Dealing with suitcases and assholes

This post is a rant.

I bought a new suitcase from Costco in January. It’s their newest Kirkland Signature (private Costco brand) suitcase, one in a 26″ size.  I have used their suitcases for the last 8 years (I think) and have never had a problem.  I took the suitcase on its first maiden flight back to Stockholm via Munich and it lost a wheel on its way.  Unbelievable, especially for a Costco product.

I filed a complaint with Lufthansa. They called me on Monday, January 16 and told me that in order to reimburse me for the product, they would have to have a statement from a luggage repair store with the repair estimate.  If the bag can’t be fixed, they need a statement saying that too.

It’s not every day someone goes to a luggage repair shop, so I asked them for a referral. They said that they’ve had good luck with a store called Asplunds Väskservice.  I looked them up and one of their stores was on Kungsholmen.  I made my way there today at lunchtime.

As I entered the store, I was shocked at how cramped and messy it was. There were suitcases EVERYWHERE.  It looked like the store had never sold a single suitcase.  The guy, presumably the owner, asked me what I wanted and I told him I needed a repair estimate.

I took out the wheel assembly that I had put into the bag.  He looked at the bag and didn’t pay any attention to the wheel assembly.  He asked me who made it, and since it wasn’t Samsonite or American Tourister or Tumi or any of the fancy brands, he said, “Sorry, I can’t fix it.”  Great, I thought – I just need a statement from you saying that and I’ll be able to claim my reimbursement from Lufthansa.

At that point he said it would cost me 100 SEK and that I would need to come back some other time since he couldn’t do it then.  There were no other customers in the store so I had no idea what he was busy with. Maybe he needed to clean the damn place up.

I was a little peeved at the “fee” for a statement from him so I said all I needed was something with the store name on it, and he started getting aggressive.  He pointed at his cash register and said he couldn’t give me a receipt since then he’d have to pay taxes.  So I reiterated that all I needed was something on his letterhead.  At that point, he grabbed my suitcase and shoved it at me and told me to get out.

“Jag har ingen tid för Lufthansa, dig, eller din jävla väska.  Gå!” (Translation: “I don’t have time for Lufthansa, you, or your damned/fucking bag.  Leave!”)

Shit, I thought. Why was this guy getting pissed?  I tried to put my stuff away back into the bag and he again picked up the bag and shoved it towards me.

I told him to take it easy and I got out as soon as I could.

Asshole. Don’t go to his store.  Let him sit in the company of his unsold suitcases.  His name is David, I think, and his store is at Hantverkargatan 8 in Stockholm.  He has another store at Nortullsgatan 9.  Don’t go to that one either.

This guy isn’t a native Swede – not sure where he’s from originally – but boy, what a dick!  I’ve learned in my time here that Swedes are usually not so aggressive and confrontational, so a native Swede probably wouldn’t have behaved in the same way as this guy…

3 thoughts on “Dealing with suitcases and assholes

  1. megalagom

    Wow, that’s outrageous. On my last trip to Sweden I had just bought a very expensive new bag and it was lost on transit so it got delivered to our apartment 4 days later. It arrived with a broken zipper and red tape holding it closed. I was outraged and called the airline, they said that it had to be reported AT the airport so they can see the damage. The airport is in Copenhagen, two hours away! I wanted them to reimburse for breaking my bag, but it wasn’t worth the 200 dollar trip.

    Reply
    1. calkenneth

      Yeah, that’s crap. If the bag is lost in transit and you got it four days later, you could have claimed both delayed luggage AND damaged luggage from the airline. The airline rules regarding damage/loss are actually pretty favorable to the consumer, but most airline representative misrepresent them (like in your case) and the poor traveler is left to fend for themselves.

      Reply

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