Your problems: Delta wanted suitcase manufacturer to pay for luggage abuse

My suitcase was damaged during a Delta Air Lines flight and the airline is refusing to pay for the damage.

I boarded the flight from JFK to Rome on 7 April. One piece of luggage arrived broken, so I promptly opened a property irregularity report at the airport and photos were taken of the suitcase. I then wrote to Delta, which asked for the original invoice for the case and pictures. I sent these as requested.

Delta answered that as the baggage was made by Rimowa, which offers a lifetime guarantee, I should ask it for help. Rimowa told me that its policy has exceptions for “misuse or abuse” and that the suitcase, which was broken with a long structural fissure, had clearly been abused. It would not pay, and I feel Rimowa maybe has a point.

I wrote as much to Delta, asking for fairness. It replied that I was asking for “an exception” which it could not grant out of fairness to other passengers. Can you help?

Rimowa describes its lifetime guarantee as applying to all “functional aspects” of suitcases bought since 25 July 2022. It does not apply to “cosmetic wear and tear, misuse, or abuse”.

Your case, which cost €750 (£630), had a sizeable vertical crack curving around the bottom edge of the hard shell case. You probably could still use it, but I wouldn’t fancy risking it: you could find your smalls floating all over the next runway you land on.

The damage, caused while your suitcase was in the care of Delta, was undoubtedly caused by a luggage handler chucking the case on to a hard surface, not by any inherent manufacturing fault. Although the term “functional aspects” is confusing, I saw no reason why Rimowa should pay for a repair, replacement or refund.

I asked Delta why your claim was not being treated like any other for damage to luggage on one of its flights, especially given the airline says it follows “a consistent policy to ensure that we are fair to everyone who travels with us”. Delta has now reimbursed you the full €750.

I spent £730 on a new Dimplex storage heater in November 2023, but within a few weeks it broke down. I contacted Dimplex, and it sent out an engineer. He was unable to fix it so about one week later a second engineer was sent. He managed to get the heater functioning temporarily, but after a short period it broke down again.

Dimplex eventually agreed to send out two more engineers in an attempt to repair my heater for a third time. On this occasion they replaced the circuit board inside, and the control panel on top. It worked for a few months until September 2024. Then it broke down once more.

In October I called Dimplex and was assured it would look into my case as a matter of urgency. It promised to contact me the same or following day but no one called.

The following day I sent Dimplex an email outlining my situation. Again I received no reply.

A couple of days later I phoned Dimplex once more, and being well within the first year guarantee period I requested a replacement fully functioning storage heater, which is what I had paid for.

I was told that Dimplex was not prepared to replace my storage heater, but would send out yet another engineer to attempt to fix it.

I felt after three failed attempts by expert engineers, this was unacceptable, and requested to speak to the Dimplex supervisor who made the decision not to replace it. He refused to speak to me.

Due to Dimplex’s repeated failure to repair this expensive, brand new item and its flat refusal to replace it, the room in which the storage heater is housed has been like an icebox throughout last winter.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 says you only need to allow one attempt to repair a dysfunctional purchase. After that you are entitled to ask for a refund or replacement. However, the request for the repair, replacement or refund should be made to the retailer, not the manufacturer, even when the item is under warranty.

You bought this heater from Electricpoint, which directed you to contact Dimplex. It tried to do the same with me, but once it understood that this was an error it immediately collected the faulty heater and refunded you in full.

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