Antler suitcase warranty - anyone claimed on anything similar?

kuepper

Bought a suitcase with 10 yr warranty and assumed it would last that long as Antler are a good make as far as I knew. 3 trips later involving about 10 flights the rubber covering the wire frame on one corner split exposing about 6 inches of wire with nothing around it, and a split was starting on the other rubber covered corner. I contacted Antler to claim under the warranty and they eventually responded it was impact damage and not covered under being faulty. I responded that a suitcase was supposed to be able to withstand reasonable impact damage and that the rubber wasn't thick enough or of sufficient quality to be able to resist damage. Warranties don't seem to be worth much and are stacked in the manufactuerer's favour it seems, I wondered if anyone has had a successful go at enforcing such a warranty and how they succeeded if they did?

neilmcl

What do the warranty's T&Cs state about damage?

Lorian

I only have experience of Carlton, and they have replaced (at least two) wheels that have been knocked off during loading/unloading when the case has been 3 or 4 years old.

Le_Kirk

My daughter rang me from Australia where she was on a one-year working visa. The wheels had fallen off - but fortunately only off her Antler case!! Can you find the receipt, she asked, yes I said, scanned it and sent it to her by e-mail. Next thing I knew she had contacted Antler in UK who had arranged for her to take it to an Antler authorised dealer in Melbourne, where it was exchanged without quibble.

kuepper

neilmcl wrote: »

What do the warranty's T&Cs state about damage?

covers things " caused by defective workmanship and materials and excludes mishandling by carriers"

I sent them photos of the suitcase and they said it was caused by 'impact damage' so rejected it but said if I wanted to i could submit it for visual inspection, which will cost me £14 and another £14 if they still decline responsibility and send it back.

squirrelcyril

Lorian wrote: »

I only have experience of Carlton, and they have replaced (at least two) wheels that have been knocked off during loading/unloading when the case has been 3 or 4 years old.

Carlton are good. I've still got mine which was bought in 1995 and its been used regularly and still going strong!

kuepper

Win! Replacement arrived today! Annoying they don't repay postage costs to them but new case is fine.

timbstoke

Count yourself lucky. Impact damage is clearly specifically excluded under warranty, which is entirely within their rights, since you have no contract with them.

kuepper

timbstoke wrote: »

Count yourself lucky. Impact damage is clearly specifically excluded under warranty, which is entirely within their rights, since you have no contract with them.

the warranty doesnt mention impact damage it mentions mishandling by carriers. Obviously any decent suitcase should be able to resist reasonable impacts, thats what ppl by them for. Mine was clearly not fit for purpose.

timbstoke

It covers "defective workmanship and materials" - that has nothing to do with fitness for purpose.

You might well have had a legitimate claim that the case wasn't fit for purpose, but that would be against the retailer, and has nothing to do with the manufacturer or your warranty.

kuepper

timbstoke wrote: »

It covers "defective workmanship and materials" - that has nothing to do with fitness for purpose.

You might well have had a legitimate claim that the case wasn't fit for purpose, but that would be against the retailer, and has nothing to do with the manufacturer or your warranty.

as there was defective workmanship and materials (otherwise they wouldn't have replaced it) that is nothing to do with luck, and if those preconditions cause splits to appear after normal handling it means the suitcase wasn't fit for the purpose of safely enclosing the contents