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Hi all
My parents travelled with us recently. On the return flight one of the wheels on their nearly new antler case (bought 6 months ago, used once before) was missing when collecting from baggage reclaim. No wider sign of damage.
Antler have refused to help on the basis that mishandling by baggage handlers is excluded from the terms of their warranty https://www.antler.co.uk/pages/warranty
Maybe that’s reasonable, but i find it hard to believe for something nearly new. Wheels should be built to withstand knocks.
Has anyone experienced similar? Are there any other routes to a fix- approach BA, travel insurance etc? It’s not a cheap case…
Thanks
When was the flight? BA would deal with it but you need to report to them within 7 days
As @SamG says it should be reported to BA within 7 days of the flight and ideally before leaving baggage claim.
Likely your insurance will have a clause requiring this be done before they’ll get involved.
Eek. 2 days late. We’ll give it a go but looks like we may be out of time. Thanks both
How did your parents pay for the suitcase and how much did it cost? If it was over £100 (and it sounds like it was) and they paid on a credit card could they use s75 to get their money back on the basis that the suitcase is not fit for purpose? I think you still have to have reported the damage to the airline so it may be a no go if that hasn’t happened.
If all else fails, replacement wheels cost very little (around a tenner). Check the measurements and look on eBay or Amazon.
@DTR – I think Antler is being a bit cute here by refusing to help on the basis of its warranty terms. Whatever the firm might say, a suitcase must be expected to be suitable for air travel and for such a new and lightly used suitcase to have suffered significant damage such as to render it unusable is indicative of a design or manufacturing defect.
I would go back to them (in writing if a further call fails) and tell them they need to fix or replace the case pronto. Hiding behind the terms of a guarantee to deny your statutory rights is an unacceptable business practice. You mention that the suitcase is about six months old – if if was damaged inside six months, that fortifies your case as any presumption of defect will be in your favour.
On a trip to Sydney, I bought too much – so had to buy a new suitcase. I chose an Antler, from David Jones. A couple of years later, a wheel fell off. I could not get it fixed in London, and Antler weren’t any help.
On my next trip to Sydney, I visited the David Jones shop. They gave me the address of a small repair shop nearby, where it was easy to buy a replacement wheel.
Don’t give up – but I could not find a replacement in the UK (including Amazon).Antler removed their 10-year warranty in 2023. It now very specifically states the following (sadly, as I’ve just been looking at them!):
UK Warranty
The Antler warranty covers faults caused by defective workmanship or materials, but excludes mishandling by carriers such as airport baggage handlers. The warranty covers the cost of a repair, or, at our discretion, a replacement within the UK.
@Michael-C that warranty cannot possibly be relied upon by Antler to avoid its responsibilities to the consumer. I imagine that there is, and if not there should be a rider to say that the warranty is addition to and/or doesn’t affect your consumer rights. A suitcase must be suitable for all standard forms of transport including air travel. In the OP’s first post, they are talking about a very new suitcase used once. If you travel by air with the case every week for a year it would be different.
It’s a really bad advert for Antler if they fob customers off like this but also unwise off the customer to tolerate it. Of course in this situation one does need to report the damage to the airline.
I had an Antler trolley bag a few years ago bought from their outlet shop. Quite a poorly made product in my view. A zip or wheels packed up after a couple of trips within warranty. They replaced it with a fresh years warranty and yes, rinse and repeat the same thing happened twice more. So three bags till the last one repeated the disassembly routine and I gave up and bought a quality product
Warranty and consumer rights are two different things. As has been said if this ‘fault’ occurred within six months since purchase it is deemed ‘inherent’ unless the supplier can prove otherwise they are deemed responsible for the repair, replacement or refund. If it is after six months then the onus is on the buyer to prove the fault was inherent. I would make it clear you are not claiming on their warranty but under your consumer rights, specifically the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
This link provides some basic pointers https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act-aKJYx8n5KiSl
I had an Antler trolley bag a few years ago bought from their outlet shop. Quite a poorly made product in my view. A zip or wheels packed up after a couple of trips within warranty. They replaced it with a fresh years warranty and yes, rinse and repeat the same thing happened twice more. So three bags till the last one repeated the disassembly routine and I gave up and bought a quality product
Buy Kipling! Obviously not fancy enough for many here but good value, especially in their sales or online outlet. So many shapes, sizes and colours but most importantly really durable. I’d rather it was decent in the first place than be influenced by some warranty one shouldn’t really ever have to use.
Buy Briggs and Riley – brilliant cases, the guarantee covers airline damage and the customer service is great. I have three, and they have been great for years, and I use them a lot (one almost weekly)
Thanks all for the input. Interesting to hear all the different experiences.
Credit to BA – despite being a touch over 1 week, they’ve responded promptly (miracle one) to say they are paying the cost of the case in full (miracle two) by bank transfer!
It won’t cover the full cost of a replacement as it was on a very good deal but will go a long way or should certainly cover the cost of fixing if that’s doable.
I have to say given CSR I’m amazing Antler don’t have a repair service for things like this…
Thanks again for all the help.
I had an Antler trolley bag a few years ago bought from their outlet shop. Quite a poorly made product in my view. A zip or wheels packed up after a couple of trips within warranty. They replaced it with a fresh years warranty and yes, rinse and repeat the same thing happened twice more. So three bags till the last one repeated the disassembly routine and I gave up and bought a quality product
Buy Kipling! Obviously not fancy enough for many here but good value, especially in their sales or online outlet. So many shapes, sizes and colours but most importantly really durable. I’d rather it was decent in the first place than be influenced by some warranty one shouldn’t really ever have to use.
I had you down as a Bric’s man
I had an Antler trolley bag a few years ago bought from their outlet shop. Quite a poorly made product in my view. A zip or wheels packed up after a couple of trips within warranty. They replaced it with a fresh years warranty and yes, rinse and repeat the same thing happened twice more. So three bags till the last one repeated the disassembly routine and I gave up and bought a quality product
Buy Kipling! Obviously not fancy enough for many here but good value, especially in their sales or online outlet. So many shapes, sizes and colours but most importantly really durable. I’d rather it was decent in the first place than be influenced by some warranty one shouldn’t really ever have to use.
I had you down as a Bric’s man
Sorry to disappoint! Practicality and value every time rather than brand.
PS. thank you very much for your lone support vs that arsey (at least I assume that’s what RC stands for) poster in the Avios article comments.
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