Karen M.
Yelp
This is about the 4 wheel 21' bag.
For a $550 bag, this sucks. The only reason it gets 2 stars is its durability and how much it holds. I travel 100%. I don't need much in a bag except to be able to hold a week's worth of business attire and to fit into the overhead bins. It does that well and has just about the most carrying capacity I've seen in a 21" roller. Love that feature.
I've tried many other bags over the years including the eagle creek bags (one step lower in price, 4 steps above in quality). I've had this bag for about a year now as my constant companion. Here are the issues.
1. It falls over regularly. I've got a B&R laptop bag (love it by the way). The two bags mate well and I love the 4 wheel spinner because my laptop bag weighs in at about 40 lbs and has about $10K worth of equipment in it. Falling over is bad for it. I love to push/walk the bag set instead of dragging it. However, it's so unstable that unless I expand the bottom of the bag, I literally can't let go or have to push it against a wall, chair, garbage can... I've found a "secret" that works sometimes: if you pull the bag backwards so the front wheels face outward, it's less prone to fall. So strike one...
2. The handle must be made of rubber. Not really, but I've never had such a flimsy handle on any bag, even the one from Walmart... It twists and bends every time I switch directions. I'm always amazed that I haven't bent it beyond use. Strike 2...
3. The "expander" works very well. So well, in fact that it expands about anytime it feels like it. I pick it up, it expands (click, click, click...). I put it down, it expands. I set it upright, it expands, I lay it down sometimes it just lies there... This is both the best and worst feature on the bag. I loved the concept of closing the lid, pushing it down and compressing the bag to carry-on size. But... The expansion mechanism is plastic. I'd think that for a "lifetime" bag, it would last for at least a couple years. If there were ever a place to use metal, that piece is it. I'd have fewer complaints and less personal animosity if this one piece worked as designed. Strike 3...
And finally - That "lifetime" warrantee? Yeah, repair only and you pay shipping AND repairs are 2-3 weeks. I bought a bag that I could use for years, not one that required yearly maintenance.
It may not be this year, but one day in a short future, I'm going back to a bag that doesn't give me attitude.