, if you are outside the United States, just pay for the repairs and send your repair receipt and proof of purchase to Samsonite, and they’ll take care of it.
Warranty period: 10 years for most products.
This takes a bit of explaining, they have a few of their series that have a limited lifetime warranty, such as the 750 and the 900, most Samsonite products purchased after December 1, 1998 have a 10 year warranty. The casual bags and softside business cases have a 3 year limited warranty, but for the most part, it is safe to say that they have a 10 year warranty policy.
free repair for warranty: yes
covered if damage caused by airline: no
cleaning and cosmetic wear: no
replacement of lost or stolen bags and content: no (may vary depending on state laws)
shipping expense to facility: no
method of repair: authorized local repair center (you can either call 800.262.8282 or through the website) or ship to the authorized repair center.
November 30th, 2007 at 3:31 am
Samsonite’s warranty is JUNK! a lock broke on their 4 wheel hard case and their subcontractor repair shop repaired it without my approval and then wanted to charge me $35 considering I only paid $100 at costco for it I refused to pay and told them to reinstall the broken part. I then threw the luggage away and bought a Titan with a warranty for life no questions asked!
December 22nd, 2007 at 3:33 pm
Samsonite does not honor their warranty. Although they claim that the warranty covers defects in workmanship in fact almost anything claimed will be attributed to travel abuse. My Silhouette 9 had one zipper fall apart while another had the plastic teeth separate cleanly from the cloth backing at the thread holes — this after 1-1/2 yr of moderate travel. The local warranty repair shop claimed that Samsonite would not consider this a defect in workmanship and suggested I call Samsonite customer service. When I called customer service they claimed that it was up to the warranty repair shop! Catch 22! My last travel bag was a no-name brand from a chain department store, and it lasted 5+ years! No more Samsonite for me.
April 27th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
No more Samsonite for me either. I purchased 2 hardcase pieces and use one only for carryon. The carryon piece is fine but the larger piece that I check in has large divots in 4 of the 8 corners. I was a bit forgiving for that because the airlines DO put the bags thru the ringer and although the bag looked all beat up after the 1st trip at least it still had its integrity (no holes and still sealed up tightly), but after the 2nd trip the hinge started falling off and that in my opinion should NOT have happened to a new piece of luggage. Same as the other people commenting, the warranty repair shop would not honor the warranty as it related to the hinge and told us to contact the ‘airline’. yeah right. The reason I purchased Samsonite to begin with was because of their reputation of standing behind their products. I realize now all that’s behind their reputation is a marketing department. I’ve also learned a lesson. No more Samsonite for me either.
May 9th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
In brief: limited warranties mean nothing indeed
I agree with the above comments. I think there’s a problem with responsibility of the repair center: I believe they are definitely biased towards NOT attributing defects to the manufacturer. It’s probably a big hassle for them to get their work reimbursed - that or they get a fixed yearly amount for all the warranted repairs. The two wheels on my brand new carry-on Samsonite became crooked (the axle exited the mount) when I was lugging a lot of conference (heavy) material to my next flight. I would say I’m 95% certain that what happened is that the weight changed the shape of the luggage slightly and the wheels stopped turning. I noticed this BEFORE getting on the airplane. I kept dragging my luggage to avoid having to lift it. This created drag marks on the wheels. At the repair store, they informed me that most likely the wheels got jammed on a carrier belt and then went out of the axis. It’s almost impossible for me to prove that this is not what has happened. It’s especially frustrating because it was BRAND NEW. I don’t recommend Samsonite to anyone and would like everyone to be warned that Warranties don’t mean much, because almost everything could be attributed to the airline. I recommend that if you buy luggage, “test it out” (within “reasonable use”) at home/in your street first. OR get luggage from a company that will repair ANY type of damage OR get really cheap luggage & buy into consumerism.
May 9th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Well I’ll say this, you get what you pay for. If you think you get anything but a bag with samsonite then you are wrong. Don’t expect coverage, just expect a “decent” piece of luggage.
If you want something with a great warranty there are a few companies out there that are known to stand behind their product, but you will pay the price. Let’s say you buy a 4-piece samsonite set for $149.00 or their most popular carry-on is $120. So here are my pics for bang-for-your buck luggage.
1. Titan Luggage: Carry-Ons will start at $300, but they have a “No Matter What” Lifetime Warranty. The product is German-made (not chinese) and is only two solid pieces, much less prone to damage
2. Briggs & Riley: The big carry-ons are like $270, the small ones start at $219. This company made its name on its warranty, their motto is “Guaranteed for Life”
3. High Sierra: Carry-ons start at about $160. This is the option for people that dont want to shell out 200-300 for absolute security, and want to take the risk that they may need to spend another $160 in 2-3 years. Now they only have a 5 year warranty on the wheels, lifetime on everything else, but just know what you are getting into. They are much more helpful than Samsonite, and you are more likely to get your product fixed, but its still a less expensive bag, they look for volume, not quality, and they just cant repair every broken bag. Plus this is the most well-made luggage in its class. Its sturdy, and you are less likely to have problems than you would with something like samsonite, which is just flimsy in my opinion.
Under no circumstance should you buy the following brands: Samsonite, American Tourister, TravelPro or Eagle Creek. They have terrible customer service, and are really poorly made products.
October 23rd, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Samsonite sucks when it comes to backing up their product …..
I spent 1200 bucks on six pieces with lifetime warranties. ALL six are now junk because I refuse to pay 60 to 80 bucks each PLUS shipping to have them repaired at some place called “The Fixery”.
You cannot just walk into a store with your broken luggage and get it fixed or replaced anywhere……Again,,,,do not by Samsonite if you ever expect them to stand behind their quality with a warranty.
Yeah they sure fixed me !
November 8th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Samsonite’s quality has gone downhill terribly in the past 5 years. In the past they could be considered a reliable brand with durable products. No longer. These days most Samsonite products are poorly made and are almost guaranteed to have problems. I purchased 3 samsonite bags over the past 3 years and each one of them had a handle come off or a zip rip apart. One bag had the handle ripped off the very first time I used it (imagine the look on my face when the brand new bag appeared on the carousel at the airport with the handle missing!). Having discussed my problems with friends who are expats living in Asia who travel a LOT they all laughed and said there is no way they would buy Samsonite any more. Sadly this is one of those old “dependable” brands that is now a joke - a bit like Maytag.