Bergman Luggage

I had the unfortunate experience to try shopping again at Bergman Luggage in South Center Mall. First I called their 800 number because the below statement is on their web page. I was originally looking at a Samsonite Winfield 2 Fashion set of 3 pieces of luggage that was going to be around $ 350.00 to purchase from Amazon. My concern was if I ordered from Amazon would receive the luggage in time for my trip. Bergman’s has this same set on their website and it also says they match prices. I was told that they do not sell sets in their stores because generally sets are lower quality luggage. «Only if you purchase separately do you get the better quality luggage» well they sell the same luggage with separate pieces so are they better than the set? I was told to call the local store and they would be able to help get me set up with great luggage within my budget.
I called Len at the South Center store and he said to come on over and make sure to ask for him. I explained my budget but that I wanted to get the best luggage for that price. He said he could sell me $ 200 to $ 2000 a piece luggage and he could set me up.
I went to the store and the «low end» luggage is in a back corner. In the beginning I was looking at the hard cases and when I got a chance to see some of the soft cases I started to change my mind. Len pulled out two pieces of luggage that were hard cases and the total price before tax would have been around $ 380, so $ 30.00 over my budget. He also showed me some Travelpro luggage and two pieces would have come a little closer but the only colors they carry are Black and an awful blue color so I was not interested.
They also have a price match sign in their store. I asked about that and he said that there were some stores they would not match like Amazon and liquidators. He told me that the price match had to be from a luggage store. I really liked the Samsonite MIGHTlight luggage and I would have been willing to pay a little more like the $ 380.00 for two pieces. Below is the online policy they use:
Price Buster Details:
At
we will not be undersold. We will beat any authorized online luggage dealers price by $ 5!
*Third party sites not included.
*Discontinued and close-​outs not included.
*The Price Buster is not valid on out of stock items.
*The Price Buster is not valid on luggage sets.
I found a site that is a legitimate Luggage site Irv’s Luggage and I showed the prices to Len and he immediately got snooty and said I can’t match that, you should just go buy from them. Granted I would if I had the time to wait for shipping.
See the comparisons below. Please note that the sale may be over and may not reflect what I have written below:
Samsonite MIGHTlight 21″ Spinner
Bergman’s Luggage price $ 199.99 (sale price)
Irv’s Luggage $ 139.99
Samsonite MIGHTlight 25″ Spinner
Bergman’s Luggage price $ 239.99 (sale price)
Irv’s Luggage $ 169.99
Now I understand they can deny what they want, but what upset me so much to the point of writing this review is the way I was treated. Len very much acted like I was wasting his time, and maybe since I was not there to buy luggage at $ 1000 a piece I was… He looked down his nose at me several times. I only went there because they were recommended to me. I didn’t need the best luggage but I am traveling more often so I wanted something of a medium quality.
His final comments to me were: «Can’t you just put this on your credit card and pay it off over time?» Rude and very pushy question. I told him that is not what I wanted to do, I would prefer to pay cash, and not that it was his business. Secondly and this was the final straw. He said «Well you should probably just go purchase cheap luggage until you can afford the good stuff» All I can say is wow, how freaking snobby and rude can you get.
I ended up going to Macy’s and found TravelPro walk about luggage there, it may not be the top of the line but I am sure it is better than a lot of other brands. They were on a true sale, not just half of the MFSRP as with Bergman’s sale, and I was able to purchase 3 pieces for a total of $ 370.00 which was with my 15% Macy’s discount. And I got Purple so that was a plus.
I work at a major aerospace company and my job requires travel and my team has well over 100 people that travel on a consistent basis. I have already spoken to several of my team members and they were appalled on how I was treated and they will not give Bergman’s their business in the future. With it being so easy to purchase the same quality items on the internet, stores like Bergman’s should be happy for any business and not treat their customer’s that can’t purchase the top of the line items like second class citizens. AND if a store says they will price match, they should honor that promise.

Love the store and what it has to offer. Hate the high pressure sales staff. Had to tell the guy three times I didn’t need his help and would let him know if I had any questions. But he insisted on stalking me in the store till I got feed up and left.

Ah, how I love travel stores! I stopped into Bergman the other day to buy a cable lock and though the store is small, they have a good variety of luggage and travel gear at decent prices. They carry quality brands like Swiss Army and Samsonite along with a full line of Eagle Creek travel necessities. The staff was friendly and the store well laid out. Convenient location at South center mall (at writing they were located near the Rain forest Café).