Lovely Awkward: A Year of Wine, Romance and Life Among the French

Lovely Awkward: A Year of Wine, Romance and Life Among the French

Tuesday 19 January 2010

The suitcase of secret scams

I bought a new carry-on bag two days ago. Yesterday, I started trying to pack it to see if having everything packed would help me feel more relaxed about my trip to France.

But when I was moving stuff around in the case, I noticed that something had come loose -- something sticky. I took my things out to reveal that someone had completely ripped up the back of the suitcase and put it back together with electrical tape. Huh?

Now, I have to return it. Although having shoddily repaired objects -- especially ones repaired with electrical, hockey or duct tape -- may seem very Canadian, I wouldn't be proud to carry this piece of budget luggage on the plane.

Whoever did this crappy repair job is a jerk.

6 comments:

  1. Oh no! lol anything less than top notch is looked at with disgust in France, lol but maybe that's just in Paris... haha

    Are you on a direct flight? My biggest fear when it comes to flying is not crashing but losing my luggage hahaha... anyways hope you get a better luggage!

    - N.

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  2. Are you serious? I got a non-broken one, but it's just the same poor level of quality as the last one (minus electrical tape). I guess I'm just going to have to show up with confidence so no one challenges my low-budget lifestyle.

    Definitely afraid of losing my luggage. If everything goes as planned this afternoon, I will have fit my entire life into these bags.

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  3. Kerry, if the quality is low, I'd recommend putting a couple of straps around the suitcase to ensure it stays together! Having a suitcase coming down the chute that's come apart and starts to circle on the conveyor is never one you'd like to be yours! I have a number of 2"-3" ones that I use and also helps identify the bag from many others.

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  4. Hope your afternoon went well. You definitely don't want to carry that luggage on the plane! Speaking of luggage, I used one of those wheelie bags to check in for my trip to Berlin in November. It's the code lock type of bag. For some weird reason, I couldn't unlock the code when I got to the hotel! Totally stuck! I wonder if I changed the code by accident!

    Anyway, hope you got the luggage returned...

    Carmen

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  5. I always worry about seeing my bag fall out of the conveyor belt wrapped in plastic.

    I'd say I'll try and not pack it too full... but, oops! Already done. Straps might be necessary. Thanks for the tip!

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  6. In fact, I really did see that happening at the baggage carousel....

    Don't pack too much. You'll buy stuff in France!

    Carmen

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