This is What Saving $880 Looks Like

Day before yesterday, I made a repair. I spent about $20, and I saved myself somewhere in the neighborhood of nine hundred.

My mother bought my dad a giant Tumi suitcase. He didn’t use it because he liked garment bags. I inherited it in nearly-new condition.

Tumi makes expensive stuff. The current product which is closest to my bag runs $850 on Amazon. That doesn’t include tax. Tumi does not sell repair parts because, well, because their customer support is garbage. If your Tumi bag breaks, you have to ship it to a repair center at your expense. My bag is about a yard tall, so imagine what that would cost me.

When Rhodah and I visited Turkey, we used taxis. They were generally great. They usually provided two options for about the same cost: car or van. Obviously, we hired vans.

One day, we needed a ride to the airport in Istanbul. The company we chose assured us they would get us there very early. Then we sat in the lobby of our hotel and waited. “Very early” became an impossibility. I started calling them, and they were not very good about responding.

Eventually, they called the hotel, not me, even though they had my number. They said the driver had to park several blocks away. They said he had been held up by traffic. This was not a good excuse. If you drive a taxi in Istanbul, you know the traffic is bad, and you plan around it. It wasn’t a special day. Nobody set off a bomb on the highway. There were no earthquakes. The driver couldn’t expect anyone to believe his lateness was not his fault.

He was supposed to come to the hotel and move our bags for us. Instead, a hotel clerk hauled them a quarter of a mile or more, over cobblestones. One of the wheels on my bag came loose, and it fell off somewhere during the ride. Tumi bags cost a lot, but the wheel was held on by two small screws driven into plastic, so it wasn’t attached very well.

Later, I gave the taxi company a bad review. They had been late. They had parked far away. They hadn’t moved our luggage as they were supposed to. They caused my wheel to break, and there was no way to get Tumi to fix it. I was going to have to pay a great deal of money for a new suitcase or come up with my own repair.

They started emailing me, making excuses. They offered to refund my money. I said their excuses were just that, and I said the refund wouldn’t begin to pay for new luggage. I never got my refund. The refund should have been their first step, and they shouldn’t have asked for a good review in return.

Why did I give them a bad review? Aren’t Christians supposed to forgive? Sure we are, but the purpose of a bad review isn’t to punish. I posted my review to prevent other tourists from having problems with the company and to motivate the company to improve.

Anyway, I was looking at new bags this week, and it appeared I could get something decent from L.L. Bean for around $270, but I really didn’t want to pay. The suitcase is strong and spacious. Apart from cobblestones, it handles abuse very well. And money is money.

I went to Tractor Supply, where all great luggage repair stories begin. I got me a caster and some screws, bolts, washers, and nuts. I brought the caster home and drilled the axle to remove the wheel. I drilled holes in the plastic housing where the old suitcase wheel had been. I ran a 1/4″ bolt through the holes. I stuck the wheel in there and tested it.

The wheel dragged a little. I saw it was slightly too wide for the cavity it sat in, so the sides rubbed. I got some coarse sandpaper and sanded the wheel and cavity. Eventually, it turned fairly freely. I realized it would free up more after half a mile or so of rolling through airports, so I stopped. I mixed some 5-minute epoxy and applied it over the outer end of the bolt so it couldn’t turn or back out of the hole.

Guess how long it takes 5-minute epoxy to cure. Twenty-four hours. They should use it to seal up Grant’s Tomb. It takes about an hour for it even to harden partially. I’m not sure why the government allows them to call it 5-minute epoxy.

Now I have a better wheel than the one the suitcase came with. It’s a little taller than the other wheel, but suitcase wheels slip as they turn, so it doesn’t matter. The wheel I installed will be there long after the other one fails.

Two of the screws I bought were longer than they needed to be, so I’m going to replace them with shorter ones. I’m using lock nuts, so they shouldn’t come loose.

I learned a bit about luggage. For example, when it comes to soft luggage, you want Cordura, not ballistic nylon, even though Cordura is actually a type of ballistic nylon. If the specs on your new bag say “ballistic nylon,” it’s a cheaper fabric that isn’t as durable. When it’s Cordura, the manufacturer will be sure to inform you.

I have no idea how nylon can be ballistic. That’s a question for another day.

I learned a lot of people are buying hard-sided luggage these days. I didn’t want that. What happens when you put one ounce too much in a hard bag? Either you can’t close it, or you break something inside it. And hard bags sometimes crack.

Most people want luggage with 4 wheels. It’s easier to roll. Sorry; not for me. A 4-wheeled bag can roll away from you on a slope. You always have to hold onto it. Also, those wheels hang out there in space held on by weak spindles that break easily. And luggage makers aren’t helpful with repairs. My bag has two wheels. It rolls just fine, and the wheels are much less likely to break. If I have to stop on a slope, I can let go of the bag, and it won’t go anywhere.

These days, people make fun of travelers who use big checked bags. Chuckle all you want. I am not too sorry to stand at a bag carousel for 20 minutes. It’s not that hard. In exchange for this meager effort, I get three times the capacity other people get. I need capacity. I’m taking my wife a Carhartt jacket, waterproof hiking shoes, an assortment of wigs, long underwear, and a huge trove of makeup. If I used a tiny stewardess bag, I’d have no room for my own clothes.

Now I know more about luggage than I ever wanted to know. Maybe reading this will help someone else avoid problems.