Antler luggage bag faulty - and complete refusal to assist from Antler

[moores2525]

Hi there,

 

In July 2008 I bought an Antler luggage bag from House of Fraser in the UK, it included Antler's 7 year guarantee. The bag was used once when emigrating to Australia and I experienced no problems. The bag was clearly as new.

 

In August 2009 I returned from Sydney. When in Sydney airport, waiting for the flight with the bag loaded to a standard 15kg weight, I pulled the bag along by the handle and the whole handle flexed. The handle was bent and broken - it became stuck out so it wouldn't retract. I could no longer pull the bag along by the handle so had to carry it - in the resulting mayhem I hurt my back and experienced pain all the way home to London. Not a great experience!

 

On returning to the UK I sent an email to Antler, telling them what happened and asking for them to fix or replace the bag. After a month their customer service department replied and told me to return the bag to the shop I bought it from. I explained that it was not convenient as the shop was the other end of the country and I didn't see why they couldn't deal with it directly. They then didn't reply.

 

I wrote a letter to the UK Customer Service Manager asking for help. A few days later I received a voicemail message from Customer Services. When I called back and spoke to them they agreed to collect the bag from my house by courier and take it to be examined. The bag was collected - no problem.

 

A week later I received a parcel - it was my bag back, with the handle completely broken off and a letter telling me that the bag had been examined by their quality control and that my bag was "definitely" broken by airport baggage handling and telling me they would do nothing further. I wrote back to them, indicating that the handle must have been further damaged in transit to them or by them inspecting it and telling them in no uncertain terms that it was not originally damaged by baggage handling, that I didn't appreciate them telling me that happened to MY bag and that I wanted the issue to be positively resolved or I would contact their senior management.

 

Today I receive a letter, this time from their Customer Service Manager, saying that they were not responsible for the handle breaking completely off and that they have spoken again to quality control and still insist that the bag was broken by baggage handling. Again they say they will take no further action, and tell me they have high quality standards backed up by their guarantee.

 

I am looking into the possibility of taking them to small claims over the guarantee and the item being defective but looking for some advice on whether I would have a case. Can anyone help me please? Has anyone else had a similar experience? Are their not certain consumer protections that protect consumers from such defects and guarantees that are not honoured?

 

Thanks,

moores2525

before - after.doc.pdf

[blitz]

Take it back to any House of Fraser.. should be easier to deal with them then go to small claims. When dealing with Antler the warranty will be via there T+C, as a warranty is in addition to your rights.

 

If you go to ANY house of Fraser, and claim under the Sales of Goods Act for unsatisfactory quality (not durable)

 

You would however have to prove that it wasn't wear and tear/accidental damage as its over 6 months old but surely worth a try rather then going straight to small claims?

[moores2525]

Thanks, that might be worth a try. The problem is that the bag is really damaged now - the courier who Antler used to collect the bag appears to have badly damaged the handle in transit. I'm not sure that HoF would accept it as a fault with the handle no longer attached

[blitz]

Then claim or get Antler to claim against the Courier for mistreatment of goods?

[optic]

I too bought an Antler suitcase from John Lewis. When I got home I took it out of the plastic wrapping to find I couldn't pull out the handle at all. Needless to say my husband took the suitcase straight back and John Lewis said they would fix it. When we went to pick it up we were given a completely new one as the original one couldn't be fixed. That same suitcase 2 years on has now developed a 6" split underneath which runs along the indented design of the suitcase. No doubt it was damaged in transit but is this a design fault which makes it weaker along those lines? How can I prove if it is a manufacturing fault?

[moores2525]

I eventually got it sorted out, the Antler Customer Service Manager (can't recall her name) flatly repeatedly refused to help in any way, she kept writing back to say that Quality Control said it was my fault and the luggage bag was damaged in transit - which it clearly wasn't as it hadn't made it as far as luggage handling. Anyway her last letter said something along the lines of "we can't help you any more"....so I wrote to one of the directors, and as if by magic the Customer Service Manager emailed offering me a "choice of any medium sized replacement bag".

 

Result - I received a brand new £220 bag in exchange for a fault £60 one. Last contact from Antler was a sarcastic email from the Customer Service Manager hoping I had "years of fun with my new bag". Suffice it to say I won't be a repeat customer...though the replacement bag is still going strong after 2 years.

[locutus]

I too bought an Antler suitcase from John Lewis. When I got home I took it out of the plastic wrapping to find I couldn't pull out the handle at all. Needless to say my husband took the suitcase straight back and John Lewis said they would fix it. When we went to pick it up we were given a completely new one as the original one couldn't be fixed. That same suitcase 2 years on has now developed a 6" split underneath which runs along the indented design of the suitcase. No doubt it was damaged in transit but is this a design fault which makes it weaker along those lines? How can I prove if it is a manufacturing fault?

 

John Lewis are generally not bad with customer issues. As always, the responsability is with the retailer.

 

andy_street@johnlewis.co.uk is the CEO, drop him a line and see what his departmen is willing to do