Getting It Right… Phil Baker on Bag Warranties
One of the smartest people I know who have made the transition from paper to electrons is Phil Baker. His blog “From Concept to Consumer” is part of my regular reading. Phil wrote a great article last month looking at luggage warranties. Now he didn’t cover all the brands that we’d like to see. He also had some help from the folks at Briggs & Riley; a company that really does completely stand by their product and offer one of the best warranties in the business. This article really adds much needed detail if you are considering a purchase and the “lifetime warranty” is going to be worth the cost.
Frequent travelers know that their luggage is subject to all sorts of abuse, but may not know the fine points of the manufacturers’ warranties. For example, Tumi, the company that made it’s name and justified its high prices on a no questions asked lifetime guarantee, no longer offers that. And some brands limit their lifetime warrantees to specific models and exclude their products purchased outside of the country or damage caused by the airlines.
The table below (compiled by Briggs & Riley) shows among the leading brands only Briggs & Riley leads the pack with its lifetime warranty on all of its products for any reason whatsoever. From my testing of many of these brands, they are among the best engineered and most solidly built. They’re moderately priced, and taking into account their warranty, offer some of the best values.
Looking for laptop bag warranty stories…
Calling all laptop bag owners! Some laptop bags seem to last forever. Others last forever because the manufacturer stands behind their product. We are starting work on a new section at BagReview that will compare some of the warranties that various bag manufacturers offer. We would be interested in hearing from folks who have had good, bad, and so-so experiences with their laptop bags. Drop a note to [email protected]. You’ll need to tell us the manufacturer, the type of bag, and approximately when you have to use the warranty. If you are a manufacturer and want to contribute or comment; please do!
