DHL damaged luggage, requests exact spare part price, but I can't find spare parts for the brand. What can I do?
I needed to travel inside of Germany, with large amount of luggage. Since DB only allows amount of luggage which one person can handle, I sent the rest of it using DHL luggage service.
It so happened that the button for the telescopic handle of a Dunlop-branded suitcase I have was destroyed during the transportation.
I initiated the DHL claims process, and now they request receipt for the suitcase and the exact value of the damaged part at the location of the recipient of the suitcase. Unfortunately, since the suitcase is already a few years old, I don't have the receipt (but in USA, it retails for around $100). A the same time, I am unable to find any authorized spare parts stores or similar for Dunlop suitcases, so I am unable to give a quote for the repair of the damaged part.
So my question is: Is there anything I can do, or am I just out of luck here?
Best Answer
There are few things you can try :
- go to a luggage repair center and ask for a repair quote
- ask the place where you ordered it originally to provide a copy of the invoice (or at least a proof that you bought it there with the price at that time)
- check your credit card insurance. You might be covered in this situation (even if it seems pretty specific)
The issue here is that since it is pretty old, it could be that the repair cost is more than the residual value of the luggage. So DHL might tell you : ok it costs 250 € to repair it but the residual value is 30 € so we give you 30 €. I am taking fake numbers here as I have no clue on what the values involved are...
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