I can’t remember exactly when I bought my Voyager carry-on size luggage. It was probably more than a decade ago and I have used it on several trips.
Depending on the trip, it is sometimes used as a carry on, sometimes checked in if our luggage allowance allows. Most times it is packed inside a bigger check-in suitcase (leaving Manila), wrapped in a big trash bag so the inside of the big luggage won’t get dirty, and then becomes an “extra luggage / carry on” when packing for the trip back to Manila (travel hack hehe).
While preparing for a trip early this year, I noticed that the wheels were cracking and had some white spots.
This isn’t my first Voyager luggage, so I know that I can always take it in for repair. Repairs just take a long time to finish but Voyager does honor their lifetime warranty, and it’s the reason why I always end up choosing to buy the local Voyager brand vs. other brands.
I can’t remember what my previous Voyager was repaired for, but the only reason I decluttered it and got a new one was because it was so old, it didn’t have the TSA lock yet. It was still great and perfectly usable, except it didn’t have the TSA lock.
Anyway, back to the wheels. I brought my Voyager luggage to the nearest SM Department Store (SM Sta. Mesa), found the Voyager sales person, and talked to him about the repair.
He said it would take a few months (it was January 2024, and he said the repair would be done by April 2024). That was fine since I had other luggage I could use. He also said that it would be faster if I brought the luggage directly to their center, but it was out of the way for me and I was okay waiting until April and I was often at SM Sta. Mesa, anyway.
I asked why the wheels were cracking, and he said that it the wheels really do break down over time. I left my contact details, he gave me something like a claim stub, I also asked him to write down his name and contact details on the claim stub just in case he wasn’t around when I pick up the luggage. Sometimes they resign/ get reassigned to another branch and it’s just easier if you have their name & info just in case the new guy doesn’t know anything about it. I left the luggage with him.
He didn’t even ask for the receipt of the luggage! Good thing because it was so long ago I am sure I don’t have the receipt anymore. As far as I know, Voyager never asked for a receipt, anyway. I would pay for the wheels, but the labor, etc. was free.
Around March, I was in SM Sta. Mesa, so I asked if it was ready yet, and it wasn’t. Another time we were in SM Sta. Mesa again, this time, it was April, I went to check if it was ready, and finally, it was!
The wheels were P500 in total. That’s it. That’s the cost of the repair.
I paid it at the SM Dept Store counter. He said they already changed the wheels to the new kind, they gave me the old wheels back.
Overall, it was a very easy repair process. So far, I’m very happy with my Voyager luggage and the repair experience is hassle-free except for the long wait time, if you don’t mind it. The price of the luggage is also reasonable, with the carry-on size around P2,000+ at the time I bought it.
After getting home, I just vacuumed the inside of the luggage because that’s where they put the old wheels…
